According to the transportation trends for March released by Japan Freight Railway Company (JR Freight) on April 18, the total transportation volume for March was 2,494,000 tons (down 3.8%), consisting of 1,378,000 tons of containerized cargo (down 4.0% year-on-year) and 756,000 tons of carload cargo (down 3.4%).
<Container shipment volume in September>
| Transportation record | |||
| コ ン テ ナ | Car handling | Total | |
| Actual performance (thousand tons) | 1635 | 681 | 2317 |
| Compared to the previous year (%) | 96.0 | 96.6 | 96.2 |
In November, the domestic economy continued its gradual recovery, supported by improved employment conditions and a rebound in capital investment. However, personal consumption remained sluggish due to rising consumer prices, particularly for food products. Shipments of food products, agricultural products, and fresh produce decreased, resulting in this year's overall transportation performance being lower than the previous year.
Container shipments were lower than the previous year for food products due to delays in shipments from some customers, while shipments of agricultural products and fresh produce decreased due to weak demand resulting from soaring rice prices, leading to a reduction in privately distributed rice.
Paper and pulp sales were lower than the previous year due to equipment malfunctions and other issues at some customers. Overall container sales were 96.0% of the previous year's figures.
In the freight by vehicle, petroleum shipments fell below the previous year's level due to reduced demand for gasoline and diesel fuel resulting from reduced consumer spending following the gradual expansion of subsidies. Overall, freight by vehicle was at 96.6% of the previous year's level.
<Trends in Transportation Performance>
JR Freight: September rail container transport volume increased by 2.5%
