Drewry: Monthly port throughput assessment - July 2025

Drewry Container Port Throughput Indices are a series of calendar-adjusted volume growth/decline indices based on monthly throughput data for a sample of over 340 ports worldwide, representing over 80% of global volumes. The base point for the indices is January 2019 = 100.

With carriers actively managing their schedules to meet demand, access to a regularly updated picture of service availability and port congestion is more important than ever. Drewry's Container Capacity Insight provides weekly in-depth analysis of the various service and schedule data feeds to provide the latest picture of container capacity and anticipated market development by alliance across the main trades, and to provide historical context, year-on-year comparisons are included in the weekly analysis. Summary trade route freight spot rate data is also provided, together with port congestion and dwell time intelligence.

Drewry has developed a nowcasting model that uses vessel capacity and terminal duration data (derived from our proprietary AIS model) to make short-term predictions of port throughput.

Source: Drewry Ports and Terminals Insight (Jan 2019 = 100, calendar adjusted)

Drewry’s latest assessment

• Drewry’s Global Container Port Throughput Index increased 1.4% MoM and 5.4% YoY in May. Meanwhile, the rolling 12-month average growth rate for global port handling remained steady at 6.5% for the third month in a row. The Middle East and South Asia region is leading the way in YTD growth, with volumes up 9.2%. North America and Greater China are not too far behind, at 7.7% and 6.9%, respectively. Oceania remains the only region reporting a decline, with May YTD throughput falling 2.6%.
  
• The Greater China Container Port Throughput Index softened slightly in May 2025, falling 0.4% MoM to 124.9 points, but up 4.5% YoY. The 12-month average growth rate in Greater China fell to 6.3%, just below the global average. The largest ports in the region continue to experience robust growth, with the top 5 ports up 7.2% YoY on average in May. Shanghai in particular had a good month, with volumes surging 10.2% YoY.
  
• The North American Container Port Throughput Index fell 8.0% MoM in May to 109.3 points, but was up 2.7% YoY. The rolling 12-month average growth rate reduced slightly, but remained in double digits, at 10.1%. Volumes at the major west coast ports slid back in May due to impact of the US government’s ’Liberation Day’ tariffs. Throughput at Long Beach slumped 26.3% MoM (down 8.2% YoY) while at Los Angeles it fell 15% MoM (down 4.8% YoY). Volumes also fell 10.4% YoY at Manzanillo, 9.6% YoY at Seattle and 0.3% YoY at Oakland. Only Vancouver and Lazaro Cardenas bucked the trend, with volumes rising 13.9% YoY and 12.6% YoY, respectively.
  
• The European Container Port Throughput Index rose 3.7% MoM in May, up 5.3% YoY to 113.7 points. The rolling 12-month average growth rate increased to 5.4%, remaining below the global average of 6.5%. Port Said East reported record-breaking throughput in May 2025-volumes for surged 20% MoM, up over 50% YoY, with YTD throughput at the East Med hub 18% higher than last year.

* Note that the index figure for Africa is based on a relatively small sample, and so should be viewed with caution
# Index figures for May 2025 include some estimates of port throughput data which are subject to subsequent revision