It seems that not all is doom and gloom on the Transpacific trade, as on an annualised basis (compared to 2019), the rate of contraction for both laden imports and total handled volumes has been gradually slowing down for a few months now. In May 2023, laden imports recorded a growth of 0%, while total handled volumes contracted by “only” -0.2%. Laden import volume growth since January 2020 can be seen in Figure 1. (....)