Drewry Maritime has said that exponential growth anticipated in Asia, and in particular China, will help drive container throughput by an average 5.5 percent, or 40 percent in total, between now and 2020, resulting in container volumes handled by ports worldwide to increase to up to one billion teu by the end of the decade, up from 623 million teu in 2013.

Transhipment volumes are expected to contribute significantly to the total, increasing by 140 million teu, or 83 percent, from 175 million teu at present to 320 million teu.

Drewry said that Asia will continue to play a vital role in this volume growth with the demand for cargo continuing to grow from not just the region but also from a rising number of countries that rely on its export trade and added that Asia’s share in global traffic will increase from its current 56 per cent to as much as 65 per cent by 2020.

China is expected to increase its own share from its current 30 per cent to 40 per cent during this period.

(Source: BIFA)