But the rebound in trade could be hampered by weak economies on both sides of the 'pond' 
   
Prospects on the transatlantic trades are improving after a rebound in trade last year, according to leading lines and analysts.

“Prospects are fine, after years of difficulties on a trade which went through a lot of restructuring,” said Jean-Philippe Thenoz, a senior VP at CMA CGM, which operates five services from Europe to North America.

Containerised exports from Europe last year increased by around 12.3%, year-on-year, according to the latest figures from Container Trades Statistics.

Imports to Europe were up 9.4%, although December saw a 3.5% year-on-year contraction, with a monthly total 5% lower than in November.

Drewry Shipping Consultants predicted in its latest Container Forecaster that North European containerised exports to the US would increase by 2.7% this year, with imports up 4.7%.

Maersk Line’s Soren Castbak, Senior Director, Network and Product, told IFW that after a sharp drop in exports and imports in 2009, the trade had returned to normal demand levels.

But he warned that additional growth this year could “be limited, considering the state of economies on both sides of the Atlantic”.

A spokesman for Georgia Ports Authority said that while trade levels had stabilised, they had settled at a lower level than before the global financial recession.

“Prospects for improvement remain cloudy, given the current financial crisis of the smaller countries [in Europe] and government spending restraints, as well as low consumption growth,” he added.