January 26, 2021

Major Ports and Carriers Report Significant Rollover Increases

More than one in three containers shipped globally in December were rolled-over at transhipment hubs, according to new research from data tracking firm Ocean Insights.

Its monthly analysis of container rollovers at the top 20 global ports revealed that the global average had increased to 37% last month, with some hubs seeing far higher numbers.

“Of the 20 global ports for which Ocean Insights collates data, 75% saw an increase in rollover cargo in December, compared with the previous month,” said Ocean Insights’ chief operations officer, Josh Brazil.

During November, the Korean hub of Busan saw a 4% decline in rollovers, attributed to carriers putting on extra loaders to cater for surging demand. However, the port largely lost those gains, with a 3% increase in rollovers, during December.

“This indicates that the levels of cargo are still rising, while the extra loader capacity deployed to meet the raised levels of demand appears to be having little effect,” explained Mr. Brazil.

And it was thoroughly mixed picture at some of the world’s second-tier transhipment hubs: Gioia Tauro and Cartagena saw rollover ratios of 62% and 56% respectively, while Salalah saw 22%.

It was a slightly different picture for carriers, however, with an industry average of 35% of shipments rolled at transhipment ports.

(Source: The Loadstar)