Container volume at major Chinese ports declined 8.9% in Q1

Meanwhile the overall cargo throughput of major Chinese coastal ports declined 3.5%.

According to the statistics released by China Ports & Harbors Association, the eight major Chinese ports posted a throughput of 37.63m teu container in Q1, a decline of 8.9% year-on-year.

Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, the container throughput in February dropped by 19.8% while the volume in January and March declined 3.1% and 5.6% respectively.

The COVID-19 epidemic seriously impacted the foreign trade container business. In February the container volume of major international liner services at coastal hub ports declined 19.1% year-on-year.

Among them, volume of the North-US routes dropped 24.3%; European routes dropped 14%; Japan/South Korea routes dropped 24.6%. The situation improved in March, however, the numbers for North-US and Japan/South Korea routes declined 15.1% and 12.7% respectively.

The major ports along Yangtze river recorded container volumes of 1.05m teu and 45.06m tons cargo volume in Q1, a declined of 16.8% and 8.8% year-on-year respectively.

The association forecasts continued declined on port cargo volume in Q2, and a shortage of cargo resources will be the common challenge for domestic ports.