5 January 2023 (Lloyd's List) - IN the first year after China’s lifting of its Covid lockdown measures, the port of Shanghai is expected to keep its position as the world’s busiest container port, although the figure may be inflated by the exceptional performance of its barge service.

The port’s throughput reached 49m teu in 2023, showing a 3.6% year-on-year growth from a weak base in 2022, which experienced a mere 0.6% year-on-year growth under the impact of the pandemic, according to data released by the Shanghai International Port Group.

With the increase, the port of Shanghai is expected to maintain its position as the world’s top port in terms of throughput for the 14th consecutive year.

Singapore, often the world’s second-busiest port, is yet to reveal its full-year performance, but reported a throughput of nearly 35.6m teu in the first 11 months of the year.

Shanghai’s throughput growth is against the backdrop of China’s trade slump, as official data reveals a decline of approximately 5% and 6% in China’s exports and imports respectively during the first 11 months of 2023, compared with the same period in the previous year.

Despite the subdued trade volume, Shanghai port’s “water-to-water transportation” has reached 58% of the total throughput in 2023, a local official media Jiefang Daily reported, citing data from the Shanghai Municipal Transportation Commission.

The operation refers to using barge services to transport cargo from the hinterlands via waterways.

An export container trucked to a gateway port and loaded onto a containership directly only generates one teu of throughput.

If the box comes from a feeder port on a barge, however, it is then counted as three teu — one move by the feeder port and two moves by the gateway port.

Therefore, the water-to-water barge service is understood to be a widely used approach to ramp up port volumes.

The growth indicates a milestone as the ratio exceeded 50% for the first time in the previous year, reaching 53.5%.

Sea-rail intermodal transportation is also on the rise. SIPG’s joint venture SSRL, which connects rail to the gateway port, transported 630,000 teu, marking a 29% year-on-year surge.

SIPG has been approached for comments.