Ro / Ro Shipping

Special Report

Car carriers cope with growing east-west trade imbalance

By Keith Wallis

China, South Korea and Japan exported 13.4 million vehicles in 2024, compared with just 2.7 million from the US, EU and UK. MartinLueke / Shutterstock. com

Soaring vehicle exports from Asia, especially China, are widening a trade imbalance between west and eastbound shipments that major car carrier operators are finding challenging to manage, senior shipping executives say.

This imbalance is likely to worsen in part due to US tariff policies as Asian vehicle makers, especially those in China and South Korea, continue to gain market share at the expense of US and European manufacturers, according to Wallenius Wilhelmsen CEO Lasse Kristoffersen.

Citing industry statistics, Kristoffersen said 13.4 million light vehicles were exported from China, South Korea and Japan last year compared with 2.7 million exported from the US, Europe and the UK.

While vehicle exports from Asia have increased 66 % since 2019, they dropped 23 % in the same period from the US, Europe and the UK, he added.

“ They don’ t know where they will produce cars, [ and ] they don’ t know where they will send them.”

Consequently, the imbalance in light vehicle shipments between east and west has surged 132 % since 2019, from 4.6 million to 10.7 million last year, Kristoffersen said.

Erik Lewenhaupt, managing director of car carrier operator Stena Glovis, said vehicle exports from Europe and the US have been relatively flat at about 2.8 million units per year since 2020. The recovery in vehicle shipments over the last few years is due to the rise in exports from Asia, he told the Journal of Commerce.

Kristoffersen said the structural shift in growing exports from Asia will be“ escalated by US tariff policies.” Vehicle makers in Asia are expected to seek alternative export markets amid a possible drop in US sales after the Trump administration imposed 25 % tariffs on all vehicle and component imports except those from China, which face tariffs of 30 %.

Reciprocal tariffs of 10 % imposed by China make vehicle imports from the US more expensive.

“ When we talk to executives from Volvo, Mercedes or others, they don’ t know where they will produce cars, they don’ t know where they will send them, and they don’ t know how many they’ ll send,” Kristoffersen said during a first-quarter results briefing in May.“ They need help to have a flexible, fully integrated supply chain.”

Kristoffersen said Wilhelmsen is less affected than some of its competitors.

“ We have a better book of business going back [ to Asia ] than others,” he said.

Imbalanced utilization

Despite this, Wilhelmsen and other carriers are facing higher trade inefficiency, lower fleet utilization and a growing need for ballast voyages where ships return to Asia empty or partially loaded.

For Wilhelmsen, this resulted in a drop in cargo volumes in the first quarter to 12.7 million cubic meters, the lowest for the company since the third quarter of 2020, when it carried 11.9 million cubic meters.

Other carriers, including Japan’ s“ K” Line and Norway’ s Höegh Autoliners, agreed that vehicle exports from Asia are outpacing those from Europe and the US, leading them to adapt various strategies in response to those challenges.“ For our return voyages to Japan, we manage the impact of this imbalance by carrying vehicles exported from Europe and the US and implementing efficient vessel allocation strategies,” a“ K” Line spokesperson told the Journal of Commerce. The carrier also triangulates vehicle, high-and-heavy and breakbulk cargoes between different markets to avoid costly voyages with ships sailing empty or partially loaded to Japan from the US or Europe.

34 Journal of Commerce | July 7, 2025 www. joc. com