Global port cargo throughput growth in 2025

Recording a second year of solid growth, the figure was above the 4.7% in- crease seen in the general container trade. This reflected the serious operation- al disruption seen during the year, including largescale re-routing and supply- chain disorder. The threat - and temporary imposition in April - of US tariffs resulted in major cargo redistribution, particularly in Southeast Asia, while the ongoing effect of the Red Sea closure continued to divert cargo to other ports.

Transshipment gateways have been the main beneficiary of this disruption, no- tably ports such as Singapore, Tanjung Pelepas and Colombo in Asia, and Tan- ger Med and Valencia in the Mediterranean.
Malaysia’s Tanjung Pelepas was the overwhelming winner during the year, recording growth of 14.5% or nearly 1.8 Mteu, and rising three places in the rankings from 16th to 13th place.
Port volumes are now nearly 55% higher than before COVID, as cargo transshipment has shifted from the Middle East/Red Sea to South- east Asia.
Similarly, Singapore registered growth of 8.6%, greater than that of its nearest competitor Shanghai, while the port of Colombo again was an important redistribution point, with volumes rising 6.5% during the year. India’s Nhava Sheva reported robust growth of 12.6% after its Phase-2 expansion added some 2.4 Mteu of capacity.

Geopolitical events also influenced key US and Middle East ports. Volume growth at Los Angeles/Long Beach was far below the interna- tional average, at less than 1%, as US tariff policy deterred ship- ments into the country. New York/New Jersey also registered below average growth of 2.3% for the year. Meanwhile, the primary Persian Gulf container hub Jebel Ali saw traffic stall at 15.5 Mteu, effectively unchanged on 2024, as carriers diverted to safer ports.
In the Mediterranean, Tanger Med continued its extraordinary rise, with annual throughput rising above 11.0 Mteu for the first time, up more than 8% on the previous year, and boosted by the launch of the last phase of its Terminal TC4 operated by APM Terminals.

Port volumes in China (excluding Hong Kong) also grew at a much quicker pace in 2025, registering a growth rate of 8.3% in 2025, up from 3.5% a year earlier, driven principally by activity at the country’s top-10 ports.
Perennial loser Hong Kong continued its decline, dropping from 13th to 15th place in the rankings, while volumes for Taiwan’s Kaohsiung fell below 9.0 Mteu, pushing the port down from 19th to 22nd place globally.