Ports

Container Lines Hit Five-Year Low on Asian Port Congestion

Global container shipping schedule reliability collapsed to 56.4% in July 2026, marking its worst monthly performance since January 2021. The 6.1 percentage point decline represented one of only eight occasions in 14 years when reliability has fallen that sharply in a single month. Average delays for late arrivals jumped to 6.06 days, the largest monthly increase since early 2024. Disruption centered on inbound Asian services, with backhaul trades from North America and Europe particularly hard hit. North America-Asia reliability dropped 8.3 percentage points, while Europe-Asia fell 11.2 points. West Coast South America-Asia routes declined 12.3 percentage points, and Oceania-Asia routes fell 9 percentage points. All eight major tradelanes terminating in Asia experienced average reliability declines of 7 percentage points, accounting for 39% of all tradelane arrivals that month.