For the first eight months of this year, Shanghai had a higher volume throughput of containers than Singapore. However, some analysts question whether this comparison has any validity, because the two ports serve quite different markets. The port of Shanghai deals mainly with container exports from the Yangtze River delta in China, while Singapore provides mainly transshipment services for container cargo within southeast Asia.
This year, exports from China to the USA and Europe have recovered strongly, whereas recovery in South East Asia has been relatively slower this year.