According to the Japan International Freight Forwarders Association (JIFFA), leveraging new figures from the Shanghai Shipping Exchange (SSE), port operations at China’s major gateways maintained a steady performance throughout June 2025. This stands in contrast to their global counterparts, particularly in Europe and the United States, which experienced a noticeable slip in efficiency.
Stable Operations Amidst Pressures
Despite external pressures, such as mounting U.S. tariffs, Chinese ports continue to demonstrate robust operational stability. Across nine key Chinese ports, the average port stay in June 2025 was 1.51 days, with vessels spending an average of 0.85 days berthed. These figures represent modest year-on-year increases of 6.3% and 1.2%, respectively.
For the first half of 2025 (1H25), Chinese ports maintained an average of 1.5 days per port stay and 0.87 days at berth. These are slight increases of 4% and 0.5% over the previous year, signaling a broadly stable operating environment that effectively manages high outbound container volumes. Notably, some Chinese ports exhibited exceptional efficiency:
Non-Chinese Ports: Facing Congestion and Delays
In stark contrast, other leading global ports, including major hubs in Europe and North America, struggled with significantly longer turnaround times. In June, the average port stays among the 11 non-Chinese ports stretched to 2.4 days, with berthing times averaging 1.82 days.
- Europe: Faced particular headwinds in June. Unseasonably high temperatures led to lower river water levels, disrupting logistics networks and complicating operations at some inland and coastal terminals.
- Rotterdam reported a 2.7% year-on-year rise in average port stays, reaching 2.27 days.
- Antwerp saw a substantial jump of 38.7% in its average port stay compared to June last year, reaching 2.65 days, although this was a slight improvement of 1.5% from May 2025.
- United States: Congestion continued to plague West Coast ports.
- Los Angeles experienced a 5.3% year-over-year increase in port stays, reaching 4.17 days.
- Long Beach fared worse, with port stays climbing by a significant 32.5% to 4.73 days.
Global Leaders in Efficiency
Despite the general trend of longer port stays outside of China, some Asian ports stood out for their exceptional efficiency:
- Kaohsiung in Taiwan registered the shortest port stay in June at just 0.86 days, a 7% drop from May.
- Hong Kong followed closely with an average port stay of 0.9 days, representing a 12.5% decrease.
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Source: Container News
