According to monitoring by the China Ports and Ports Association, in early December, the cargo throughput of major coastal hub ports increased by 1.7% year-on-year, of which foreign trade cargo throughput fell by 1.8% year-on-year; Yangtze River port production continued to maintain a good trend, and hub port throughput increased year-on-year 12.3%.
Picture from Ningbo Zhoushan Port
Data show that foreign trade containers in China’s eight major hub ports are showing a rebound trend. In early December, the container throughput of the eight major hub ports increased by 3.1% year-on-year, basically the same as the previous period.
Among them, foreign trade container throughput increased by 4.8% year-on-year, 1 percentage point faster than the previous period, showing a rebound trend. Domestic trade container throughput fell by 1.6% year-on-year.
Looking at different ports, the container throughput of Shanghai and Shenzhen ports increased by more than 10%.
As my country’s import and export demand continues to grow, the performance of many Chinese ports performed well in December operating data.
As of early December this year, the annual container throughput of Shanghai Port has exceeded 40 million TEU (International TEU). This is the first time since it exceeded 40 million TEU in the world in 2017. The annual container throughput of Shanghai Port exceeded the 40 million TEU mark for the fourth consecutive time.
The real-time container production data of Ningbo Zhoushan Port reached 7,534,917 TEUs at 0:25 a.m. on December 15, which means that the port’s container throughput has exceeded last year’s total. quantity.
However, monitoring data from the China Ports and Ports Association also shows that the shortage of foreign trade containers in China has not yet been alleviated.
Since July, China’s export volume has increased sharply. Both the maritime market and the China-Europe train market have seen shortages of containers, soaring freight rates, and delayed turnover.
Statistical data from the China Container Association shows that China’s export containers are mainly met in two ways: empty old containers after unloading at the port, and new containers made by Chinese container manufacturers. .
Usually, the storage scale of used containers unloaded at ports is about 4 million TEU, and the storage scale of new containers accounts for 10%-20%. The total annual output of Chinese container manufacturing enterprises Sales volume is 2-3 million TEU. Therefore, the unloading of old containers at ports is the main source of supply of containers for export in my country.
The China Container Association analyzes that the main reason for my country’s current shortage of export containers is that overseas epidemics have led to serious stranding of overseas empty containers, which has reduced container turnover efficiency.
Since this year, the inventory of empty used containers at China’s major foreign trade container ports has continued to decline due to factors such as export growth and restrictions on the return of empty containers from overseas. Seven major foreign trade container ports The inventory of empty used containers continued to decrease from approximately 3.05 million TEU at the end of February 2020 to approximately 1.85 million TEU at the end of October. The data at the end of October decreased by 26% compared with the same period in the past five years.
Currently, my country can only return 1 out of 3 containers exported. A large number of empty containers are backlogged in the United States, Europe, Australia and other places, and there is also a shortage of containers in Asia. Containers that usually can be returned within 60 days have now been delayed to 100 days, and the cost of renting containers has also increased by about 150%.
The return flow of containers exported from China to various parts of the world is not smooth, resulting in a serious imbalance in the distribution of containers around the world, and also causing domestic and foreign ports to face different challenges.
On the one hand, in China’s large ports, due to the extreme shortage of containers, the berthing operations of some ships have been delayed and the ports are under pressure; on the other hand, on the other side of the distant ocean, many European and American ports have However, due to the surge in the number of containers, a destination port has experienced severe congestion.
For example, data from the Ningbo Shipping Exchange shows that from December 5th to 11th, due to congestion at destination ports in North America, shipping schedule delays were serious, and some voyages were forced to merge. The overall transport capacity has been reduced, the shortage of space has further intensified at the end of the year, and the freight rate in the North American route market has remained high.
This imbalance has further exacerbated the challenges facing the global supply chain. The latest statistics released by the Shanghai Shipping Exchange show that in November, the comprehensive punctuality index of global trunk routes was 34.99%, which is the lowest value since statistics were collected in 2019, and the month-on-month decline narrowed after three consecutive months. Again relax. At the same time, in November, the liner punctuality rate of the world’s 50 largest ports dropped significantly.
China’s Shenzhen Port, Shanghai Port, and Ningbo Zhoushan Port are among the top three in terms of comprehensive service levels.
The picture comes from Shanghai Shipping Exchange
It is worth noting that for the emergence of foreign trade logistics Container shortages, skyrocketing freight rates and other issues, my country’s Ministry of Commerce spokesperson Gao Feng pointed out at a press conference on December 3 that the Ministry of Commerce will work with relevant departments to increase shipping capacity, support accelerating container return, and improve operating efficiency. Support container manufacturing companies in expanding production capacity.
Gao Feng pointed out that China’s foreign trade is continuing to stabilize and improve, which has played an important role in ensuring the stability of global industrial and supply chains and promoting the recovery of the world economy. However, the current international demand is generally sluggish. , there are still congestion points in the industrial chain and supply chain circulation, trade protectionism is on the rise, and China’s foreign trade development still faces many uncertain and unstable factors. </p
