February 2020 already gloomy, says Drewry
British maritime consultancy Drewry reports that its global container port throughput index fell to 108 points in February 2020, 15.6% down month on month and 4.4% down year on year.
The index plunged 20 points, which is the largest fall in a single month since the launch of the Drewry container port throughput index in January 2012.
Although volumes in February have usually been low because of the Chinese New Year, this year the steepness of the fall can be attributed to the coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak which began to spread in China in January 2020, and by February 2020 it had started impacting port throughputs.
China, the largest region in the index, crashed 45 points in a single month – the largest ever monthly fall. The drop to 91 points in February 2020 was a decline of 32.9% on a monthly basis and 16.4% annually. (mw)