Global ports see steady growth

The report pointed out that weak international trade and the depressing global economic landscape had been major constraints to port development; the average increase in cargo-handling tonnage volumes of the major global ports was maintained at around 6.8% in the first half of the year, down slightly from 7.3% year-on-year. In Europe, ports fared poorly with throughput continuing its downward trend.

In terms of container throughput, global ports maintained a slight growth of 5.81% during the period, with no major variation between the first two quarters. Asia fared well compared with other regions, its 6.8% increase laying a solid foundation for the international steady growth.

Ports in the Far East recorded substantial growth in container throughput compared with other regions, although this narrowed on an annual basis; Chinese ports reported throughput of 84.1m teu, up 8.6% year-on-year but down 5% in terms of growth rate. The slowdown was indirectly caused by weak global demand.