Vietnam reported growth in volumes at some of its major ports.

Container volumes at the Lach Huyen in Central Vietnam expanded to 661,071 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) from the 418,558 TEUs seen the year prior as volumes at Cai Mep terminals — which is closet to its capital Ho Chi Minh City — increased to 4.41 million TEUs from 3.74 million TEUs.

The Saigon New Port Corporation also saw stellar growth last year, recording 5.59 million TEUs at its Cat Lai port, and another 2.83 million TEUs on its two terminals in Cai Mep, located 50 kilometres southeast of Vietnam's commercial hub, Ho Chi Minh City.

Volume at the Vietnamese ports started picking up in the second quarter of 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic prompted a rethinking of supply chains which had many analysts believe will benefit other Southeast Asian countries, including Vietnam — with some production opting out of China. 

Vietnam also recently signed various FTAs such as the EU-Vietnam FTA (EVFTA) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) seen to further boost volumes at its ports.

In general, volumes this year is also expected to rebound as trade recovers following a slowdown in production last year due to various lockdown measures across the world.

Domestic consumption, export markets and reshoring of global supply chains are also expected to drive growth.