QINGDAO, China, Sept. 1, 2023 /Xinhua-AsiaNet/--

At the 2023 Qingdao Yellow River Basin Land-Sea Linkage High-Quality

Development Seminar held on August 26, 2023, the International Shipping Hubs

Development Index Report (2023), the Xinhua - SPG Port Bulk Commodity Index

Annual Operation Report (2023) and the RCEP Seaborne Trade Index Report (2023)

were released.

According to the participants, the port bulk commodity trade in the form of

indices can be digitally presented to realize the efficient linkage between

port shipping and bulk commodity trade and offer reliable guidance for the

smooth operation of the global industrial chain and supply chain.

Following the "Xinhua-Baltic International Shipping Center Development Index",

the China Economic Information Service (CEIS) has introduced another global

port and shipping assessment index -- the International Shipping Hubs

Development Index Report (2023). This report evaluates the overall development

of the world's main shipping hubs and port clusters based on various categories

and characteristics.

The findings suggest that international trunk hubs, including Singapore Port,

Shanghai Port, Ningbo Zhoushan Port, Rotterdam Port, and Qingdao Port, have

attained a high level of development; Guangzhou Port, the Port of

Antwerp-Bruges and Tianjin Port are examples of regional integrated hubs, which

have distinctive features and rank top among the RCEP members. The

comprehensive evaluation results of port clusters show that the Yangtze River

Delta port cluster and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area port

cluster have secured leading positions. Similarly, the Shandong port cluster

situated around Bohai Bay and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei port cluster

demonstrate robust international competitiveness.

CEIS and Shandong Port Group jointly released the Xinhua-SPG Port Bulk

Commodity Index, which has been constantly upgraded and improved since its

debut in 2021. The index has formed a comprehensive system of price index,

inventory index, and entry & exit index. This year, the index system expanded

the spot trading price index of sulfur and petroleum coke upon expansion.

After expansion, the index system includes seven price indices for crude oil,

iron ore, coke, steel billet, hot rolled C material, sulfur, and petroleum

coke, as well as six volume indices for iron ore inventory, coke inventory,

inbound iron ore, outbound iron ore, inbound coke, and outbound coke.

According to the plan, the petroleum coke inventory index will continue to be

released in future. The purpose is to accurately reflect the trend of commodity

market fluctuations in ports, provide a value benchmark and effective reference

for port trade activities, and comprehensively enhance the ability to monitor,

analyze, and early warning capabilities of domestic and foreign commodity

prices.

The RCEP Seaborne Trade Index Report (2023) took the 14 member countries

(except for Laos) of RCEP as the research objects and selected six major

categories of cargo, including container cargo, iron ore, coal, oil products,

LNG, and car, as the analysis objects to reflect the annual development trend

of RCEP seaborne trade from two dimensions, including overall trade volume and

seaborne trade volume. According to the index report, the RCEP Seaborne Trade

Index reached 101.4 in 2022, surpassing the 2019 baseline for two consecutive

years. The RCEP seaborne trade volume has gained an increasingly larger global

market share, especially in the container segment. The report reveals that the

RCEP Seaborne Trade Index had a decline of 0.2 points year-on-year in 2022, in

line with the prevailing downward trajectory observed in the worldwide volume

of seaborne commerce. According to the report, the RCEP agreement, which will

take full effect for the 15 signatories in the first half of 2023, would result

in a more favorable seaborne trade prospect among RCEP members than the global

trade outlook in 2023.

Source: China Economic Information Service