Japan's transportation volumes by coastal vessels in the April 2019-March 2020 fiscal year fell against a year earlier, pressured by reduced operations, especially as Covid-19 disrupted activity this year.
Shipping volumes by container vessels in the domestic coastal market during 2019-20 fell by 5pc from a year earlier to around 213mn t, with a 9pc fall in the second half of the year compared with just 1pc drop during April-September, according to the latest data from the Japan federation of coastal shipping association, which covers 60 operators that account for 80pc of total coastal shipping volumes.
The fall reflected a slowdown of construction activity for the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, typhoon disasters during September-October, an increase in Japan's consumption tax from October, the China-US trade war and the Covid-19 outbreak from around February, the association said.
Transportation volumes of steel products in 2019-20 fell by 11pc from a year earlier to 40.3mn t, amid weaker demand and high inventories. Slower operations at steel mills then dented shipments of coal and coke by 3pc to 13.9mn t. Deliveries of cement, limestone, paper and pulp, as well as vehicles also dropped.
Only shipping volumes of miscellaneous goods increased by 4pc in 2019-20, driven by a lack of truck drivers and replacement of large-scale coastal vessels.
Operations of coastal tankers also slowed down over 2019-20. Shipments of fuel oil fell by 7pc from the previous year to 25.4mn kilolitres (437,000 b/d), pressured by weakening demand from power utilities amid rising nuclear and renewables generation capacity. Deliveries of lighter oil products, such as gasoline, kerosine, jet fuel and diesel, fell by 3pc to 68mn kl, amid shorter driving trips and cancellation of airline flights because of the typhoons and the coronavirus outbreak.
Shipping of chemical products in 2019-20 dropped by 6pc from a year earlier to 8.4mn kl, while deliveries of high-pressure liquids such as LPG and vinyl chloride monomer dropped by 8pc to 6.3mn t. Tanker deliveries of other products, such as asphalt, sulphur, sulphuric acid and caustic soda also fell.
But Japan's coastal shipping operations are expected to gradually rebound, on the back of the expected return of the country's economic and industrial activity following the Covid-19 disruptions. The government yesterday decided to lift the state of emergency in the remaining five affected prefectures —Tokyo and its nearby Kanagawa, Chiba and Saitama, and northern Japan's Hokkaido — ending restrictions for the entire country.
