Of the eight ports handling more than one million TEUs per annum of transshipment traffic, all but one (Valencia) recorded growth, and all of the growing ports saw volumes increase by more than the market average. Several saw double digit transshipment volume growth (Piraeus, Tanger Med, Gioia Tauro and Ambarli) with Tanger Med topping the list through a near 40% increase.

It seems as if increasing vessel sizes and carrier alliances is favouring mega-hubs once again, notes Drewry. The last time this happened was before 2006, when the level of hub port efficiency became unacceptable to ocean carriers, prompting the introduction of more direct services.
The smaller hubs, however, are suffering from lack of scale, changes in alliance make-ups, as well as specific weaknesses in some cases (draught restrictions in Damietta, for example).

Drewry forecasts that, once all full year data is collated, global container port traffic is likely to have grown by around 3.3% in 2013 whilst that for the regions bordering the Mediterranean Sea will probably have grown by between 3 and 6%. Transshipment volumes at key Mediterranean hubs surged by an average of over 8%, more than twice the global figure. (source: Drewry)