CONTAINER volumes in the Asia to Europe trades continued to grow in July with westbound volumes totalling nearly 1.4 million TEU, a jump of 7.3 per cent on the same month of 2013.

But the growth was slower May and June's when the year-on-year increases were 11.7 per cent and 10.2 per cent respectively, according to the latest Container Trades Statistics data. Every month so far this year has been ahead of 2013, apart from February when it fell 6.3 per cent.

The surge in liftings from Asia to Europe has caught container lines by surprise, given sluggish economic conditions, Lloyd's List reported.

Maersk Line attributed its strong financial results in the April-June period in part to the unexpected increase in traffic on this route during the period.

"We saw the growth where we didn’t expect it, and where we expected growth, we did not see any," said Maersk Line CEO Soren Skou.

Maersk’s Asia-Europe container imports were up nine per cent in the second quarter, "and that was certainly not driven by economic fundamentals". Instead, Maersk reckons the growth reflected inventory replenishment.

In contrast, some of the traditional high-growth markets in the north-south trades were disappointing, with imports into Latin America and Africa weakening.

Total traffic was more or less in line with forecasts of around five per cent, but the pattern growth was not what had been expected, said Mr Skou.

Westbound trades, the return leg from Europe to Asia showed another year-on-year decline in July, with a 2.8 per cent drop to 580,000 TEU, following a 5.9 per cent fall in liftings in June.