According to data from the International Container Trade Statistics Agency (CTS), global container traffic reached 93.5 million TEUs in the first half of this year, an increase of 4.5% over the same period last year, according to relevant units in mainland China. The combined throughput of the world’s top 30 container ports increased by 9.91 million TEU, an increase of 4.4%, of which only Hong Kong Port and Kaohsiung Port bucked the trend.
Among the top 30 ports in the world, mainland China ports performed the best, with a total of 11 ports on the list, and most of them reached new highs. CTS pointed out that China’s exports to North America increased slightly by 0.8%, while shipments to Europe increased by 9.7%, driving overall throughput. Southeast Asia and South Asia have ten ports on the list, mostly in the 11th to 30th places, but they have grown rapidly in recent years, indicating that supply chain shifts have led to an increase in regional status.
The ranking of the top ten ports remained stable, in order: Shanghai Port, Singapore Port, Ningbo Zhoushan Port, Shenzhen Port, Qingdao Port, Guangzhou Port, Busan Port, Tianjin Port, Dubai Jebel Ali Port, Malaysia Port Klang Port. The top five ports all increased by more than 1 million TEU, of which Ningbo Zhoushan Port increased by 1.89 million TEU, and Singapore Port also rarely delivered a high growth rate of 7.2%.
The 11th to 20th places include the Port of Rotterdam, the Port of Antwerp Bruges, the Port of Tanjung Palapas, the Port of Hong Kong, the Port of Xiamen, the Port of Tangier Mediterranean, the Port of Laem Chabang, the Port of Suzhou and the Port of Los Angeles. Notably, Malaysia’s Tanjung Pelepas Port grew by 15.4%.
As for the port of Hong Kong and the port of Kaohsiung, the decline continued, with the port of Hong Kong falling to 14th place and Kaohsiung ranking 22nd. Analysts believe that with the rise of emerging ports in mainland China and Southeast Asia, it may be difficult to reverse the downward trend in the short term as the source of goods from traditional transshipment ports moves outward.
Although the three major ports in the United States, including the Port of Los Angeles, the Port of Long Beach, and New York and New Jersey, grew in the first half of this year due to the rush of companies, the National Retail Federation predicts that US imports will decline by 5.6% in the second half of this year, and the container market may face challenges.
Analysts said that the growth momentum of global container ports in the first half of this year is still concentrated in Asia, especially in mainland China and Southeast Asian ports. The agglomeration effect of large ports is becoming increasingly obvious, but the traditional ports ranked in the top 20 fluctuate significantly, and their future competitiveness will depend more on shipping strategies and supply chain shift trends.
