China ports near 150 million TEU in first half of the year

According to newly disclosed data, container traffic in China’s ports increased by 4.8 per cent year-on-year (YoY) from January to June 2023, totalling 149.2 million TEU.

The cargo volume of Chinese ports was 8.1 billion tonnes in the first half of 2023, an 8 per cent decline YoY.

The chart below shows the cargo throughput and container throughput data of the 12 major ports in China.

The Port of Shanghai, which secured its spot as the world’s busiest port with 43.19 million TEU moved in 2022, witnessed an increase in container volumes of 9.5 per cent YoY from January to June of this year totalling 23.7 million TEU.

The Port of Ningbo-Zhoushan also demonstrated praiseworthy performance by handling a total of 17.6 million TEU in the first half of the year.

In terms of container freight prices, the Ningbo Container Freight Index (NCFI) averaged 679.9 points in July, a 0.7 per cent fall from the previous month.

The volume of cargo departing from the Port of Ningbo-Zhoushan to destinations in the US has increased. Carriers continue to regulate the available shipping capacity in the market, and the freight rate has risen sharply for two consecutive rounds.

According to Ningbo Shipping Exchange, the NCFI sub-line index, that is, both the US West Coast and the US East Coast, had reached new highs for the year as of the end of July.

In June 2023, it was reported that China’s ports saw an increase in container volume from January to April 2023 reaching 95.4 million TEU.