Esgian Shipping RoRo and MPP Market Reports for January 2026

RoRo January 2026 highlights:

Trade Route Analysis – China to Canada:By 2025, activity on the China–Canada corridor shows signs of consolidation rather than expansion. Looking ahead, the evolving trade framework is expected to support growth, with increased scope for Chinese operator participation.

Regional Port Call Focus – Central America West Coast: Total deep-sea port calls along the Central America West Coast reached 829 in 2025. Lázaro Cárdenas led regional activity with 335 calls, accounting for around 40% of the total and supported by strong year-on-year growth of 25%.

Regional Update – Europe: The region handled 326 deep-sea port calls in January 2026, down 16% from 386 calls a year earlier. Activity also weakened compared with
December, partly due to seasonality and the holiday period, declining 30% from 464 calls. In 2025, the region recorded a total of 5,211 port calls.

MPP January 2026 highlights:

Trade route analysis – Far East to Oceania: Sailings on the Far East–Oceania MPP trade showed a clear seasonal pattern from 2022 to 2025, with activity generally strengthening in
the second half of each year and peaking toward year-end, particularly in Q4 2022 and Q1 2023.

Regional Port Call Focus – USEC: In 2025, activity became more volatile, with sharper monthly peaks reaching new highs, pointing to episodic congestion or schedule recovery rather than sustained structural growth. Seasonality was evident, with activity typically strengthening from late Q2 into Q3 and softer levels in Q1.

Regional Update – Americas: In January 2026, port waiting times eased across the Americas, led by the Gulf of Mexico with a 41% year-over-year reduction in total
waiting time, followed by Central America–West Coast and the Caribbean Sea, indicating a broad-based improvement compared with January 2025.

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