The first half of 2025 was another bumper season for global container ports. According to Container Trade Statistics (CTS), global container volume reached 93.5 million TEU in the first half of the year, a year-on-year increase of 4.5%, with import and export container volumes in major regions almost all showing growth. Because of this, the combined throughput of the world’s top 30 container ports grew by 9.91 million TEU, a year-on-year increase of 4.4%. Among the specific ports, only the ports of Hong Kong and Kaohsiung saw a decline in throughput.
Among the world’s top 30 container ports, Chinese ports occupy 11 spots, especially ports in mainland China, where multiple ports have set new throughput records, seemingly unaffected by the tariff war. The reason is that Chinese ports have increased trade with Europe, Southeast Asia, Africa, Latin America, and other regions. According to CTS data, in the first half of the year, container volume from China to North America increased slightly by 0.8% year-on-year, but volume shipped to Europe surged by 9.7% year-on-year.
Furthermore, Southeast Asian and South Asian ports also hold 10 spots on the list. Although most are ranked between 11th and 30th, their throughput growth rate has been rapid in recent years, and their rankings are rising, indicating that the importance of these regional ports in the global container shipping market is growing during the supply chain shift.
The top 10 are all familiar names: Shanghai Port (1), Singapore Port (2), Ningbo-Zhoushan Port (3), Shenzhen Port (4), Qingdao Port (5), Guangzhou Port (6), Busan Port (7), Tianjin Port (8), Jebel Ali Port (9), and Port Klang (10). Since the ports of Rotterdam and Hong Kong successively fell out of the global top ten container ports, the top ten rankings have tended to stabilize.
The top 5 ports showed more rapid growth compared to ports ranked 6-10, with increments all exceeding 1 million TEU; Guangzhou Port also grew by 980,000 TEU. The world’s top 6 container ports are also the 6 ports with the largest volume increases on the list, indicating that the agglomeration effect of large ports in global container shipping is still strengthening.
Ningbo-Zhoushan Port grew by 1.89 million TEU compared to the same period last year, the largest increase among all listed ports. However, its international rival, Singapore Port, also defied its previous trend of moderate growth with a 7.2% year-on-year increase in the first half. In fact, after the Gemini Alliance established Tanjung Pelepas Port as a transshipment hub, Singapore Port strengthened cooperation with other shipping alliances and liner companies. Previously, the port’s operator, PSA International, had joint venture terminals with MSC, CMA CGM, COSCO Shipping, and ONE. At the end of last year, PSA International also formed a joint venture terminal company with Evergreen Marine to operate some berths at Tuas Port. Among the three major transshipment hubs in Southeast Asia, Singapore Port’s increase in the first half was 1.47 million TEU, higher than the combined increase of Port Klang and Tanjung Pelepas Port.
Rankings 11-20 are: Port of Rotterdam (11), Port of Antwerp-Bruges (12), Port of Tanjung Pelepas (13), Port of Hong Kong (14), Port of Xiamen (15), Tanger Med Port (16), Port of Laem Chabang (17), Port of Suzhou (18), Port of Los Angeles (19), and Port of Beibu Gulf (20).
The recovery of European consumption and the tariff war, which led some Chinese companies to shift exports to Europe, have both boosted cargo volume on the Asia-Europe route, resulting in throughput growth for the two largest container ports in Northern Europe, Rotterdam and Antwerp-Bruges. Rotterdam Port’s imports from Asia grew by 8.4% in the first half, and its import-export throughput with North America grew by 9.1%. However, the high operational volume also led to unusual congestion at Rotterdam Port.
Port of Tanjung Pelepas saw a year-on-year growth of 15.4% in the first half, the highest growth rate among the listed ports, mainly benefiting from calls by the Gemini Alliance. The port’s operator, PTP, is a joint venture between Maersk and the MMC Group; currently, 60% of the port’s throughput comes from Gemini.
The throughput and ranking of Hong Kong Port continue to decline, and another regional transshipment port, Kaohsiung Port, is in the same predicament, having fallen out of the top 20. The two ports that were dominant in the late 20th and early 21st centuries rose and fell due to being transshipment hubs. After the successive rise of mainland Chinese and Southeast Asian ports, the transshipment cargo volume of Hong Kong and Kaohsiung ports has been on a downward trend and is unlikely to recover in the future.
The three major US ports—Los Angeles, Long Beach, and New York-New Jersey—also seem to ignore the shadow of the tariff war. In the first half, container volume from Asia to North America increased by 8.2% year-on-year, but this was mainly due to an abnormal peak season caused by retailers stockpiling and companies rushing shipments amid uncertain tariff policies. In the second half, US ports may end bleakly. According to predictions by the National Retail Federation (NRF), US import volume will decrease by 5.6% this year, with container imports falling by 17.5% in the last five months.
Rankings 21-30 are: Port of Long Beach (21), Port of Kaohsiung (22), Port of Ho Chi Minh City (23), Port of New York-New Jersey (24), Port of Mundra (25), Port of Hamburg (26), Port of Colombo (27), Port of Jakarta (28), Port of Haiphong (29), and Port of Cai Mep (30).
Vietnamese ports are not sufficiently transparent in data disclosure. However, amid the supply chain shift, ports like Cai Mep have maintained a high growth rate in recent years. MSC, Maersk, CMA CGM, and others have already or intend to make huge investments in Vietnamese ports. Furthermore, in May of this year, Vietnam implemented administrative division reforms; Ho Chi Minh City will merge with Ba Ria-Vung Tau province (where Cai Mep Port is located). After the reorganization, Ho Chi Minh City will have 99 seaport terminals, and its throughput ranking is bound to improve significantly.
Hamburg Port’s throughput increased by 9.3% year-on-year in the first half, benefiting from the reorganization of shipping alliances, with its transshipment volume growing by 23.8% year-on-year. The port’s cargo volume with Malaysia surged by 93.2%, benefiting from adjustments in transshipment routes. However, Hamburg Port has still not returned to pre-pandemic levels.
Port Circle (ID: gangkouquan) believes that the global TOP 10 container ports continued to grow in the first half, with stable rankings. However, there has been some fluctuation in the 21-30 rankings. Some established ports like Hong Kong and Kaohsiung, despite efforts in various aspects such as developing green fuel bunkering and building automated terminals, are still struggling to reverse their decline. Hamburg Port, unexpectedly, has seen some recovery in throughput. Their rise and fall are now largely in the hands of liner companies; by deploying their fleets, liner companies can bring significant increases or decreases in transshipment cargo volume, altering a port’s competitiveness within the region.
