What the World’s Busiest Ports Say About Trade

Since the pandemic, global shipping supply lines have not returned to normal. One result was some surprises in Lloyd’s list of One Hundred Ports 2024.

The Busiest Ports

Summarizing its report, Lloyd’s begins by telling us that 2023 was a year of “muted volume growth.” The big news was that China and the Middle East dominated the top 10 as traffic shifted away from places like Rotterdam and the U.S.:

For China, the end of Covid restrictions spurred its burst of activity. At the same time, Middle East ports were increasingly busy with oil exporting nations repositioning the group as they tried to diversify their economies. Unlike China, the end of the pandemic diminished U.S. shipping traffic and left an inventory build-up. As a result, Los Angeles slipped to #18 (from 16), Long Beach, #21, (from 19) and NY/NJ, #22 (from 17). Meanwhile, the Ukraine war, inflation, and high interest rates increasingly diminished European port activity as the year unfolded.

Our Bottom Line: China Shipping: Detours and Pivots

As the U.S. tries to reduce its trade with China, the statistics say that China’s share of the world’s container trade continues to rise. At 41.3%, volume is up from 40.2% in 2022 and 36.6% in 2013. Much less, North America’s share was 7.6% and Europe’s, 7.3%.:

Bloomberg gives us two reasons for China’s continued ascent. The first we could call detours. After a stopover in emerging economies like Mexico or Vietnam, China is sidestepping U.S. tariffs as their goods head for the U.S. At the same time, through subsidies, they are pivoting from textiles and toys to higher value-added goods like computers and electric vehicles.

So still, according to an August 2024 research report from Lazard Political Advisory, “China is largely undiminished as an industrial and manufacturing powerhouse.” However, as we will consider tomorrow, the Lazard Report shows how global trade is changing.

My sources and more: Thanks to Bloomberg radio for alerting me to the Lloyd’s busiest shippers list. Happily, their Supply Lines newsletter had more detail as did Lloyd’s. Then, recalling a recent BBC/Business Daily podcast on Red Sea delays, I suggest another shipping reality check

In our featured image, you can see the Panama Canal.