US containerised imports in May grew 3.5 per cent year on year, meaning that May has posted the highest import volume so far in 2012 and nearly matched the volume of imports recorded in August 2011, which was last year's top month, according to a report published by Zepol Corporation.

It said August tends to be the peak month for US imports, "so there is potential for more growth further down the road this summer".

A breakdown of the results show that US imports from China, measured in TEU, rose 2.2 per cent in May compared to the same month last year. Imports from Europe increased in May by 3.7 per cent year on year. The climb in imports was mainly seen from Germany, the top European exporting country to the United States.

Most US ports experienced an increase in containerised imports in May with large spikes coming from the ports of Long Beach, Seattle, and Houston. The nation's second largest port of Long Beach achieved a TEU import increase of 12 per cent in May compared to the previous month. However, its imports were down by eight per cent year on year. Seattle saw a rise of 10.4 per cent in May to 77,000 TEU. Houston had the largest spike in imports of any of the top 20 ports with a surge of 26.5 per cent from April.

In terms of the carrier volumes passing through US ports, Maersk May imports were flat from April, with a slight rise of 0.4 per cent. Unlike Maersk, Evergreen Line, the number three carrier for May, saw an increase of 14 per cent. Other carriers with noteworthy box volume increases were Hanjin Shipping, which rose 17.9 per cent in May while Cosco numbers soared 26.9 per cent.