Ports continue to grow more than last year, says Drewry
Drewry has just published the current update of its Container Port Throughput Indices. According to the figures reported by the London-based maritime consultancy, the global port throughput index in September 2019 was 2.4 points (1.9%) higher than the September 2018 level and close to 6 points higher when compared to September 2017.
Although Latin America was the only region which registered a monthly growth in September 2019, recovering from a low base last year, Europe showed the highest annual increase in September 2019 with 5.5 points (4.8%), whereas month-on-month it was down by 2.2 points (1.8%).
The largest world region China witnessed a one point decline each month from last two months and was at 143.4 points in September 2019. However, it was 2.9 points (2.0%) higher compared to September 2018.
The largest monthly decline was seen by North America, where the port throughput index was 9.1 points (6.1%) down in September 2019. However, it was slightly (0.5 points) higher compared to September 2018. All regions except Africa experienced an annual increase in September 2018.
The index consists of a series of volume growth/decline indices based on monthly throughput data for a sample of over 220 ports worldwide, representing over 75% of global volumes. The base point for the indices is January 2012 = 100. (fd)