All world regions showed a decline in average call size in the second quarter (Q2) of 2023 compared with the same period last year, according to a new report by S&P Global Market Intelligence titled "Port Performance Program: Global Quarterly Analysis Summary."

Call size is the quantity of containers loaded and discharged on a port call.

According to the new report, the biggest decline in call size was seen in North America, which saw a -26.5% drop.

"Systemic global port congestion has all but evaporated as operational conditions at global ports continue to improve following the unprecedented levels of disruption triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic," said Turloch Mooney, director at S&P Global Market Intelligence.

"The biggest performance improvements are evident in North America which, as the world region that suffered the severest delays, is now seeing the steepest recovery overall despite persistent delays and lower levels of ocean-side performance at some key ports," he added.

The report found that North American container ports registered the biggest improvement in productivity of all world regions in the second quarter of 2023, driven by a steep reduction in vessel waiting times (-67.2%).

In addition to improvements in vessel turnaround times, median import container dwell times at North American ports — the time from offloading of container from vessel to terminal gate release — have been stable throughout 2023 at around three days.

It added that better productivity is observed at container ports in all world regions with the exception of the Middle East and India where the data show some modest decline in overall productivity and vessel waiting times.

"The global improvement in performance is driven by the drop in container demand; a fall in the average quantity of containers loaded and discharged per vessel call is observed in each region, which has substantially reduced the operational strain on terminals," the S&P Global Market Intelligence, added.

Meanwhile, it noted that Northeast Asia continues to extend its position as the global leader in berth productivity with further improvements (+12.9%) in the quantity of containers moved per hour vessels spend at berth.

Southeast Asia showed the biggest decline in berth-moves-per-hour (-7.5%).