SIMIC

Drewry's latest Global Container Terminal Operators Annual Review and Forecast report has just been published, which sees Singapore's PSA International retain top spot globally, while Maersk-linked APM Terminals leaps above China Merchants and Cosco into silver on the podium, reports Singapore's Splash 247.

APM Terminals reported the largest absolute increase in equity-adjusted volumes in 2021, with volumes up 10.3 per cent or 4.7 million TEU to 50.4 million TEU for the year, some 13 million TEU behind PSA.

The report argues that the widespread container shipping trade recovery in the wake of the Covid pandemic has boosted the global terminal capacity outlook, supported by global terminal operators' increased appetite for higher-risk greenfield projects to deliver long-term growth.

Global container port capacity is projected to increase by an average annual rate of 2.4 per cent to reach 1.38 billion TEU by 2026, according to Drewry. However, the worsening economic and geopolitical situation has led to a downgrading of the cargo demand outlook, and as a result container port utilisation is now projected to moderate to 70 per cent in 2025 compared to last year's projection of 75 per cent.