Container throughput at China’s Port of Shanghai surpassed 40 million TEUs in 2017, the country’s news agency Xinhua reported.
With this number, the port is believed to have broken an existing annual world record.
The Port of Shanghai has been the world’s busiest port since 2010 when it surpassed the Port of Singapore in terms of annual container traffic, according to World Container Traffic Data provided by the International Association of Ports and Harbours.
Belonging to the world’s top 20 container ports, Shanghai Port had a growth rate of 142 percent in a ten-year period between 2007 and 2016.
In 2016, Shanghai Port reported container volumes of 37.1 million TEUs, a 1.6 percent increase compared to 36.5 million TEUs seen in 2015.
The port started container operations four decades ago, in 1978, recording a throughput of 7,951 TEUs.
Last month, the port launched trial operations at its brand new automated container terminal, described as the world’s largest unmanned box terminal. The terminal at Shanghai Yangshan Deep Water Port kick-started test operations on December 10.
With the new terminal, which is expected to handle 4 million TEUs on an annual basis, the port wants to position itself as an international shipping hub.
World Maritime News Staff