Shanghai world’s most connected container port

The Chinese port, which has 168 mainline services per week, was awarded the maximum score of 100 in the port connectivity index, which was launched in the latest edition of the consultancy firm’s Ports & Terminals Insight report.

Asian container ports dominate the top 10 container ports on the index, with China’s Port of Ningbo coming second with a score of 92.9, Port of Singapore coming third with 88.7 and South Korea’s Port of Busan coming fourth with 60.7.

China’s ports of Hong Kong, Yantian and Qingdao came fifth, sixth and seventh respectively, Malaysia’s Port Klang came eighth and Taiwan’s Port of Kaohsiung came ninth.

The Port of Rotterdam, at number 10 and holding a score of 36.9, was the only port outside of Asia to rank in the top 10, with the Port of Antwerp following it at number 11.

The Port of Savannah was the highest-ranking North American container port in the connectivity index, coming 13th overall with a score of 32.7, while the second-highest North American container port, the Port of New York, came 17th.

The index, which generates a score for more than 330 ports worldwide, is based on the number of mainline services calling at each port per week and the number of world regions that each port is directly connected to. Only direct services are included in the calculations, not indirect services involving transhipment.

Each quarter, the port with the greatest number of services per week will set the maximum figure against which calculations are made, meaning that the connectivity measure is always relative to the port with the most services.

“For shippers, port connectivity is as important as port size or scale,” said Drewry.

“Having the widest possible range of direct services is a significant competitive advantage for all ports.”