After experiencing a dip of around 2.5 points in June 2019, the global container port throughput index bounced back to 134.7 points in July 2019. On an annual comparison, the index was 2.8% (3.6 points) higher than 131.1 points in July 2018 and 8.5 points higher when compared with July 2017. We expected container throughput to increase in July, similar to the trend witnessed in the last few years.

All world regions saw a monthly increase in July 2019. North America registered the highest monthly growth of more than 8 points (5.8%) followed by Asia excl. China (4.7 points).

The index for China, the largest world region, reached 145 points in July 2019 which was the highest since the inception of the Drewry container port throughput index (Jan 2012). However, the growth in percentage terms was only 2.2% over June 2019 and 3.4% when compared with July 2018.

All world regions witnessed growth annually except Latin America and Africa. The index for Latin America crossed 110 for the first time in the last nine months since November 2018. Similarly, the index for Africa was at 107 points which was the highest in the last nine months. However, the index figures for Africa are based on a relatively small sample.

Europe witnessed an increase of 2.5% (3.1 points) over June 2019 and 3.7% (4.4 points) over July 2018.

Drewry Global Container Port Throughput Index

Source: Drewry Maritime Research
* Note that the index figures for Africa are based on a relatively small sample, and should be viewed with caution
# All index figures for July 2019 are preliminary, subject to change next month

Source: Drewry