The third quarter of 2023 has witnessed a staggering 26 per cent year-on-year (YoY) plummet in the average call size at major US West Coast ports, revealed S&P Global Ratings.
This revelation comes from S&P’s quarterly analysis on container port performance at the main US, Chinese and Southeast Asian ports.
According to the British financial institution, container movements on ocean-going ships have decreased in all US regions.
S&P further noted that the reduction in demand and call size resulted in considerable improvements in operational performance across all US regions.
Port-moves-per-hour (PMPH) – the number of containers moved per hour a ship stays in port and a crucial metric of port productivity – increased by over 66 per cent YoY in Q3 2023 at Gulf ports, and by more than 90 per cent YoY at major East Coast ports.
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S&P revealed that yard productivity in the US has also risen, with West Coast ports reducing median import and export container dwell time by 30 per cent and 45 per cent, respectively.
Ship waiting time continues to plummet on all US coastlines, with the East Coast ports experiencing the greatest decrease (78 per cent YoY).
S&P observed that the performance of Chinese ports has continued to improve. The main Chinese gates improved by 30 per cent YoY in terms of PMPH.
Container movements on ocean-going ships increased in Southeast Asian ports as the region maintains its position as a sourcing destination in global supply chains.
More recently, in September, Global Ports Group and Hua Xin Container Lines, a Chinese shipping line, signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) to expand sea container transportation between Chinese ports and the Russian Far East.
