Top 50 Global Container Ports

With North American shippers importing record amounts of Asia-made goods, the largest gains by volume were recorded at the Chinese ports of Shanghai, Ningbo-Zhoushan, and Shenzhen.

Asian gateways continued to increase their dominant share of the global port market in 2019, handling nearly 80 percent of the total throughput of the top 50 container ports worldwide.

Asian gateways continued to dominate the global port market in 2018, handling more than three-quarters of the total throughput of the top 50 container ports worldwide.

Software issues that marred the initial deployment of India’s redesigned port community system have been resolved, but broader stakeholder concerns over data security remain.

The injection of vessels comes as demand growth of Asia-Europe westbound volume slows.

The year 2019 will likely become one of the most consequential in a generation for container shipping; old challenges are off the table, but new ones have replaced them.

Truck shortages, warehouse closures, and too many empty containers have exacerbated terminal and landside congestion.

With 12 container terminals handling more than 16 million TEU per year, including 30,000 gate moves per day, Los Angeles-Long Beach is the nation's most complex port environment.

The annual survey of shipper views on the most important issues in the trans-Pacific trade.

“If a carrier comes with a 30-day transit and they suddenly change to 40 days, we need to know about it one month in advance,” a shipper of medical products said.

The alliance of Hongkong International Terminals, Modern Terminals, COSCO-HIT Terminals (Hong Kong), and Asia Container Terminals is aimed at improving terminal utilization and efficiency.

If there was ever a year when the outlook for reliability in the system was more clouded, 2019 and into 2020 would take the prize.

A global survey of polyethylene production, for 2018 to 2023.

A passel of newly finished and ongoing projects aim to smooth the trucking of cargo in the Northeast US.

The Shenzhen port of Shekou has opened a consolidation center that will ease customs restrictions on China's growing LCL cargo imports.

Here are a few certainties shippers and their transportation providers can bank on for 2019.

Can Mexico’s highways, railways, and related systems improve to handle higher trade volumes?

ONE has cemented its Asia headquarters in Singapore and will gain greater control of its volume in a joint venture terminal deal in the Lion City.

The global shipping lobby is keeping up the pressure on European competition regulators.

Eastbound trans-Pacific spot rates fell for the fourth straight week.

Among other findings, the McKinsey report provided further evidence supporting the thesis that automation technology incorporation in container shipping, and in particular at marine terminals, will likely be part science and part art.

North American ports are implementing extended hours, and a major factor in starting the programs is incontrovertible night trucker demand.

THE Alliance of Hapag-Lloyd, Yang Ming, and Ocean Express Network will be relocating its trans-Atlantic operations from Bremerhaven to Hamburg, a move that Alphaliner has estimated will be worth a substantial number of TEU per year.

Port of Hamburg marketing joint CEO Ingo Egloff said the vital infrastructure project was being blocked by objections from environmental pressure groups, which he said was unacceptable.

The terminal operator at the Port of New York and New Jersey is implementing several measures after a month of longer-than-reasonable turn times for truckers.

Some are predicting a continuation of peak season-like conditions not just through the end of the year but continuing until the Chinese New Year holiday beginning in early February. Beyond that, two sector variables will determine the extent of anticipated first-quarter weakness in spot rates.

The terminal, which does not normally process trucks and containers on the weekend, opened the gates Saturday from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. and plans to do so every Saturday until the end of the year. Furthermore, the first Saturday’s turn time reduction was substantial.

The port said it is working with Maher Terminals and Port Newark Container Terminal, the two terminals in the port that use straddle carriers, to create a vehicle that would be programmed to recharge itself after making a certain number of container moves.

The new ILWU president and his team are certified and now face the challenge of rebuilding the image of West Coast ports for labor reliability, as BCOs still remember the labor disruptions of 2002 and 2014-2015.

The volume increases at Rotterdam and Antwerp come despite a steady decline in container imports from Asia that can be seen in the latest data from Container Trades Statistics.

Shippers were still paying high spot rates, and scheduled deployment of extra-loader vessels indicates carriers believe imports will remain strong into November.

<p>“This is the reality today. We must focus on service levels to make sure terminals are fluid,” Steve Balaski, senior business development manager for containers at the Northwest Seaport Alliance of Seattle and Tacoma, told the recent Western Cargo Conference of freight forwarders and customs brokers.</p>

The new terminal gates at the Port Newark Container Terminal at the Port of New York and New Jersey have helped decrease turn times for trucks moving dry containers by 20 percent, and for refrigerated containers by 50 percent.

PierPass, the oldest extended-gates program in North America, was launched in 2005 to increase throughput capacity at the largest US port complex while diverting a sizable portion of the truck traffic from the peak daytime hours in order to relieve traffic congestion on local freeways and roads.

In the decade ahead, the Port of New York and New Jersey will face intensifying competition — from multiple ports — for discretionary cargo. With the authority’s head of seaport departing, the moment requires the hiring of a leader with in-depth knowledge and experience overseeing container cargo moves through a complex, multimodal system.

As uncertain as trans-Pacific rates have been, they are up 56 percent to the West Coast and 67 percent to the East Coast, compared with early Oct. 2017. However, more price volatility is anticipated as the peak season ends, importers prepare for the Chinese New Year, and proposed 25 percent Trump administration tariffs take effect on Jan. 1.

Tuesday’s job actions prompted an exchange of charges among the parties. The current round of picketing that began on Monday is expected to continue at least through Wednesday.

The Port of New York and New Jersey is looking for ways to increase the storage space for empty rail cars to prevent shortages as discretionary cargo volumes rise.

The port and government officials have created an advisory committee, called the North Atlantic Marine Highway Alliance, to stimulate barge use and reduce truck traffic and the pollution and congestion it creates.

Justice for Port Drivers, a Teamsters-sponsored group that has promoted picketing and other job actions over the past five years, will participate in job actions at the ports, two motor carrier facilities, warehouses, and rail yards beginning Monday morning.