Industry News

Singapore has dropped to third place in global container port rankings in the first half of 2026 according to figures from analyst Alphaliner.

The Chinese port of Ningbo-Zhoushan narrowly edged out Singapore as the world’s second largest container port in the first half of 2026 with 8.8% growth year-on-year to handle 22.90 million teu. This figure sees it surpassing Singapore which handled 22.74 million teu, a growth of 4.7% year-on-year taking Ningbo – Zhoushan ahead of the Lion City for the first time over a six-month period.

Alphaliner noted that Ningbo-Zhoushan had both expanded and diversified and. “Ningbo’s Jintang hub announced in July the final completion of its Phase II expansion, marking the complete integration of all five operational container berths. It alone saw a 23.4% increase in volumes, after adding 17 international routes in the period.”

The analyst expects the two ports to duke it out for the number two spot going forward with Ningbo-Zhoushan’s growth tapering off as the year continued.

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Remaining easily the world’s largest container port was Shanghai growing 6.2% in the first half of 2026 to handle 28.74 million teu.

Chinese ports account for six of the top 10 container ports with Shenzhen, Qingdao, Guangzhou, and Tianjin occupying the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh positions respectively. Tianjin overtook Busan in South Korea in the first half of 2026.

The most dramatic declines were reported by ports in the Middle East hard hit but the US – Iran war and the disruption to the Strait of Hormuz. Dubai handled 3.14 million teu in the first half of 2026 compared to 7.77 million teu a year earlier seeing it drop from 10^th position globally to 32^nd.

Abu Dhabi’s Khalifa port also saw major drop in volumes and although AD Ports did not release official figures Alphaliner said that based on group wide figures volumes dropped by at least 50% in the first half of the year pushing it outside the Top 50 from 32^nd place previously.

Malaysia’s Port Klang moved into the top ten at 10^th position in place of Dubai handling an estimated 7.7 million teu in the first half of 2026. The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach remained in ninth position handling a combined 9.97 million teu.

Source: www.seatrade-maritime.com