Alphaliner’s mid-year review of the top-30 leading container ports shows carriers and shippers increasingly returned to ports on the US West Coast in the first half of the year as the region reduced its congestion and the Red Sea crisis put added pressure on East Coast gateways.
The key West Coast port of Los Angeles/Long Beach (LA/LB) recorded throughput growth of 7.5% in the latest half-year period to 9.7 Mteu – its highest January-June figure since 2022.
On the other hand, the east coast ports of New York and New Jersey (NY/NJ) managed growth of 4.9%, taking totals to 4.4 Mteu for the first half of the year. July – which saw massive imports on both coasts as shippers tried to beat the imposition of tariffs – also saw higher growth for LA/LB than NY/NJ.
Logging the largest year-on-year increase in the top-30 was Malaysia’s Tanjung Pelepas. Terminal operator PTP, a joint venture of MMC Corp and Maersk’s APM Terminals, saw growth of 15.4% after the new Gemini Cooperation opted to make the port its hub on the headhaul leg of Far East-Europe services.
According to CEO Mark Hardiman, Gemini volumes now represent around 60% of throughput. Malaysia’s second largest gateway, Port Kelang, recorded growth of 2.9%.
Following several years of declines, Europe’s third largest port Hamburg reported a 9.3% leap in throughput in H1. Growth was primarily generated by the Far East (+10.7%, notably from Malaysia which benefited from tariff-motivated transshipment, India and China) and the Baltic Sea (+20.8%, notably Denmark, Finland and Poland).
Source: Alphaliner
