The Drewry Container Port Throughput Indices are a series of volume growth/decline indices based on monthly throughput data for a sample of over 235 ports worldwide, representing over 75% of global volumes. The base point for the indices is January 2012 = 100.

Drewry’s latest assessment – October 2021

• After remaining at 139 points for two consecutive months of June and July 2021, the Drewry global port throughput index has increased by two points in August 2021. Throughput across the global sample was 3.5% higher compared to August 2020, and 3.9% higher than reported in August 2019.

• After witnessing a decline in July 2021, the largest region China bounced back and witnessed a monthly increase of 3.4%, with Shanghai volumes recovering following the 4-day closure of the port by Typhoon In-fa in late July, and Ningbo showing resilience despite the closure of Meishan terminal due to a Covid-19 outbreak. The China ports index stood at 153.2 points in August 2021, more than 9 points (6.3%) higher than recorded in August 2019.

• Strong consumer demand resulted in North America reporting the largest annual increase of 10.2%, with the index reaching 165 points in August 2021 despite the rising congestion reported across main US ports. This is an 8% improvement over the pre-Covid levels reported in August 2019.
• Africa was the worst performing region in August 2021 with a 10% monthly and 2% annual decline. However, we advise caution due to the small sample size for Africa region. Oceania witnessed a 1.4% annual and 3.8% monthly decline in August 2021, but the index is 10.2% higher than in August 2019.