Chinese container ports have handled 95.4 million TEUs in the first four months of the year, translating to a year-on-year increase of 4.8%.

The ports in China have also reported over 5.2 billion tonnes of cargo between January and April of 2023, representing a rise of 7.6% compared with the same period last year.

The data for the twelve major Chinese ports' cargo throughput and container throughput are displayed in the following table.

According to data from China's Ministry of Transport, the port of Shanghai remains the busiest box port in the country exceeding 15 million TEUs in the first four months of 2023. Ports of Ningbo & Zhoushan and Qingdao follow with 11.3 million and 900,000 TEUs respectively.

In the same period, ports with lower container traffic have shown the largest percentage increases, with the ports of Yinkou, Dalian and Lianyungang standing out, reporting container growth of 24.3%, 22.2% and 18% respectively.

It is important to note that all the twelve major container hubs in China have boosted their container throughput in the first months of the year.

Ocean connections between India and Russia are growing at a brisk pace, as Moscow looks to long-time natural allies to lessen the impact of Western sanctions it has had to face over the Ukraine conflict.

FESCO, Russia's largest container carrier, last week had its first call at Mundra Port on a service that connects India, China and North-West Russia.

The port rotation is Rizhao (China), Lianyungang (China), Ningbo (China), Shanghai (China), Yantian (China), Mundra (India), St Petersburg (Russia) and Rizhao.

The current itinerary calls for a monthly call, but plans are already in the works to improve the frequency to fortnightly.

The service is being operated under the FESCO Baltorient Line (FBOL) brand, using three ships of 2,500-3,000 TEU capacity each.

The move comes on the heels of Ruscon, another leading container transport company in Russia, significantly expanding its network from the Black Sea port of Novorossysk to Nhava Sheva and Mundra.

Ruscon has boosted its tonnage deployments from one vessel to four vessels in order to provide a weekly sailing frequency. In addition, a new stop has been introduced at Jeddah Port in Saudi Arabia.

Those moves complement a string of "inducement" calls recently seen on the resurgent trade lane, mostly by non-vessel operating common carriers (NVOCCs) looking to capitalise on lucrative cargo opportunities.

Mumbai-based Econship is one such new entrant into this market.

The NVO has already held a few inducement vessel deployments from Nhava Sheva (JNPT) and Mundra to Novorossiysk, with extended inland reach for St. Petersburg and Moscow. The company has announced a monthly sailing frequency once sufficient demand builds up.

Econship boasts a transit time of 16 to 18 days from Nhava Sheva to Novorossiyk.

In parallel, more efforts are under way to maximise the use of the alternative Central Asia corridor, known as the International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC), by improving the rail access from Russia to Iran.

Russia and Iran have now agreed to speed up construction on the missing rail links, particularly some 100-mile stretch that has been designed to connect the Iranian city of Rasht, near the Caspian Sea, to Astara on the border with Azerbaijan.

INSTC has also been a major talking point between India and Iran as stakeholders weigh various options to scale up freight flows amid the sanctions-related challenges.

In another step, Moscow has agreed to lease its Vladivostok free port as a transit point for moving intra-country Chinese cargo.

According to reports, by this transloading method, the land transportation distance from China’s northeast Jilin province to its eastern parts is expected to shorten by some 800 kilometers. As a result, there will be significant logistics cost advantages, which local authorities believe will drum up shipper interest. The arrangement is due to take effect next month.

Global Ports Group, a leading operator of container terminals in the Russian market, has installed two Liebherr LHM550 mobile harbour cranes at its Far Eastern terminal Vostochnaya Stevedoring Company (VSC), which is located in the deep-water port of Vostochniy in Primorskiy krai, Russia.

The new heavy-duty equipment supports the operation of VCS's five STS cranes, increasing vessel handling speed and efficiency and enabling a 200,000 TEU increase in berth yearly capacity in the future.

The harbour cranes were custom-built in Germany for Global Ports and shipped to VSC pre-assembled.

