The 21 main shipping terminals in the world in 2019
COSCO ranked first among the world’s largest shipping terminals in 2019, followed by PSA International and APM Terminals, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
Between 2010 and 2020, container shipping companies sought to expand their service offerings to include shipping, terminal operations, and inland logistics in order to reduce exposure to volatile freight rates and generate alternative revenue streams that provide extreme logistics solutions. to extreme.
UNCTAD identified the top 21 global players that control 80% of global terminal operations.
Several of these companies are part or closely related to shipping lines (APM Terminals/Maersk; Terminal Investment Limited/Mediterranean Shipping Company; Mitsui Osaka Shosen Kaisha Lines; Yang Ming Marine Transport Corporation; HMM and COSCO).
Shipping terminals
Similarly, shipping terminal operators are engaging in vertical integration by taking greater control of inland logistics and aiming to provide integrated service offerings and generate more value.
Examples of these developments in 2020 include Maersk’s acquisition of a customs brokerage and warehousing and distribution service provider, CMA CGM’s partnership with an online platform that links couriers to online retailers and DP Worldwide acquisitions in the global food network as well as freight forwarding service providers.
A recent study of a representative group of ports in Latin American and Caribbean countries (Argentina, Bahamas, Brazil, Colombia, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, and Peru) suggests that a significant proportion of container volumes in the region are handled in port terminals controlled by shipping companies that are part of the three major alliances (2M, Ocean Alliance and THE Alliance)
From a port development perspective, investments in shipping line terminals can have a positive impact.
Top 21 global terminal operators, throughput and capacity, 2019
(Million 20-foot equivalent units)
For example, according to UNCTAD, these investments can make it possible to secure increased capital investment to upgrade port facilities to serve ever-larger vessels, increase service efficiency and reliability, and reduce costs and delivery times. operation.
