Solid growth in global trade volumes in 2018 pushed the total container throughput of the 50 busiest cargo ports in the world up 4.6 percent year over year to almost half a trillion TEU, according to the JOC Top 50 Container Ports 2018 rankings.

The Port of Shanghai maintained its top spot on the list, reporting a 4.4 percent increase in container volume to just over 42 million TEU, more than four times the 9.5 million TEU handled by the busiest North American port, Los Angeles. Coming in at No. 2, the Port of Singapore reported the highest growth rate of any port in the top 20, increasing throughput 8.7 percent to 36.6 million TEU for the year.

JOC.com’s annual Top 50 Global Container Ports ranking is assembled using throughput data from port authorities, IHS Markit, and maritime industry analyst Alphaliner. IHS Markit is the parent company of JOC.com. The figures are expressed in millions of TEU, the most common measurement of containerized ocean shipping. One standard 40-foot ocean container equals two TEU. Non-containerized cargoes — i.e. dry bulk, liquid bulk, roll-on/roll-off (ro-ro), and oversized/heavy-lift project freight — are not included.

JOC Top 50 GLOBAL CONTAINER PORTS 2018

JOC Top 50 GLOBAL CONTAINER PORTS 2017

JOC TOP 50 GLOBAL CONTAINER PORTS 2016

JOC TOP 50 GLOBAL CONTAINER PORTS 2015

JOC TOP 50 GLOBAL CONTAINER PORTS 2014