SHENZHEN Port ranked fourth in the world’s top 30 container ports with a throughput of 28.76 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in 2021, up by 8.3 percent year on year, a release by consultancy Alphaliner showed recently.
Ten out of the top 30 ports are in China, with Shanghai ranking first, Ningbo-Zhoushan at third, Shenzhen at fourth, Guangzhou-Nanhsa at fifth, Qingdao at sixth, Tianjin at eighth, Hong Kong at 10th, Xiamen at 14th, Kaohsiung at 17th and Yingkou at 30th. Among them, seven entered the world’s top 10, showing China’s dominance in terms of TEU throughput.
The top 30 ports handled 450 million TEUs in 2021, up 6.5 percent year on year. Mega Asian ports accounted for 77 percent of last year’s top 30, with China alone handling almost half, or 47 percent, of the total volume. Long reigning and top-ranking Shanghai continued to lead the pack, with nearly 10 million TEUs ahead of its nearest competitor, Singapore, according to Alphaliner.
Shanghai Port’s container throughput was expected to reach 50 million TEUs, specifically reaching 47.02 million TEUs in 2021, becoming the world’s first port to hit that benchmark.
Singapore Port’s TEU throughput reached pre-pandemic levels with 37 million TEUs handled. Ningbo-Zhoushan Port reached 31.08 million TEUs, narrowing its gap with Singapore and exceeding the 30-million throughput benchmark.
Ports in Europe handled 12 percent of the volume of the world’s top 30 ports, the U.S. handled 8 percent and the Middle East handled 3 percent. The U.S. has three ports on the ranking with the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach at ninth, New York and New Jersey at 18th, and Savannah, Georgia at 28th.
According to Alphaliner, Shanghai, Los Angeles and Long Beach, Ningbo-Zhoushan, Shenzhen, and Tianjin were the big winners in terms of throughput increase in 2021.