Container movements through our ports are critical to our economy and quality of life. Publishing performance data at higher frequency will assist industry and government to set targets to improve efficiency and support Australia's international competitiveness. Australia's key container data is currently published in the Waterline report which bi-annually collects data from port operators, stevedores and port authorities

The container supply chain is a patchwork of data systems, with service companies acting as 'clearing houses' on behalf of various sub-sectors such as shippers, stevedores, freight forwarders and shipping lines. Large companies additionally collect their own operational data. Smaller companies may operate largely offline, participating in the port data community only via the service providers.

The purpose of the container data project is to provide more up-to-date data to assist industry and government's understanding of the national container supply chain. Strategic level data will support evidence-based policy and investment decisions. This project will focus on three key areas of the container supply chain: terminals, the infrastructure and wider environment surrounding the terminals (port precinct) and the catchment area for import and export activity through the port (hinterland).

This project addresses enduring questions 2-5, 7 and 10.

Please contact us if you would like to be updated on, or involved in, the development of this project.

Outcomes

• More detailed and more up-to-date container performance through regular data exchange between the Hub and industry. Improved visibility of container movements to and from ports which will assist with strategic planning to rectify bottlenecks and pinch points.
• Multi-modal evaluation of container movements by combining new container data with other key Hub datasets. Evaluation of the freight sector as a whole will enable smarter targeted investments to improve the performance of ports and the networks connected to ports.

Initial Planned Outputs

1. Data sharing agreements to collect more timely data from stakeholders.
2. An exploratory data analysis report which documents how different container datasets can be used, either individually or combined, to produce new container insights.

Related data projects:

• Customs Data
• Customs freight data analysis project
• Truck Movements Data
• Simplified Trade System
• ACCC Container Stevedoring Monitoring Report

Limitations

See About Page for detail on the current data limitations of this project.