Container handling through Norfolk and its neighboring ports climbed 10.1% year over year in May, driven by a 10.1% rise imports and 18.6% surge in empty container handling. By contrast to the U.S. average, Norfolk’s shipments from China actually rose by 10.2% while its shipments from Europe fell by a worse-than-average 5.6%. The latter was in large part down to a 33.1% collapse in shipments by Red Bull, the largest shipper using the port in 2018. Industrial sector imports were also weak with toolmaker Stihl seeing a 33.4% slide and Michelin’s tire shipments falling 61.0%.