The machines have a 144-tonne lifting capability and can work in three modes: hook, spreader, and grab. Each crane has a maximum reach of 54 metres and can handle vessels with up to 16 rows of containers. The Global Ports Petrolesport terminal in St Petersburg already has similar equipment.

VSC's container throughput grew by 17.3% in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the first quarter of 2022, reaching 146,000 TEUs.

Global Ports has a steady investment schedule in place to boost terminal capacity in the Far East. In 2023-2024, nine new RTG and RMG cranes from China's premier manufacturer ZPMC will join VSC's fleet.

In addition, from the second part of 2022 to May 2023, the Group transferred about 30 equipment units, including RTGs, straddle carriers, reachstackers, and tractors, from North-West terminals to the Far East.

Furthermore, Global Ports started an extension project at VSC in September 2022 to develop the 470,000 square metre site adjacent to the port. The region will be developed with two container ports, storage areas, and a new railway front. The project will expand VSC's throughput capacity from 700,000 to 1.7 million TEUs per year by the mid-2030s.

Taiwan International Ports Corporation (TIPC) chairman Lee Hsien-yi stated on 5 May that the newly built No. 7 terminal in Taiwan's Kaohisung port is the country's first fully automated container terminal, and he hopes it will help increase the port's throughput.

Evergreen Marine Corporation started operating the No. 7 terminal on 1 May, after the first phase of construction was completed. The Taiwanese mainline operator has a 20-year concession to run the facility, and the second phase of construction is expected to be finished in June 2024.

Lee said the No. 7 terminal uses unmanned vehicles, remote control, Internet of Things network coverage, 5G and Artificial Intelligence systems, which can significantly improve the efficiency of container yard operations.

TIPC noted in a press statement that due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the operation of traditional container terminals that relied heavily on manual operations was greatly challenged. Under the circumstances of global labour crunch and sudden lockdowns, the pandemic caused berthing delays, congested terminals, and delays in container loading and unloading operations. Automation has, therefore, overcome these constraints.

Building the No. 7 terminal cost approximately US$1.33 billion, of which around US$660 million was funded by TIPC, and Evergreen contributed the remaining US$670 million.

For start, after the second phase of construction is finished, the terminal will have an annual handling volume of 4.5 million TEUs. Over the long term, the target is to achieve 6.5 million TEUs.

In 2022, Kaohsiung processed 9.49 million TEUs, a 4% dip from 2021, as container volumes began contracting after the pandemic-fuelled boom.

With a water depth of 18 metres, and five berths with a length of over 2.4km, the No. 7 terminal can accommodate four 24,000 TEU container ships at the same time.

Lee said, "The road to innovation and breakthrough isn't easy. We experienced a severe shortage of human resources during the pandemic, which led to construction challenges and other difficulties. TIPC and the construction companies, have been discussing and making major decisions with Evergreen for more than four years. We managed to build the No. 7 Terminal in the shortest possible time, to seize the opportunity in the ever-changing shipping market."

With Evergreen now occupying the No. 7 Terminal, it has vacated Kaohsiung's No. 5 Terminal, which will be taken over by its compatriot, Wan Hai Lines.

The world's largest container line MSC adds a new inter-Asia service, called Shikra, between major ports in China and India.

The new Shikra service will be operated solely by MSC and is named after the small bird of prey that inhabits much of Southeast Asia and India.

Starting with MSC Mara on voyage QS321A, with an estimated time of arrival at Qingdao port on 23 May, the rotation will be as follows:

Qingdao (China) – Shanghai (China) – Ningbo (China)– Kaohsiung (Taiwan) – Shekou (China) – Singapore – Colombo (Sri Lanka) – Nhava Sheva (India) – Mundra (India) – Colombo (Malaysia) – Port Klang – Singapore – Tanjung Pelepas (Malaysia) – Vung Tau (Vietnam) – Qingdao