RWI/ISL Container Throughput Input Index
Container throughput ends recovery from energy price shock
30.11.2023
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 fell slightly in October to a seasonally adjusted 125.0 points. The decline was mitigated by a slightly higher container throughput in Chinese ports. The recovery of recent months thus appears to be largely complete. In the European ports, the decline is softening somewhat.
The essence in a nutshell:
- The seasonally adjusted Container Throughput Index of RWI - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research and the Institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics (ISL) was slightly lower in October at 125.0 points than in September with 125.5 points (revised).
- In the Chinese ports, on the other hand, container throughput increased once again. Their index value increased from 139.2 to 140.2 points. The unusually strong increase in the previous month has since been revised. Now that all the data is available, there was a slight decline from 139.5 to 139.2 points.
- The North Range Index, which provides an indication of economic development in the northern eurozone and Germany, fell from 103.8 (revised) in September to 103.3 points in October.
- The RWI/ISL Container Throughput Index for November 2023 will be released on December 21, 2023.
Torsten Schmidt
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 per cent of global container throughput. The present flash estimate for the Container Throughput Index relies on data representing approximately 50 per cent 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.
