AJOT’s Top 100 Containerports A to Z

Notes on the AJOT’s Top 100 Containerports A-Z

In this inaugural version of the AJOT’s Top 100 Containerports A-Z it is worth noting that the tally runs in size from the mega-port of Shanghai at 42 million TEU to Dammam in Saudi Arabia at 1.54 million TEU. In all fairness, the number of ports could easily have been 110-to-120 as many are crowded in the 1.5 million to 1.6 million TEU range.

Additionally, how a number of ports are grouped also impacted the list. For example, are the San Pedro ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach one port or two? Two was the call in that case but the new Northwest Seaport Alliance of the ports of Tacoma and Seattle were combined into one entry. Equally, how individual ports count TEUs also varies and often the numbers for the same port will be very different, depending on the parties involved in the addition.

It is no surprise that a majority of the global mega-ports are located in Asia, with a concentration in China. There is roughly a 20 million TEU trade between Europe and Asia and 27 million TEU trade between North America and Asia. In both cases the traffic is heavily weighted in favor of Asia outbound.

The volume in the container trade lanes is reflected in the port rankings. Since around 2008, the Port of Shanghai has been the world’s largest container port – a direct result of the economic boom in China. Prior to that Singapore (now number 2) was the largest and before that Hong Kong occupied the top spot. For nearly a decade Shanghai has sat atop the port standings while other Chinese mainland ports have risen. Hong Kong, which had perennially held the top spot has fallen to the seven slot as the role of being China’s “entrepot” has shifted to Shanghai and other mainland ports. How Hong Kong will fare as “just another Chinese port” is a question the planners in the Hong Kong SAR are trying to answer.

The Port of Singapore is facing a similar challenge with ports in Malaysia and Indonesia growing at a rapid pace. But as the real estate mantra suggests, Singapore has “location, location and location” with its position in the Malacca Straits and is likely to keep growing despite the lack of an abundance of greenfield land. Still Singapore may have a difficult time holding on to the spot as the Port Ningbo-Zhoushan has been growing at an astounding clip – over 200% for the last decade and could in a very short time even outpace Shanghai for the top spot.

The sources for the A-Z port chart were numerous. Among the sources were Lloyds List, UNCTAD, Drewry, IAPH, various port authorities, terminal operators, investor presentations, and press reports.