China pulls ahead in container volume stakes

China’s volumes rose to 164m teu last year. If Hong Kong’s volumes are included, this total would rise to 188m teu, almost equal to the combined 193m teu container volumes of the next ten largest countries. Overall, the combined China and Hong Kong total grew by an average of 8% per year during the period 2008-2011 – the highest growth rate amongst the main container regions in the world.

While most regions have recovered strongly from the 2009 slump, both North America and Europe have yet to fully regain their pre-crisis volumes. North American volumes were particularly hard hit, with aggregate volumes falling by 1.2% per annum during the 2007-2011 period. European volumes grew by only 0.7% in the same period driven mainly by Russia, which grew by 7.3%.

Most other major European countries recorded low or negative growth, with Italy and the UK suffering the largest declines; Italian port volumes fell from 10.6m teu in 2007 to 9.5m teu, while UK ports volumes declined from 9m teu to 8.2m teu in the same period.