Singapore’s container throughput hits over 40 million TEUs in 2024, breaks record
Meanwhile, Shanghai Port’s container throughput reaches 50 million TEUs
THE box throughput handled by the Singapore port in 2024 surpassed 40 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), exceeding its record of 39 million TEUs in 2023.
The exact volume of containers the city-state handled for the year is expected to be published in January, but PSA Singapore – the operator with the major share of container handling – announced that it handled the 40 millionth TEU on Dec 24.
TEU is a measure of cargo capacity.
PSA Singapore said on Friday (Dec 27) that the milestone it achieved on Christmas Eve overtook its previous annual high of 38.8 million TEUs set in 2023.
Singapore Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat had earlier said the transhipment hub was on track for a record year for container throughput and bunker sales.
Chee said in a Facebook post on Friday: “We are also on track to achieving new highs for total cargo throughput and bunker sales in 2024.
“These achievements are the result of our strong tripartite partnership and pro-business approach in Maritime Singapore, with all stakeholders working closely together to keep our port running and connecting Singapore’s economy to customers and suppliers from around the world.”
Earlier this year, congestion caused by the diversion to South Africa to avoid rebel attacks on merchant vessels in the Red Sea hit the Singapore port, as boxship companies used the Republic as a transhipment point to unload cargo bound for Asian ports beyond the city-state.
The vessel bunching forced some shipping lines to skip Singapore as delays in the Republic reached “critical levels” of up to seven days at one point.
Meanwhile, Shanghai Port’s container throughput in 2024 reached 50 million TEUs on Dec 22, setting a new global record in the history of port container transport, according to Shanghai International Port (Group).
It expects to beat competitors for the 15th consecutive year, the group said.
In 2023, Singapore came in second behind Shanghai in a ranking of the world’s largest container ports, with the Chinese city handling about 49.2 million TEUs, World Shipping Council data showed.
