RWI/ISL Container Throughput Input Index

Container throughput increases only in China

29.08.2024

According to the latest flash estimate by the RWI - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research and the Institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics (ISL), the Container Throughput Index rose to a seasonally adjusted 133.2 points in July compared to the previous month. The strongest increase in container throughput was recorded in the Chinese ports. In the European ports, throughput declined after rising for three months in a row.

The essence in a nutshell:

The seasonally adjusted Container Throughput Index of the RWI - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research and the Institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics (ISL) rose to 133.2 points in July. This represents a continuation of the rather rapid rise in the trend.
The North Range Index, which provides an indication of economic development in the northern eurozone and Germany, fell from 102.4 to 101.6 points in July compared to the previous month. The recovery of recent months thus appears to have been interrupted. This month's index was calculated without the data from Antwerp due to technical problems. The index is therefore only comparable with previous publications to a limited extent.
In the Chinese ports, container throughput rose sharply from 147.5 points in the previous month to 150.3 points.
The RWI/ISL Container Throughput Index for August 2024 will be published on September, 30 2024.

Torsten Schmidt

RWI’s head of economic research

The moderate upturn in global trade is continuing. The European economies, especially the German economy, are still not benefiting fully from this development. We therefore expect the impetus for German exports to remain weak in the coming months.

About the RWI/ISL- Container Throughput Index

The index takes into account container throughput data continuously collected on an ongoing basis by the ISL Monthly Container Port Monitor at 92 international ports, representing approximately 64% of global container throughput. The present flash estimate for the Container Throughput Index relies on data representing approximately 53% of the throughput represented in the index. Since international trade is mainly handles by sea, the development of container throughput provides reliable insights into global merchandise trade. As many ports already report their data a fortnight after the end of each month, the RWI/ISL Container Throughput Index is a reliable early indicator of the international merchandise trade and hence also of global economic activity.

The Container Troughput Index is used by many international bodies such as UNCTAD and is included in the Shipping/Port Data section of the WTO’s Global Trade Data Portal.

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