Sinotrans Leads 2026 Global Ocean Freight Forwarder Rankings with 4.93 Million TEU

en.Wedoany.com Reported - Sinotrans (China) became the world's largest ocean freight forwarder with a volume of 4.93 million TEU handled in 2025. This ranking comes from the 2026 Top 25 Global Ocean Freight Forwarders list compiled by Armstrong & Associates (A&A), which is based on data from the previous year.

The Chinese forwarder surpassed Switzerland's Kuehne+Nagel, which recorded 4.33 million TEU; Denmark's DSV ranked third with 3.70 million TEU. Germany's DHL Supply Chain & Global Forwarding ranked fourth with 3.27 million TEU. The volume gaps among the top operators highlight the level of concentration already achieved in the international ocean freight intermediary market—the top four operators alone handled a combined total of approximately 16.2 million TEU during the year.

The list also underscores the growing influence of Asian companies in global ocean freight forwarding operations. Cosco Shipping Logistics (China) ranked fifth with 1.96 million TEU, and Ningbo Port Southeast Logistics Group (China) ranked sixth with 1.82 million TEU. Japan's Nippon Express ranked seventh with 1.81 million TEU; France's CEVA Logistics ranked eighth with 1.73 million TEU; South Korea's LX Pantos ranked ninth with 1.63 million TEU; and the United States' C.H. Robinson rounded out the top ten with 1.26 million TEU. Five of the top ten ocean freight forwarders are headquartered in Asia, reflecting the region's importance in cargo generation as well as the intermediation and management of international containerized freight flows.

Rankings 11 through 20 are as follows: 11) KLN (China), 1.10 million TEU; 12) GODIS (France), 962,000 TEU; 13) CIMC Wetrans Logistics Technology (China), 961,197 TEU; 14) Hellmann Worldwide Logistics (Germany), 955,000 TEU; 15) Worldwide Logistics Group (China), 890,436 TEU; 16) Expeditors (United States), 855,200 TEU; 17) Savino Del Bene (Italy), 852,000 TEU; 18) CTS International Logistics (China), 842,700 TEU; 19) OOCL Logistics (Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China), 840,000 TEU; 20) Fr. Meyer's Sohn (Germany), 812,000 TEU.

For rankings 21 through 25: Kintetsu World Express (Japan) ranked 21st with 738,003 TEU; Scan Global Logistics (Denmark) ranked 22nd with 691,000 TEU; Logwin (Luxembourg) ranked 23rd with 685,000 TEU; Allcargo Logistics (India) ranked 24th with 648,500 TEU. The 25th spot was shared by Maersk Logistics (Denmark) and Van Donge & de Roo (Netherlands), both with 635,000 TEU.

Armstrong & Associates noted that TEU-measured volumes are either self-reported by the companies or estimates made by the consulting firm, with the 2026 list using 2025 ocean freight volumes. Ocean freight forwarders are operators that coordinate international ocean cargo shipments on behalf of importers and exporters, with functions including booking space with shipping lines, coordinating inland transportation to and from ports, preparing and managing documentation, assisting with customs processes, and tracking cargo.