Singapore has retained its top position for the eleventh year running as the top shipping centre in the world.
That’s according to the Xinhua-Baltic International Shipping Centre Development Index (ISCDI), which reveals that several other cities have maintained their positions in the rankings, reflecting their continued importance to local economies and global supply chains.
London, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Dubai and Rotterdam all remained in the top six positions, owing to their continued role in providing key maritime services, industry-leading port infrastructure and adhering to global environmental regulations. Athens/Piraeus and Ningbo Zhoushan have all moved up one place in this year's report, while Hamburg has fallen two places to ninth place.
New York/New Jersey, meanwhile, once again rounds out this year's top 10.
The ISCDI provides a comprehensive ranking of the world's top 43 port cities and maritime centres, employing a diverse array of metrics. These encompass every facet of a shipping-centred environment, from business elements involving maritime service providers such as lawyers, financiers and shipbrokers, to port factors including cargo throughput, draught, and container berth length.
Additionally, the index evaluates the overall business climate, factoring in customs tariffs and logistics performance.
The maritime landscape has seen some noteworthy shifts over the past number of months, the report explains.
“However, global ports continue to show robust and positive growth amidst a particularly turbulent period for global supply chains and commerce, providing a degree of stability and certainty for the shipping industry.
“This year's ISCDI also takes a deep look at the ports ranked in the top 20. Once again, most ports have maintained their position in the rankings, with Tianjin becoming the only new entry in our official top 20 this year in 19th place.”
An international shipping centre is an important port city with a range of key characteristics. These include excellent port facilities, advanced logistics systems and a key geopolitical location. It also has highly efficient shipping services as its core driver, as well as global shipping resources.
