The Global Port Development Report (2014) issued by Shanghai International Shipping Institute (SISI) on April 10, 2015 points out that in 2014, container shipping volumes, which relied on the trading of high value-added commodities, grew rapidly, forming a sharp contrast with the growth rate-declining international staple bulk cargo trade.
In 2014, the throughput growth rate of major global ports declined to 4.3% from 5.1% in 2013. The throughput in the whole year of 2014 showed a smiling curve trend. The trade structural transformation accelerated global ports' trend to enter the low-speed stable-growth development channel.
Major European ports achieved a year-on-year increase of 3.7% in cargo throughput, setting a new high in recent years.
Throughput growth at major ports in Asia in 2014 was 4.2%, a decrease of 1.8%, which maintains single-digit growth. In addition, the cargo throughput growth rate at ports in Australia in 2014 was still maintained at a high level of 9.1%, although its growth rate slowed down compared with that of 2013.
China's ports achieved a cargo throughput figure of around 10.1 billion tonnes, a year-on-year growth of 4.8% and a growth rate decrease of 4.1% points from 2013.
It is expected that continuous improvement of the economic and trade environment will sustain constant and stable growth of port trade. The growth rate of global port throughput in 2015 will still stay at around 4%.
The growth rate of container throughput at global ports in 2015 is expected to be maintained at over 5%, with global bulk cargo trade being maintained at a high level, but with a further slowdown of growth.
