Growth of container throughput rising at major Chinese ports

In February, ports in China followed the strong start to the new year, with a rise in cargo throughput.

Cargo throughput at ports rose 12.34 percent year-on-year to 18.07 million tons, and container throughput increased 47.54 percent to 351,300 units, according to Beibu Gulf Port.

In February, the foreign trade container business in China's top eight ports remained strong. Foreign trade container throughput increased 65.5 percent and the container throughput for domestic trade increased 43 percent year on year. Even with the impact of the pandemic, the increase of the container business reached 9 percent this year compared with the same period in 2019, according to a report from China Ports & Harbors Association.

The growth rate of container throughput at the port of Shenzhen exceeded 100 percent, while in Shanghai it increased by nearly 90 percent. In order to alleviate the shortage of empty containers, liner companies have been working hard to dispatch empty containers but the overall supply is still tight, China Ports & Harbors Association said.

Since February, activity at ports in the Yangtze River area has remained stable. The port throughput was supported by increasing demand for inventory replenishment before the Spring Festival.