The automotive and technology industries have been spooked by fears that supplies of key components such as semiconductors will be disrupted by the closure of plants and power shortages.
Japanese ports handled some 19 million units -- measured in twenty foot boxes -- of container shipments last year. As much as 7 percent of that had been shut off after the 9.0 magnitude quake and tsunami hit northern Japan.
At this point, it looks like any problems in the supply chain will be at the factories themselves, and with the infrastructure for getting goods to the ports for shipping, as the ports worst hit handled less cargo.
Trade to the West is driven by consumer goods and manufactured items like car parts. Eastbound container trade includes paper and plastics exports from Europe as well as electrical component items from other places in Asia.
"I don't think the earthquake or tsunami will have a serious impact on the overall container market in Japan," Truong Bui, a Japan container expert at Drewry Shipping Consultants said.
There is sufficient capacity in Tokyo to handle containers from the affected regions of Japan and although there have been some electricity shortages, the capital's container terminals are back in operation, Truong said.
"There was no major damage on the cranes, yards or ports because they were built to sustain an earthquake. In terms of operations, they are back to normal," he added.
Reconstruction at some of the 13 ports severely damaged by the quake is already underway, with some operations due to resume soon, a government official said.
Container freight consultancy group Alphaliner said at least six medium-sized container ports were reported to be badly damaged and would be out of operation for the next few months.
The ports of Hachinohe, Ofunato, Sendai, Onahama, Hitachinaka and Kashima were all affected, although they handled less than 2 percent of Japan's total container volumes, Alphaliner said.
Back to Normal
Neptune Orient reported some early disruption in Yokohama due to power outages and a brief closure of its Tokyo office, but said business was now back to normal.
"We operate marine terminals in Kobe and Yokohama where our ships call. They are fully functional and cargo operations are ongoing," Neptune Orient spokesman Mike Zampa said, adding it was too early to say if volumes were below normal.
Maersk Line suspended service to the ports of Sendai, Onahama and Hachinohe which were hit by the tsunami.
But it said that the ports in Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya, Kobe, Osaka and Hakata were safe with no damage reported to its equipment there and it was operating as normal from these.
"It is still possible to book cargoes from Japan. In the north, ports and terminals have been hit. There is some industry up there, and that is obviously impacted, roads have been hit so cargoes are not moving," Maersk spokesman Michael Storgaard said.
Hanjin Shipping told a similar story. It said it had seen little impact on its container traffic to Japan through its terminals in Tokyo and Osaka.
Hanjin's shipping between South Korea and Japan accounts for only 1 percent of its total business and its trans-Pacific shipping that passes through Japan was unlikely to be affected, a spokeswoman for the group said.
Korea's other large shipping group STX Pan Ocean said it did not operate to Japan. (Reuters)
