According to the latest provisional figures from Container Trade Statistics, worldwide container throughput in April 2025 rose 5.8% year-on-year according to DynaLiners.
Volumes increased on 32 trade lanes and fell on 17. Export routes overall expanded, but North American import traffic recorded the only pronounced contraction.
Route-by-route highlights: Far East-to-North America exports slipped 10.4 percent, eclipsed by a sharper 12 percent fall in the reverse flow.
Intra-North America volumes shrank nearly 18 percent, underscoring strained trade dynamics between the United States, Canada and Mexico.
The brief downturn logged in February proved transitory; March and April both posted solid gains versus 2024.
Cumulatively in 2025, divergences are narrower: North American (-3.6%) and sub-Saharan (-2.6%) exports and Australasian imports (-2.1%) show the steepest declines among the 15 lanes still in negative territory.
