Shanghai stretches lead at the top of the boxport rankings to 10m teu

Shanghai has built up an unprecedented commanding 10m teu lead over its nearest boxport rival in rankings of the top 30 container ports worldwide compiled by Alphaliner. 

Shanghai has been the world’s largest container port for the last 14 years, beating Singapore into second place. It now stands on the cusp of being the first place in the world to handle 50m teu in a calendar year. 

China accounts for more than 50% of top 30 ports’ throughput, according to Alphaliner. Qingdao recorded the highest increase of any major gateway worldwide, hitting the 30m teu mark last year for the first time, closing in on Shenzhen in fourth place, while third place Ningbo is getting nearer to Singapore for silver spot on the podium. To the south of Shenzhen, Hong Kong, which started the millennium as the world’s largest boxport, has now slipped out of the top 10 for the first time. 

The second fastest grower of the top 30 last year was Morocco’s Tanger Med, overtaking venerable Hamburg in the process. Volumes for Africa’s largest boxport have risen 80% since 2019, according to Alphaliner. Last year’s figure of 8.6m teu is equivalent to 95% of the port’s nominal capacity, and reaches targets set by the port authority four years ahead of schedule. Moreover, with the introduction of the European Union’s emission trading scheme this year, combined with some 90% of liner shipping rerouting thanks to Houthi attacks to head around the Cape of Good Hope and past Morocco from Asia to Europe, throughput growth this year is expected to be phenomenal.