LLOYD’S List has released its yearly One Hundred Container Ports 2024 list, ranking the top 100 container ports worldwide by total yearly throughput.

Though last year’s combined throughput tally reached over 690 million TEU, up 0.8% from 685 million TEU in 2022’s elite port performance, Lloyd’s has referred to a “muted” growth figure, down on the previous year’s of 1.7%.

China and the Middle East’s major ports saw the lead share of the growth percentage, as China’s key export centres saw business roll on, with trade activity boosted by the full lifting of pandemic border measures during the early stages of 2023.

In the Middle East, volume growth was reported across much of the region, though this was especially prevalent among the major oil-exporting nations, where a concerted effort to diversify economies continues to provide robust demand for containerised trade.

Port of Melbourne and Sydney’s Port Botany both featured on the list again, placing 66th and 77th in the rankings respectively, despite both seeing a decreased throughput for 2023, and both ports falling from last years rankings.

Melbourne’s throughput fell by 5.9% from 2022 to 2023, with Lloyd’s pointing to rising interest rates, inflation, and cost-of-living pressures having hit consumer spending, and thus throughput at Australia’s largest box port.

In Sydney, strikes, protests, and a tougher economy were said to have taken their toll on Port Botany’s throughput, with 2023 TEU down a considerable 7.8% from 2022.

In the United States the performances were similarly unfavourable, with every major port in the country experiencing a decreased TEU.

Los Angeles and Long Beach saw a decreased 2023 throughput of 12.9% and 12.2% respectively, while New York & New Jersey saw TEU fall by a whopping 17.7%. For New York & New Jersey, the decline was attributed to an inventory hangover following the COVID-era shipping boom in the region.

Continuing the trend of flagging TEU across the west’s major box ports, Europe saw ordinary performances, with Rotterdam falling out of the top ten for TEU, and Antwerp-Bruges and Hamburg both down on volume.

Geopolitical challenges were mentioned as a key factor for the major European ports’ numbers, including for Rotterdam, where Russian sanctions took their toll on container volumes, according to Lloyd’s. The world’s top five box ports remained in the same order from 2022 to 2023, with Singapore, Busan, and Dubai the only non-Chinese ports to feature in the top ten.