Quote from Turloch Mooney, Director at S&P Global Market Intelligence:

“Better port performance and network efficiency are among the key levers the maritime trade industry has to tackle emissions. Digitization is a critical opportunity for sustainable and long-term efficiency improvements to help the industry meet decarbonization targets and reduce the risk of supply chain disruption.”

Key highlights from the report include:

Container moves on ocean going ships declined in all US regions. Average call size—quantity of containers loaded and discharged per individual ship call—declined more than 26% year on year (y/y) in the third quarter of 2023 at main ports on the US West Coast.

The drop in demand and call sizes drove further improvement in operational performance in all US regions. At Gulf ports, port-moves-per-hour (PMPH)—the quantity of containers moved per hour a ship spends in port and a key measure of port productivity—increased by nearly 66% y/y in Q3 2023, and by more than 90% y/y at the main East Coast ports.

Yard productivity also improved with West Coast ports showing a respective 30% y/y and 45% y/y decrease in median import and export container dwell time.

Ship waiting time continued to fall on all US coasts, with the biggest decline recorded at East Coast ports (78% y/y).

Performance at Chinese ports continued to improve. The main Chinese gateways showed a collective improvement of 30% y/y in PMPH.

Ports in Southeast Asia registered growth in container moves on ocean going ships as the region expands its position as a sourcing destination in global supply chains.
Source: S&P Global Market Intelligence