The top ports in container traffic are Chinese. The British magazine Container Management has compiled in its latest issue the ranking of the top 120 container ports in the world, showing that a quarter of Americans and Chinese ports are present (if we add to them Japan the share rises to 30%), a significant number if we consider that all the other countries on the list are present in the media with a pair of ports. Among the Top 10 ports 7 are Chinese; on the podium Shanghai (China), Singapore (Singapore) and Shenzhen (China). The first European port is Rotterdam, in 11th place.

The ranking for countries place China with 16 ports, followed by the USA with 15 ports and Japan with 6 ports. Spain boasts unique in Europe and together with South Korea, even 4 (Algeciras in 30° place, Valencia 31°, Barcelona 78°, Las Palmas 110 °), followed by Italy with 3 ports (Gioia Tauro in 44° place, Genoa 70°, La Spezia 96°).

Excluding the United States and China, we see that all countries with an international port mark  few ports in this top 120, while the countries that have more ports in the list are those characterized by lower direct links with the international trade.