In the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic, in the year 2021 the global container port sector was in recovery mode. At the same time, it is regrettable to note that supply chain disruption was a dominant feature. North America’s major ports (and especially US ones) were unable to cope with sustained strong demand in the face of labour shortages and growing inland haulage issues.

On the contrary, in spite of the strict Covid stance that brought significant disruption to ports, volume growth at Chinese ports increased by 6% year on year. Accordingly, one-quarter of the top 100 ports by throughput in 2021 featured in Lloyd’s list are, indeed, Chinese. Finally, also the Asian ports outside of China bounced back strongly in 2021.

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