Chinese Ports’ container volumes rise 7.6% in 2021

The container throughput of Chinese ports for the period between January and November of 2021 stood at 259.7 million TEU, which translates to an increase of 7.6%, compared to the same period of the previous year.

Regarding the cargo volume of Chinese ports, it was 14,207.6 million tons, elevated by 7.2% year on year, according to China's Ministry of Transport.

The chart below shows the container and cargo throughput data of the eight major ports in China, for the period between January and November.

Among them, the Port of Dalian represents the largest year-on-year decrease at 34%, while Beibu Gulf Port reported the biggest growth in container traffic over the corresponding period of 2020, which amounted to 18.6%.

In terms of container freight rates, the average value of the Ningbo Container Freight index (NCFI) in December was quoting 4,104.3 points, a slight increase of 3.3% compared to last month.

This number, however, reflects a jump of 95.7% compared to last year's December, as seen below.

From Ningbo to the North America route, the fundamentals of supply and demand were tight, most of the voyages departing with full loads and the market freight rate remained high.

The average freight rate of 40' general-purpose containers from the Port of Ningbo to Los Angeles and New York in December was US$7,676 and US$9,278, respectively, which is an increase of 3.2% and 4.9% month-on-month.

The largest month-on-month increase in NCFI in December, which was observed in trade between Ningbo and Singapore and Malaysia, amounted to more than 54.5% compared to November, at 4,203.8 points.

In the meantime, the largest month-on-month decline in Ningbo Containerized Freight Index was between Ningbo and South Africa, to 7.43% at 5,776.7 points.

Regarding the year-on-year figures, the value of the Ningbo Container Freight index (NCFI) has presented an increase of more than 100% in most cases, with the largest development of 127.1% seen in trade with Noth Africa, and the smaller one of almost 24.6%, registered in trade with West Africa.