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Container traffic in over 340 ports worldwide was up 4.1% in July 2025 year on year, but down 1.1% month on month, based on Drewry’s latest Global Container Port Throughput Index
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“As we progress through 2025, the global market has continued to outperform expectations, and as such Drewry further upgraded its full year growth forecast to 3.3% in August,” the maritime research and consulting firm said in a news release
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In the second half of the year, however, signs of slowdown were already showing after the frontloading in the first half as suppliers and shippers rushed to move goods ahead of new US tariffs
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The strongest growth has been seen in the combined Middle East and South Asia regions
Container traffic in over 340 ports worldwide was up 4.1% in July 2025 year on year (YoY), but down 1.1% month on month (MoM), based on Drewry’s latest Global Container Port Throughput Index.
“As we progress through 2025, the global market has continued to outperform expectations, and as such Drewry further upgraded its full year growth forecast to 3.3% in August,” the maritime research and consulting firm said in a news release.
In the second half of the year, however, signs of slowdown were already showing after the frontloading in the first half as suppliers and shippers rushed to move goods ahead of new US tariffs.
The strongest growth has been seen in the combined Middle East and South Asia regions, where port throughput was up 7.8% year-to-date (YTD). Europe followed closely with a recorded volume increase of 6.5% YTD.
The Greater China Container Port Throughput Index, on the other hand, fell 3.4% MoM in July 2025, but remained up 2.0% YoY. The 12-month average growth rate in Greater China slowed to 5.6%, below the global average of 6.1%.
Some of the largest China ports are showing early signs of the anticipated slowdown: Shanghai’s volumes slid 1.8% MoM in July, down 4.6% YoY; throughput at Ningbo decreased 4.1% MoM but remained ahead 6.7% YoY; while container traffic at Shenzhen grew 4.1% MoM in July but was down 1.1% YoY.
The North and Southeast Asia Container Port Throughput Index decreased 3.0% MoM in July to 120.4 points, but was up 3.7% YoY. However, the rolling 12-month average growth rate fell to 5.3%.
In Southeast Asia, Singapore’s throughput jumped 4.3% MoM, a new monthly high, and up 8.2% YoY. Laem Chabang also had a strong month, with volumes up 2.2% MoM and 10.4% YoY.
The North American Container Port Throughput Index spiked 8.3% MoM in July to 119.8 points, up 4.1% YoY to the highest point in over two years.
The rollercoaster impact of the “on-off” tariff policy was very much in evidence at USWC ports – volumes at Long Beach surged 34% MoM (up 7% YoY), while those at Los Angeles grew by 14% MoM (up 8.5% YoY) to a new record, handling over 1 million twenty-foot equivalent units (mteu) in the month.
Strong growth was recorded at other major US gateways, including New York (up 15% MoM), Savannah (up 16% MoM), and Houston (up 18% MoM) as shippers dashed to bring cargo into the US before the widescale tariff increases were implemented in early August.
The 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.
READ: Drewry’s container port throughput index down slightly in Sept
