Strength Through Diversification: Opportunities across Asia Pacific

PORT CAPACITY

At the headline level, Asia Pacific against for approximately 65% of the world’s container port volumes. Against this backdrop, Asia Pacific is unsurprisingly well-represented amongst the world’s busiest ports, accounting for 30 of the top 50 locations. However, at a more granular level, it is evident that port throughput capacity is heavily concentrated in Greater China ports which occupy four of the top 5 positions and 7 of the top 10 positions. Singapore is the only other city to make the top 5, while Busan and Los Angeles make the top 10 (Figure 5). The issue becomes more stark when levels of TEU (twenty-equivalent unit) throughput are examined. Limiting the analysis to the top 50 ports, Greater China accounts for 45% of throughput at 247 million TEUS. India and South East Asian markets, including Singapore, cumulatively account for 19% of throughput, equivalent to 106 million TEUs. The key takeaway here is that significant port capacity will need to be created across these markets if they are to accommodate future growth. In a similar vein to labour supply, port capacity also needs to be considered in any wider expansion of logistics and industrial across the region.

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CHALLENGES IN EXPANDING ACROSS ASIA PACIFIC