One port dominates this edition. Guangzhou’s average berthing delay jumped from near-zero to more than 400 hours in two weeks — the largest single-port swing the Port Congestion Index has recorded. This edition covers 1,253 ports for the two weeks ending July 12.
The Global Picture
The Tradlinx Port Flow Score (TPFS) composite reads 51.8 out of 100 this edition, in the elevated band. Of 1,253 monitored ports, 787 (62.8%) are rated LOW and 203 (16.2%) STABLE. The combined BUSY and CONGESTED count is 263 ports, or 21.0% of the total.
Within this edition, the distribution shifted only modestly: LOW gained 9 ports and CONGESTED gained 9, while STABLE shed 23. The headline movement is concentrated in a handful of ports rather than a broad change across the network.
The standout is Guangzhou, where average berthing delay reached 440 hours (~18.3 days) — up from a LOW rating in the prior period. It is both the most congested port and the single longest wait in this edition.
Regional Breakdown: West Africa Remains the Structural Hotspot
Regional delay patterns are consistent with recent editions, with Africa carrying the heaviest load.
West Africa remains the most congested region with average delays of 45.5 hours across 41 ports — 14 of them rated CONGESTED. East Africa & Indian Ocean follows at 20.0 hours.
South Asia & Middle East carries 13.1 hours average delay, and Southeast Asia 10.7 hours — the latter still weighed down by the Manila cluster and Indonesian ports.
Mediterranean sits at 9.4 hours with 32 ports rated BUSY, the highest BUSY count of any region. Northern Europe (2.4h) and North America (1.5h) remain the calmest.
Top Congested Ports
Guangzhou tops the list at 439.6 hours with a rising-delay flag — a dramatic reversal from its LOW rating two weeks ago. Only 3 vessels are shown waiting, suggesting a berth or operational bottleneck rather than a large vessel queue; worth watching next edition to see whether it holds or clears.
South Manila (122.0 hours, 29 waiting) and Manila (71.7 hours) remain the persistent Philippine hotspots. Casablanca continued easing to 38.9 hours.
Port Klang Northport has the largest vessel queue on the list at 42 waiting despite a 26.4-hour average, and both it and Constanta on the Black Sea carry rising-delay flags.
Movers: What Worsened and What Eased
Worsening: beyond Guangzhou, Constanta (STABLE to BUSY, +12.8h), Salalah (+12.1h), and Le Havre (LOW to BUSY, +12.1h) saw the next-largest delay increases. Trieste also moved into BUSY.
Easing: last edition’s Gulf and India entrants reversed — Jebel Ali (Dubai) dropped from CONGESTED to BUSY (–24.4h) and Mundra did the same (–13.4h). Dalian and Fuzhou eased to STABLE, while Tianjin, New York, and Miami all improved to LOW.
Setting Guangzhou aside, the picture is one of rotation rather than broad deterioration: the Gulf and India ease as the Black Sea and a few North European ports pick up.
Explore the Full Interactive Report
This post covers the highlights. The full report includes an interactive global map, sortable port tables across all 1,253 ports, top-hub throughput analysis, waiting-time and slow-operations views, and berthing delay trends.
View the full Port Congestion Index report →
The PCI report is published biweekly and covers all 1,253 monitored ports with TPFS scores, delay hours, and trend data.
The Tradlinx Port Congestion Index is derived from the Port Congestion API, scored using UNCTAD criteria and queueing theory. Beginning with this edition, the TPFS composite and average-delay calculations use an upgraded scoring methodology; figures from this edition forward are not directly comparable to earlier editions. Data as of July 12, 2026.
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