34 American Journal of Transportation American Journal of Transportation ajot.com 10 Million TEU Club Rank Port Nation 2022 TEUs 2023 TEUs 2024 TEUs 2025 TEUs 1 Shanghai China 47,300,000 49,158,000 50,051,000 55,060,000 2 Singapore Singapore 37,300,000 39,013,000 41,120,000 44,660,000 3 Ningbo-Zhoushan China 33,350,000 35,300,000 39,300,000 43,000,000 4 Shenzhen (1) China 30,040,000 29,880,000 33,390,000 33,150,000 5 Qingdao China 25,670,000 28,750,000 30,870,000 27,600,000 6 Guangzhou (2) China 24,600,000 25,410,000 26,450,000 27,145,000 7 Busan Korea 23,500,000 22,750,000 24,400,000 24,880,000 8 Tianjin China 20,120,000 22,170,000 23,290,000 20,810,000 9 Dubai (Port of Jebel Ali) UAE 13,970,000 14,472,000 15,530,000 15,550,000 10 Port Klang Malaysia 13,740,000 14,061,022 14,640,000 15,140,000 11 Rotterdam Netherlands 14,455,000 13,447,000 13,800,000 14,200,000 12 Tanjung Pelepas Malaysia 10,510,000 10,480,537 12,250,000 14,020,000 13 Antwerp-Bruges (3) Belgium 13,500,000 12,528,000 13,500,000 13,630,000 14 Hong Kong China/SAR 16,570,000 14,341,000 13,690,000 12,990,000 15 Xiamen China 12,430,000 12,550,000 12,250,000 12,507,700 16 Tanger Med Morocco 7,596,845 8,617,410 10,241,392 11,106,164 17 Cai Mep-Thi Vai Vietnam 5,000,000 5,783,000 10,800,000 11,000,000 18 Los Angeles USA 9,911,156 8,629,681 10,297,352 10,239,318 19 Laem Chabang Thailand 8,740,000 8,689,000 9,460,000 10,150,000 20 Beibu Gulf China 7,020,000 8,020,000 9,015,200 10,000,000 Sources: Port Authorities, Terminal Operators, Investor Presentations, Press Reports See Top 100 Containerports Chart for note details TEUs in 2022 and nearly 4.8 million in 2024. Egypt’s Port of Said is another of the Mediterranean Sea’s hub ports, as it lies at the Med’s entrance to the Suez Canal. Ranking 39th in the list the port handled an impressive 5.57 million TEUs in 2025. As with all the Middle East- ern ports the geo-politics have influenced trade flows, but the Port of Said is also a key entrepôt for Egypt itself as well as a hub for Suez Canal traffic. Container Ports in North America The southern California ports, the Port of Los Angeles, ranked 18th with 10.24 million TEUs and the Port of Long Beach, ranked 21st handling 9.88 million TEUs in 2025, are the largest container ports in the Americas. Although the US Atlantic ports of the Port of New York/New Jersey ranked 23rd with a throughput of nearly 8.9 million TEUs and the Port of Savannah handling 5.7 million TEUs sit- ting in the 37th slot, are benefiting from a slow but steady shifting of volumes to the US East Coast, especially in the growing US Southeast. The US Gulf ports are also expe- riencing a surge, and the Port of Houston at 48th seems to just keep on growing, handling 4.3 million TEUs in 2025. The Port of Virginia (Norfolk) ranked at 64th with a throughput of nearly 3.24 million TEUs and the North- west Seaport Alliance (ports of Seattle and Tacoma) ranked at 66 with over 3.15 million TEUs both have reg- ularly eclipsed 3 million TEUs. Canada’s two largest container ports each serve a dif- ferent coast. The Port of Vancouver, ranked 55th handling 3.78 million TEUs in 2025, serves Canada’s Pacific coast and has consistently grown and might well climb a notch or two over the next few years. And located 990 miles up the Saint Lawrence River is the Port of Montreal in the 89th slot, with a throughput of almost 1.52 million TEUs in 2025. The port has been operating near capacity and has a terminal in the works with DP World that is expected to go into operation by 2030 and could add as much as 1.15 million TEUs to the overall capacity. Mexico also has three key container ports, two located on the Pacific Coast and one in the Gulf of Mexico. The Port of Manzanillo, ranked 53rd handling 3.89 million TEUs and Lazaro Cardenas 80th in the rank- ing with a TEU throughput of 2.16 million TEUs. The Port of Veracruz, is located on the Gulf of Mexico and is ranked 95th with a throughput of almost 1.3 million TEUs. Mexico is expecting a big surge in container vol- umes and is working on plans to increase terminal han- dling capacity both in the ports and at inland terminals built around intermodal rail heads. By virtue of the Panama Canal, Panama has two port clusters, one on the Atlantic and another on the Pacific that collectively rank in the top 100 container port list- ings. The Port of Colon on the Atlantic side ranks 36th and had a throughput of nearly 5.18 million TEUs in 2025. The Port of Balboa, on the Pacific side, ranked number 50 with 4.2 million TEUs in 2025. While there is much debate on how the long-term management of the various terminals will playout, what is indisputable is how important these two port clusters are to interna- tional trade, particularly for vessels destined for US gulf ports like Houston and Galveston and US East ports rang- ing from Florida’s ports up to the mega-hub of the Port of New York/New Jersey. In ways, the Panama Canal’s ports have been a barometer for the shipping business in North America. And these days, the question of how many TEUs flow through the Canal and ports of Panama is as big an interest in Washington as it is in Panama City. (TOP – continued from page 32)
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