Sri Lanka’s main Colombo Port is set to handle a record 8.2 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in 2025, surpassing last year’s 7.78 million TEUs, thanks to rapid growth at the newly operational West Container Terminal (WCT), Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) Chairman Sirimewan Ranasinghe said.
Speaking at the Voyage Sri Lanka 2025 summit in Colombo, Ranasinghe highlighted the significant rise in container handling at the WCT, which began operations in April 2025. “It started slowly, but we are now seeing fast growth in container handling,” he said.
The Colombo Port’s capacity expansion comes after the port exceeded its previous maximum capacity of 7 million TEUs in 2024, reaching 7.78 million TEUs. The Jaye Container Terminal and the deep-water East Container Terminal handled 2.4 million TEUs, while the China-backed Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT) managed 3.3 million TEUs. The South Asia Gateway Terminal (SAGT), part of John Keells Holdings, contributed 2.0 million TEUs.
Operations at the Colombo West International Container Terminal (CWICT), backed by India’s Adani Group, have added further capacity to the port. SLPA projects that total port capacity will double to 15 million TEUs by 2026, reinforcing Colombo’s position as a key maritime gateway in South Asia.
Despite the sharp decline during Sri Lanka’s 2022 economic crisis, when throughput dropped to around 6.9 million TEUs in 2023, the port rebounded strongly in 2024. The recovery was driven by Red Sea shipping reroutes via the Cape of Good Hope, which boosted transshipment volumes—comprising 81% of total throughput—by 9.7% to 6.31 million TEUs.
Colombo Port, historically a modest colonial-era harbor, has now evolved into one of South Asia’s busiest transshipment hubs, underscoring its growing strategic importance in regional and global trade.