Constants in global shipping
Despite mixed developments in the global economy, and thus also in the shipping industry, of late, there are definitely some constants too, for example in certain ports.
Despite all the changes rocking societies and economies worldwide, many of them arising from government measures to contain the outbreak of Covid-19, a few pillars on which the global shipping industry is built remain firmly in place. This was confirmed by figures published by Statista’s research department in mid-2021.
At the same time the division once again pointed out that the container transport industry remains at the heart of the maritime transport sector in terms of value. Handling boxes in ports and terminals is one of the main sources of income for the operators and managers of the concomitant maritime facilities.
PSA International, which is headquartered in Singapore, is one of the leading terminal operators worldwide. In 2020 the industry leader generated sales of approximately SGD 4.2 million. It is followed in this list by Hutchison Port Holdings, which is registered in the British Virgin Islands.
Container ports with the greatest throughput in 2020
In the rather turbulent twelve months of 2020 the Chinese port of Shanghai remained at the head of the list of container gateways worldwide in term of throughput, handling approximately 43.5 million teu. Nine of the ten ports on the list of hubs with the largest volumes of goods handled in the period under review were in Asia. Besides Shanghai the other main players are Singapore and Ningbo Zhoushan, even if – as is currently the case in the latter port – further medium-term disruption could take place on account of the pandemic.
Growing markets
In the USA the gateways of Los Angeles and Long Beach, neighbours that have coalesced to form the country’s largest container hub, are the leaders of the regional pack. In Europe the ports of Rotterdam, Hamburg and Antwerp recorded the greatest volumes.
The global container shipping market is expected to report a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 4% from 2019 – 2027. The market worldwide was estimated to be worth approximately USD 8.7 billion in 2019; it may grow to more than about USD 12 billion by 2027, however.
