WASHINGTON: The Port of Shanghai in China remained the world’s biggest container port for the second year in a row in 2015, according to statistics compiled by the Journal of Commerce. Shanghai increased its lead over second-place Singapore—which for years was the busiest port in the world as well as in Asia, by some 5.6 million TEUs (20-foot container equivalent) over 2014, handling more than 36.5 million TEUs.
The journal attributed much of the difference, however, to a slowdown in Singapore brought about by declining Asia-Europe trade rather than growth in Shanghai. Container shipment volumes fell for the fourth consecutive year in Singapore in 2014, the magazine said.
In a report earlier in the year, Fitch-owned BMI Research concluded Singapore was unlikely to regain its position as Asia’s biggest transshipment hub, as it has largely reached its capacity. “For the port of Singapore to retain its position as the premier Asian transhipment hub and battle the port of Shanghai for first position, Singapore must continue to expand and keep up with shipping trends,” BMI wrote.
All ten of the biggest container ports in 2015 were located in Asia, and the only one of the top 10 located outside East or Southeast Asia was Dubai’s Jebel Ali. Including Hong Kong, seven of the top 10 ports were located in China. The Port of Manila ranked 35th on the list of the 50 biggest ports, handling 4.23 million TEU of cargo in 2015.
