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Quarterly cargo at big ports worldwide up 6.4pc to 1.52 billion tons

THE world's top three ports by cargo volume retained their rankings with Shanghai up 16.7 per cent, Ningbo-Zhoushan up 11.3 per cent and Singapore up seven per cent, according to the Shanghai International Shipping Institute's global third quarter report for 2017.

Notably, Tangshan port experienced a spike in cargo throughput, growing 16.5 per cent in the third quarter and lifting it two places from sixth to fourth place in the rankings, and pushing Tianjin down to eighth place as the major commodities port was hit by the ban on road transport of coal.

In the third quarter, cargo throughput at the world's major ports rose by 6.4 per cent year on year to 1.52 billion tons, but the growth rate was slightly weaker when compared to the previous quarter's growth of 6.8 per cent.

Domestic trade cargo throughput in the third quarter increased at ports in China, as did overall trade in South Korea. In the container segment, throughput increased at North American ports while growth stagnated in Europe due to the realignment of the mega shipping alliances' service network on various trade routes, reported Colchester's Seatrade Maritime News.

Highlighting various trends from the third quarter figures, SISI noted that among the major US ports, Long Beach and Vancouver displayed outstanding performance, recording double-digit growth rates to record third quarter container throughput of 2.1 million TEU and 856,000 TEU respectively.

North America's other major ports kept pace with Virginia up 5.85 per cent, Houston up 6.29 per cent and Montreal up 5.77 per cent.

European ports were hurt by the ongoing reorganisation of alliances, causing congestion at Rotterdam and Antwerp with barges waiting as much as 48 to 120 hours.

This resulted in third quarter throughput falling 4.4 per cent in Rotterdam and 2.4 per cent in Antwerp from the previous quarter.

Port efficiency at European ports dropped and overall throughput growth slid to 1.1 per cent, down 3.3 percentage points quarter on quarter.

China's major ports saw domestic cargo volumes rise 8.9 per cent year on year in the third quarter. SISI attributed the strong growth to ongoing government reforms in the domestic trade market and the development of the Yangtze River and coastal water transport networks under the Yangtze River Economic Belt national strategy.

Another key trend is the robust growth at major South Korean ports, with volumes up 8.8 per cent to 385 million tons. This attributed to improving environment for foreign trade and more favourable conditions for imports and exports in South Korea, SISI said.

Imports outpaced exports, with the latter growing 4.2 per cent to 106 million tons and import cargo throughput rose 8.8 per cent to 209 million tons. Among the 13 major export categories, steel and petrochemicals achieved double-digit growth rates, although all export categories also rose.

Finally, in the major bulk trades, the drop in China's iron ore demand had a negative impact on the growth rates of iron ore throughput of Australian ports, with major iron ore port, Hedland port, only recording one per cent growth in the third quarter.