Container shipping in 2023. A data driven retrospective.

Year 2023 was characterized by a gradual recovery in global trade from the recession fears in late 2022, in turn caused by high inflation and rising interest rates. Weak demand exacerbated the increase in vessel supply (around 3 million TEU), resulting in low freight rates and shipping equity prices throughout the year. No changes are registered in the top 5 ports: Singapore, Shanghai, Busan, Ningbo and Rotterdam. We highlight the rise of Indian, Vietnamese, Brazilian and Indonesian ports, and the decline of European ports and to a lesser degree US ports.