Ports show slow, stable growth in Q3

News 29 Dec 2016 by WCN Editorial

The Shanghai Shipping Institute reports that global container volume was up 2.2% over the first three quarters of 2016.

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In its recently published Global Port Development Report of Q3 2016, the Shanghai International Shipping Institute notes that global GDP increased 2.8% in Q3, but ports “maintained slow growth in general”. Measured by total tonnage, port throughput declined 1.26% in Q3 compared to Q2, but container traffic managed an increase of 2.74% over the same period.

“In Q3, global terminal operators continued the stable development momentum. Chinese COSCO Shipping Ports Limited and China Merchants Port Holdings Company Limited maintained the accelerated growth, while other foreign terminal operators, except DP World, all enjoyed positive growth rates,” the report noted.

When looking at equity throughput, the Institute reported “the overall throughput growth of terminal operators in this quarter was still faster than that last year. The profitability of global terminal operators was in good shape and it is expected that global terminal operators may continue the stable development of throughput in future.”

Looking at China specifically, there was some cause for optimism in Q3: “ the economic downward pressure was mitigated as the accumulated policy effects began to show, the real estate market heated up and the raw materials industry recovered. The growth rates of China’s ports of a designated scale or above picked up. In this quarter, the cargo throughput growth of China’s ports of a designated scale or above registered 2.07%, outperforming the previous quarter slightly. To be specific, the cargo throughputs of coastal and inland ports of a designated scale or above increased by 3.00% and 0.11% respectively”.

In the container sector, China’s ports “above a designated scale” handled 56.5M TEU in Q3, a YoY increase of 5.44%. South Korean ports experienced a 1.68% drop in volume to 6.47M TEU, while Hong Kong suffered a 6.57% drop comparing Q3 2016 to Q3 2015. Europe recorded a marginal increase in container traffic in Q3, up 0.57%.

Closing on the domestic Chinese market, the report ends on pessimistic tone. The Institute notes that growth rates at China’s large ports “keep declining”. This, it added means “China’s port enterprises faced an increasing stress of profitability in Q3 2016 and its revenue margin was narrowing. Except Shanghai International Port (Group), Dalian Port, Shenzhen Chiwan A, Yantian Port and Nanjing Port (Group) which enjoyed positive growth in revenues, all other ports presented negative growth.”