Following the foreign trade vehicle throughput in September and the number of foreign trade ro-ro vessel port calls in October both exceeding last year’s annual totals, Shanghai South Port terminal has reached another historical milestone, with its vehicle throughput exceeding one million for the first time. As of November 24, the vehicle throughput at Shanghai South Port terminal for 2025 has reached over 1.01 million vehicles, a figure that has already surpassed the terminal’s total vehicle throughput for the entire last year.
At 10:00 AM, vehicles from brands such as Jianghuai, Chery, MG, Dongfeng, and King Long were driven onto the Panamanian-flagged ro-ro vessel “Claire”. During its port stay, the vessel will load over 1,980 large, medium, and small vehicles for export to the port of Iquique, Chile. Vessel schedule information provided by the Yangshan Border Inspection Station shows that at 14:00 and 15:00 in the afternoon, two other large foreign trade ro-ro vessels will call at the port, loading over 2,200 vehicles for export during their stay. Various vehicles parked in the terminal yard awaiting export or transshipment, including engineering vehicles, buses, and new energy vehicles, will be successively loaded onto ships for departure. At Shanghai South Port terminal, this scenario of multiple vessels calling simultaneously and high operational volumes is gradually becoming the norm.
The efficient vehicle collection, distribution, and turnover capability of Shanghai Port is attracting major automobile companies to locate their vehicle ro-ro operations here. Data from the terminal operator Haitong Lingang shows that the volume of foreign trade import and export vehicles this year has reached 614,000 units, an increase of over 40% compared to the same period last year, with export growth reaching 37%. Concurrently, over 100,000 imported vehicles were transshipped at the terminal, an 11% increase year-on-year. Lu Yu, the duty manager at Haitong Lingang, stated that Haitong coordinates operational staff across the two ports and three locations in Shanghai and Taicang. When the workload is high in one port area, staff from other port areas are dispatched for support to ensure operational progress and vessel schedules. The current average daily workload is around 3,000 vehicles, which can exceed 5,000 vehicles per day during peak periods.
Currently, the second phase of South Port has begun trial calls by foreign trade ro-ro vessels. Once fully operational, the volume of vessel and personnel clearance at the terminal is expected to increase further. In response to the terminal’s characteristics of many vessel calls at night, short berthing times, and fast berth turnover, the Yangshan Border Inspection Station, while maintaining all-weather duty to achieve immediate inspection upon vessel arrival, has further advanced the border inspection service window to facilitate various procedures. Simultaneously, it has updated software and hardware facilities to enhance the perception capability of vessel /departure dynamics and ro-ro operation progress, ensuring “zero wait” for vessel berthing operations and “zero delay” for departures.
