IMF PortWatch (satellite-AIS shipping data) · · Revised 1,770 series
Hormuz shipping stays near zero into November; China mid-October exports revised up
Ship crossings of the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil route, stayed at 1 to 8 a day from 1 October to 8 November. Estimates of China's seaborne exports for 12–16 October were revised up 7–13%.
A data update from FactIQ, written from IMF PortWatch (satellite-AIS shipping data) figures. What is FactIQ?
Key figures
- Strait of Hormuz ship transits, all vessels, 8 November
- 3between 1 and 8 every day from 1 October to 8 November2026-09-222026-11-08Strait of Hormuz — daily transit calls, all vessels
- China estimated seaborne exports, 14 October, revised
- 8.03m trevised up from 7.10m t2026-09-202026-11-06China — daily maritime export volume estimate
- Taiwan Strait ship transits, 23 October, during Typhoon Champi
- 24down from about 230–260 a day; 324 on 24 October2026-09-222026-11-08Taiwan Strait — daily transit calls, all vessels
- Strait of Hormuz tanker transits, daily range, 1 October to 8 November
- 0–41 on most November days2026-09-222026-11-08Strait of Hormuz — daily transit calls, tankers
Hormuz traffic has stayed in single digits since early July
Daily transits count the ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow route for much of the world's seaborne oil. Transits by all vessels ran between 1 and 8 every day from 1 October to 8 November, with 3 on 8 November. Tanker transits ran 0–4 a day and were 1 on most November days. Apart from a short rebound in late June (51 on 24 June, 50 on 25 June), the strait has been in single digits since about 8 July. PortWatch counts are based on the Automatic Identification System (AIS), the radio signal ships broadcast to show their position. Read them as a minimum, not as a measure of oil flows.
Typhoon Champi briefly shut the Taiwan Strait in late October
- Transits fell from about 230–260 a day to 164 on 21 October, 80 on 22 October and 24 on 23 October.
- Daily trade capacity, the cargo the passing ships can carry, dropped to 0.44 million metric tons (m t) on 23 October.
- A catch-up spike followed on 24 October, with 324 vessels and 8.82m t. Since then the strait has been back to normal at 189–254 vessels a day.
- China's estimated daily seaborne imports fell over the same days, to 5.83m t on 24 October and 6.48m t on 25 October. They recovered to 10.5–13.2m t/day in early November.
China's mid-October export estimates are now higher
Estimates of China's seaborne exports for 12–16 October were revised up 7–13%. The 14 October figure rose from 7.10m to 8.03m t. The 15 October figure rose from 6.66m to 7.21m t. Early-November figures are 6.6–7.7m t/day, apart from 5.6m t on 1 November.
Other routes and countries showed no unusual moves
- Suez Canal: 37–52 transits a day in November (43 on 8 November).
- Bab el-Mandeb: 19–38 a day. Panama Canal: 22–32 a day.
- Malacca Strait: 218–244 a day in November, after a dip to 186–207 in late October.
- Containerized imports for Emerging and Developing Asia were revised down, with 16 October cut from 8.75m to 6.94m t.
- India's estimated seaborne imports held steady at about 1.1–2.4m t/day.
Source: IMF PortWatch (satellite-AIS shipping data). See all PORTWATCH data in FactIQ.