Drewry publihsed its lates Container Port Throughput Index, which fell by 2.5% to 137.6 points, down from the all-time high of 141 points recorded in March 2021.
Specifically, April 2021 saw the Global Container Port Throughput index slip back by 2.5% to 137.6 points, down from the all-time high of 141 points recorded in March 2021. Yearly growth of 13.8% reinstates the fact that volume recovery is well underway. While consumer demand continues to surge back towards pre-pandemic levels, challenges such as the grounding of the Ever Given in the Suez Canal and on-going equipment imbalances are holding back port volume growth.
In fact, the Chinese index reached 147.1 points in April 2021, representing approximately 12% annual growth, but stable month-on-month. The top five Chinese ports reported steady growth with Ningbo leading with 20% annual and 9% monthly growth.
The index for Asia fell slightly by 4.3% to 131.9 points in April 2021. This is after it reached its highest-ever level of 137.9 points in March 2021. Most of the ports have registered nil to negative month-on-month growth primarily due to clearance cargo backlogs in March.
As for the Middle East and South Asia region, the index reported a negative 5.3% monthly and positive 22.2% annual growth in April 2021. The two largest Indian ports, Jawaharlal Nehru and Mundra, continue to register year-on-year growth with JNPT registering 65% and Mundra 117% increases respectively.
Regarding the North America index, it dipped by 6.1% monthly to 156.5 points. This was however 25.3% higher than in April 2020, when activity had dropped because of the lockdown measures introduced in response to the first-wave Covid outbreak. The top three ports of the region – Port of New York, Long Beach and Los Angeles registered a huge annual growth of 27%, 44% and 37% respectively.
In addition, the European Port Throughput index also fell 1.9% to 122.5 points, due to the impact of delayed vessel arrivals after the grounding of the Ever Given in late March. While the 9% year-on-year improvement indicates demand recovery in the European market, it is noticeable that the index has yet to exceed the pre-pandemic high of 126.7 points recorded in May 2019, suggesting that Covid continues to drag on the region’s economics.
The Latin American index dipped 3% in April 2021 to 123.8 points, but was 9.6% higher than in April 2020. Santos, the largest gateway port in the region, reported a positive 7% increase over April 2020, but volumes declined by 13% compared to March 2021.
FInally, Oceania’s index fell slightly to 134.9 in April 2021, down from the 141 points recorded in March 2021. The Africa region index recovered strongly by 39.6% annually and 6.7% monthly in April 2021. Some of the South African Hubs recorded strong growth in April throughputs.
However, we advise caution when considering the Africa index as it is based on small sample size
Drewry concluded.
