Amid ongoing trade tension between the US and China, the world’s busiest container port has gone into overdrive ahead of potential ‘Trump tariffs’, handling more than five million TEUs in one month.
To put the new throughput record in perspective, the Port of Shanghai handled the equivalent of Manila's entire container volume for 2024 within just 31 days.
Last year, Shanghai emerged as the first port globally to process over 50 million TEU, achieving a total of 51.51 million twenty-foot equivalent boxes.
The Shanghai International Port Group said in a statement that ports reflected foreign trade and that Shanghai Port's performance in January demonstrated the active foreign trade and strong resilience of the Chinese economy.
One enterprise that benefited from the container boom is China-based Gerudo Logistics, which recorded a resurgence in shipping demand following the Chinese New Year.
It reported a significant increase in export volumes, particularly in sectors such as electronics, textiles, and automotive parts, due to factories increasing production.
This surge is causing capacity issues, especially on trade routes to Europe and North America, and they also warned of potential congestion at major ports like Shanghai, Ningbo and Shenzhen as they work to clear backlogs from the holiday.
The world's two largest economies have initiated a tariff battle, with the US imposing a 10% tariff on all Chinese imports this week.
Beijing has responded, announcing a 15% tariff on liquefied natural gas and coal imported from the US, along with a 10% tariff on oil, agricultural machinery and large cars, starting next Monday, January 10.
