Have you ever wondered where the largest 6 shipping ports in terms of turnover are located?
This blog is about that. Now you have the chance to be covered out! The handling capacity of each port mentioned below is measured in terms of TEU (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units), derived from the measurements of a standard shipping container which is approximately 20 feet long, 8 feet wide and 8 feet tall.
RThe title is held by Shanghai, which has been the world’s busiest container port since 2010 when they overtook Singapore. In 2020, the port handled 43.5 million TEU of containers, 6.9 million more than Singapore. The port covers an area of 3,619.6km² along the 18,000km-long Chinese coastline. The Port of Shanghai is critically important for the economy and foreign trade and in fact considered to be the world’s fastest-growing economy.
Singapore Port makes it into second place, as it reached 36.6 million TEU of containers last year. A third of the world’s shipping containers are transshipped here, along with half of the world’s crude oil. In the first half of 2021 alone, Singapore handled more TEU of containers (24.83 million) than Guangzhou (number 5 on this list) handled last year in total, showing the capabilities of the port. A “mega” port is currently being constructed at the site, which will be able to handle nearly 65 million TEUs annually, which will put them in the top spot.
The Port of Ningbo-Zhoushan in Eastern China is at the crossroads of the north-south inland and coastal shipping route. This port makes it into the top 3 in our list, as it handled 28.72 million TEU of containers in 2020. Ningbo-Zhoushan is involved in the trade of raw materials and goods from North and South America and Oceania. The port handles a significant amount of cargo throughput, hitting over 100 million tons a year.
The Port of Shenzhen is one of the busiest and fastest-growing container ports in the world and is home to many shipping companies as well as being used for passenger ferry services across the Pearl River Delta. Shenzhen handled 26.55 million TEU of containers in the previous year despite facing various challenges associated with the pandemic.
The Port of Guangzhou is the largest comprehensive port in South China, as its trade reaches over 300 ports in over 80 countries worldwide. In 2020, Guangzhou handled 23.19 million TEU of containers, making it into the top 5 on our list. The port serves as an important centre for the Pearl River Delta region and the Guangdong province as they handle a range of products such as oil, coal, grain, steel ore and automobiles.
The Port of Qingdao is located in the Shandong Province of China, and it has four main sections to the port. Qingdao handled 22.0 million TEU of containers in 2020 and in 2019, the port’s cargo throughput exceeded 515 million tons, which was an increase of 6.1% from the previous year. The main operations of the port include handling imports and exports of containers, crude oil, coal, iron ore, grain and passenger services.
