LONDON: The Baltic Exchange, in collaboration with Xinhua, the Chinese state news agency, has published the 2020 Xinhua-Baltic International Shipping Centre Development (ISCD) Index. The index, in its seventh edition, provides an independent ranking of the performance of the world’s largest cities that offer port and shipping business services.
Based on objective factors including port throughput and infrastructure; depth and breadth of professional maritime support services; as well as the general business environment, the latest report shows:
The top 5 international shipping centres remain the same as 2019, although with some movement.
Singapore tops the list for the seventh consecutive year followed by London, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Dubai.
London and Dubai are the only top 5 international shipping centres outside Asia, with London moving up one spot into second place.
Continued rise in Middle East and Mediterranean locations with Dubai retaining fifth place while Athens rose to eighth place.
Singapore maintained its position as the most important shipping hub in the Asia-Pacific region, ranking first for seven consecutive years with its advantages of geographical location, shipping industry ecosystem and supportive government policies. London, with advantages accruing from providing high-end shipping finance, insurance, and legal services, has climbed back to the second place after dropping to third place in 2018 and 2019.
Dubai, as the pre-eminent shipping hub in the Middle East, ranked fifth for the third consecutive year. Rotterdam and Hamburg have also retained their positions since 2018, ranking sixth and seventh respectively. Benefiting from an improving business environment, Athens rose to eighth. New York-New Jersey slipped by one place, while Tokyo rose one place, returning to the ranks of the top 10.
