The Middle East’s largest container port, Dubai/Jebel Ali, has re-entered the top 10 ranking of global container ports, overtaking Europe’s biggest port & demonstrating the scale of economic slump in Europe.
Dubai overtook two of its nearest competitors in 2023 to make the top 10, a position it previously occupied in 2018. As earlier predicted by Alphaliner, it moved ahead of Hong Kong, which posted its 7th year of consecutive volume declines, and has now lost a third of its container traffic over the past decade.
It also overtook Rotterdam, which had moved ahead of Dubai in 2019, but lost 7% in container volumes in 2023, to add to the 6% decline in ’22. The Dutch port has been hit by the near loss of Russian cargo and a major contraction in European consumer demand. Volumes are now 9% below 2019 levels.
Source: Alphaliner
