Source: Lloyd’s List. Adapted from Ducruet C. (2012) Ports et routes maritimes dans le monde (1890-1925), Mappemonde, 106. Notes: Ports having a traffic of more than 10,000 tons.
The period between 1890 and 1925 underlines the dominance of the steamship as a support to global trade with its diffusion to ports across the world. 1890 marks a threshold, with steamship services becoming competitive for distances above 16,000 km. This placed Asia within reach of steamships, particularly after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. Still, steamship services exhibit a high concentration around industrialized clusters in both periods. While only two notable clusters were active around 1890, the North Sea and the American Northeast, by 1925, several additional clusters had emerged.
One concerns the American West Coast, which expanded industrialization by opening the Panama Canal in 1914 and an oil extraction boom. Another involves Argentina, which at the time was experiencing a period of prosperity, including a phase of European immigration, and was among the world’s highest-GDP-per-capita countries. Buenos Aires rivaled other metropolises such as Paris, London, and New York. The activity in South Asia was linked with British colonial trade. This also included Australia, which was becoming an important exporter of agricultural goods. The rapid industrialization of Japan, a direct result of the Meiji Revolution, was also becoming apparent.