An analysis of 2022 about key markets included the chemical industry, agriculture, resins, paper, and forest products.
In 2022, the exports began to normalcy after the pandemic. Today, the supply of containers increased, resulting in a decline in spot rates decreasing by up to 80% and reaching even lower prices than before the pandemic. Moreover, the US economy has experienced slow growth, so the combination of many factors made 2022 a very volatile year for most industries.
In the US market, exporters had increased their volume, but despite this, total exports fell by 4,1% in 2022. Last year, the winners were CellMark Group, Louis Dreyfus Company, Dow Chemical, and Cargill.
In 2022, the key markets in the US were the chemical industry, agriculture, resins, paper, and forest products:
In the chemicals market, after a decline of 8.3% in 2021, the exports in terms of volume grew by 3.2%, a surprising increase according to the market.
In the agriculture market, one of the challenges is the export of perishable products, especially during the pandemic, because the available reefer container was low, so the delay in days meant a loss of money in products.
China is a major importer of food and proteins from de US, The market share of these products grew for the third consecutive year in 2022. However, for the same reason, it is a market highly susceptible to political relations between both countries.
This market is experiencing a globalization of food sources, making the demand for refrigerated containers very high. For this reason, over one million refrigerated storage centers will be built this year, and it is expected that an additional 3.2 million will be built in the next two years in the southeastern United States.
The market for resins experienced a recovery in 2022. Last year it grew 6% and for the first quarter of 2023, exports increased by 23% compared to the same period in 2022. South America is the key region for exporters and the reason for the increase in production in the US for resin products.
Another factor in the market’s recovery is the increase in the availability of containers for transporting this product, as well as the punctuality of deliveries.
Despite this, 2023 is believed to be unpredictable because the resin market is highly vulnerable to geopolitical changes.
For the last, about the market of paper and forest products industry, because of the green policies in China, the exports of these products from the US have decreased by 44% since 2017, for the fifth consecutive year in 2022.
Also, Koch Industries and International Paper saw their exports decline by 8.6% and 10.4%, respectively. And the decline in the real estate market in China has led to lower demand for construction materials.
After an increase in furniture demand in 2020 and 2021, there was a stagnation in 2022 that continues to this day. This has affected the importation of wood in China, as Beijing manufactures these products using American raw materials and then exports them to Washington, completing the cycle.
