The essence in a nutshell:

• The Container Throughput Index of RWI – Leibniz Institute for Economic Research and the Institute for Shipping Economics and Logistics (ISL) recorded a seasonally adjusted increase in June from 123.2 (revised) to 125.2 points.
• The upturn in container throughput is mainly due to ports outside China and Europe. Despite the increase, container throughput in these regions of the world is still significantly lower than before the COVID-19 pandemic.
• In Chinese ports, container throughput continues to show a slight recovery. The index recorded an increase to 139.2 points in June, compared to 137.8 points in May.
• The North Range Index, which considers major continental European ports on the North Sea, showed little change in June, very slightly decreasing from 104.2 (revised) in May to 104.0 points.
• The RWI/ISL Container Throughput Index for the month of July 2023 will be published on August 31st, 2023.

Commenting on the development of the Container Throughput Index, RWI’s head of economic research Torsten Schmidt says: "Container throughput continued its recovery in June at a slightly stronger pace. Throughput outside China and Europe recovered particularly strong. The gradual recovery in China is continuing, while container throughput in Europe is declining slightly. This means that Europe is likely to be lagging behind other regions of the world in terms of economic recovery as well."

About the RWI/ISL- Container Throughput Index:

The RWI/ISL Container Throughput Index consists of container throughput data from 92 international ports gathered continuously by the ISL Monthly Container Port Monitor as part of its market observation. These ports account for approximately 64 percent of global container traffic. The current flash estimate for the Container Throughput Index is based on data from about 28 percent of the total index displayed here. As international trade is handled primarily by sea, reliable conclusions can be drawn here from container port throughput data. Furthermore, the index is a reliable early indicator of international trade of manufactured goods as well as global economic activity as most ports already report their activities within two weeks after the end of each month. The container throughput index is part of the statistics on foreign trade in the „Dashboard Deutschland“ of the Federal Statistical Office.

Data series for individual ports are available in the ISL Monthly Container Port Monitor.

For more background information on the RWI/ISL Container Throughput Index, please visit www.rwi-essen.de/containerindex.

Current index data

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RWI/ISL Container Throughput Index: North Range

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Current index data China