INFOGRAPHICS. American and European ports have recorded a sharp decline in container activity in 2023. Their Asian counterparts, on the other hand, are maintaining a good momentum.1/ The world's Top 20
In 2023, the world's top 20 ports generated cumulative traffic of 387.5 million TEUs, up by 1.24% on the previous year. Growth was clearly driven by Asia, with 15 ports in the Top 20 in 2023including a newcomer, Beibu Gulf. The year was also marked by the entry into the ranking of Africa's leading port, Tanger Med. The strong growth of Beibu Gulf and Tanger Med illustrates the trend towards the regionalization of supply chains: the former is strongly positioned for China-ASEAN trade, and the latter is particularly well placed as a gateway to Europe, as North Africa is one of the nearshoring locations for the European market.
Data source: port authorities.
Chinese ports remain the uncontested leaders of the world Top 20, retaining 4 of the top 5 places and 7 of the top 10. Beibu Gulf, which has experienced very strong growth over the past two years, joins the Top 20 in 19th place. The 9 Chinese ports in the Top 20 represent 54.8% of the combined traffic of the ranking ports. The figures of two Chinese ports are down: Shenzhen, with a slight decline of 0.5%, but more significantly, Hong Kong, where container traffic contracted by 14% after having already fallen by 6.9% in 2022. Hong Kong thus drops a place and now closes the Top 10. In 2023, it was overtaken by Jebel Ali, which rises from 11th to 9th position. Singapore and Busan complete the "non-Chinese" trio in the top 10, maintaining their respective positions of 2nd and 7th.
Europe, on the other hand, no longer has a port in the Top 10. Rotterdam, which had managed to hold on to 10th place for several years, has dropped to 12th place due to the superior performances of Jebel Ali and Port Kelang. Antwerp-Bruges, the second-ranked European port in the Top 20, has also dropped two places.
Finally, the United States’ ports had a particularly difficult year, with most of them recording double-digit declines. Los Angeles is the only remaining US port in the Top 20. Tangier Med and Beibu Gulf, which recorded strong growth, have entered the ranking pushing out Long Beach and New York. As far as Long Beach is concerned, if we add its traffic to that of Los Angeles, we obtain a total of 16.7 million TEUs (-12.6%), which places this port in 9th position in the world. New York, whose activity had been boosted in 2022 by a transfer of traffic linked to the congestion in the ports on the western seaboard, saw a sharp decline in 2023, following a return to a more normal situation
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