Newark, N.J. - The trans-Pacific container shipping market increased 12.2 percent last year, showing the strongest growth among major trade lanes, reports The Journal of Commerce. In a special issue coinciding with the 11th annual JOC Trans-Pacific Maritime Conference in Long Beach, Calif., The JOC delivers in-depth insight and analysis of the driving issues of this volatile market, including equipment and space availability concerns, the impact of Australia's recent heavy storms, Canada's strategies for increasing its market profile, and an extensive breakdown of the volume and direction of U.S. trade via Asian ports.

In an exclusive JOC interview, Ron Widdows, chairman and CEO of APL parent company Neptune Orient Lines says, "One of the big fears, overcapacity, is already casting a shadow over freight rate contract negotiations, but it is overblown." The forecasts don't take into account factors such as slow-steaming and high equipment costs that delay or otherwise impact the expected increase in capacity, he said.

Trans-Pacific eastbound container trade is expected to grow 8.2 percent and westbound growth will accelerate to 11 percent, according to PIERS, a division of UBM Global Trade and a sister company of The Journal of Commerce. In this week's Cover Story, JOC Economist Mario Moreno outlines the implications of this data, as well as predictions for consumer spending, the housing market and the shifting of power placement within Asia, such as Vietnam's expected rise in containerized commodities.

Last year's unexpectedly strong economic recovery caught all sides of the industry off guard, resulting in shipper outrage over capacity and equipment shortages and an eventual series of Federal Maritime Commission fact-finding missions into vessel-sharing agreements and equipment availability. In a profile on new FMC Chairman Richard A. Lidinsky Jr., the JOC TPM special provides an introduction to the man whose revitalization of this agency includes a much closer look at the market dynamics.

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Since 1827, The Journal of Commerce has been the most trusted source of intelligence for international logistics executives to help them plan global supply chains and better manage day-to-day transportation of goods and commodities in the United States and internationally.