Surge in transhipment in May puts Colombo Port YTD positive

Monday, 28 July 2025 04:51 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

A surge in transhipment boxes in May saw Colombo Port experiencing its first year-to-date (YTD) growth, though marginal.

May saw a transhipment volume of 573,366 Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs), the highest monthly figure for the year and up 12% from May last year. Due to better performance in 2024 and issues of congestion and delays, the 2025 YTD figure of transhipment TEUs is still lower by 2.7% as against 2024. Up to April, the YTD dip was higher at 6.2%.

The uptick in transhipment in May helped Colombo Port edge towards a YTD positive in May 2025, though it was just 0.2% to 3.26 million TEUs. By the end of April, the YTD figure was down by 2.9%.

Shipping industry analysts welcomed the May rebound, though concerns remain over the overall efficiency levels at Colombo Port.

In May 2024, transhipment volume was down by 4% to 511,794 TEUs from 2023’s corresponding month.

Last year, in the first five months, total transhipment reported a 13% growth over 2023.

In May, domestic boxes saw an 8.8% growth to 91,648 TEUs, pushing the YTD figure to 517,563 TEUs, up by a robust 16.4% as against the first five months of 2024.

The number of ships to call Colombo Port in May rose by 6.7% to 398, and up to May by 5.7% to 2,005.

In the entirety of 2024, transhipment volume amounted to 6.3 million TEUs, up by 9.7% from 2023, whilst Colombo Port’s total throughput grew by 12% to 7.79 million TEUs.

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