Breath of fresh air from Suez at the port of Piraeus--China

By Paris Tsirigotis

ptsirigotis@naftemporiki.gr

Container traffic at Piraeus Port's piers II and III is recovering as containerships gradually return through the Suez Canal, reducing diversions around the Cape of Good Hope.

This development may work positively for Piraeus, due to its pivotal position on the Asia-Mediterranean-Europe axis.

According to data from Cosco Shipping Ports, July 2026 container volumes reached approximately 352,000 TEUs, up from 345,000 TEUs in the same period last year, recording a small but positive change and easing some of the pressures on the Red Sea bypasses.

At a 7-month level, from January to July, traffic stood at 2.347 million TEUs, compared to 2.400 million TEUs in the same period last year, recording a decrease of 2.2%.

It is noted that the Houthis announced a special naval blockade targeting only tankers linked to Saudi interests on July 20, 2026. Meanwhile, the European operation ASPIDES continues to report an elevated risk for ships tied to US or Israeli interests.

Strong picture for Cosco Shipping Ports

During the same period, at the group level, Cosco Shipping Ports showed significantly higher growth rates.

In July 2026, 10.598 million TEUs were handled at its 38 terminals, compared to 10.053 million TEUs in the corresponding period, recording an increase of 5.4%.

At a seven-month level, total handling amounted to approximately 72 million TEUs, compared to 67 million TEUs in the corresponding previous period.

The East Asia– Middle East route

The conflict in the Gulf is affecting container traffic, with available capacity on the East Asia-Indian Subcontinent/Middle East/Red Sea route decreasing by more than 14% year-on-year at the end of July.

According to alphaliner, total capacity decreased by approximately 312,000 TEUs compared to July 2025, reaching a level slightly below 1.9 million TEUs.

The sharpest decline stems directly or indirectly from escalating tension in the Gulf, which prompted shipping companies to limit their exposure to rising risks.

At the company level, the largest individual decline was recorded by HMM, withdrawing approximately 115,000 TEUs of capacity from this market, followed by SeaLead, with a decrease of approximately 66,000 TEUs.

Of particular importance is the fact that almost 90% of the total decline came from smaller carriers, with a share of capacity below 1%, which either significantly reduced or discontinued their presence on this route.

In contrast, the 18 largest shipping companies, each of which controls at least 1% of the available capacity, showed much smaller changes overall.

The COSCO SHIPPING group, including OOCL, recorded the largest decline among the top 18 carriers, reducing its available capacity by about 60,000 TEUs.

In contrast to the general downward trend, CMA CGM significantly strengthened its presence, adding almost 70,000 TEUs, an increase of almost 40% compared to July 2025.

At the top of the market remained MSC, which increased its capacity by 3%, though it reduced the number of ships it operates on this route from 25 to 18.

The main factor contributing to this was the upgrade of the East Asia - ISC "Shikra" line, which was extended to Khor Fakkan and Sohar and now uses ships with a capacity of 19,000-24,000 TEUs, more than double the 8,000-9,500 TEUs operating in July 2025.