A five-character code identifying a trade location: two characters for the country under ISO 3166, then three for the place. NLRTM is the Netherlands, Rotterdam. It covers seaports, airports, rail terminals and inland points alike.

Why use a code instead of the port name?

Because names repeat and codes do not. There are many places called Portsmouth, Santa Cruz and Victoria. A booking that says the port name alone is ambiguous; one that carries the code is not.

Is a port code the same as a terminal?

No. A port code identifies the port, not the berth. A large port has several terminals, and knowing a container arrived at a port does not tell you which terminal to collect it from. Terminal-level identification uses a separate scheme.

Why do Los Angeles and Long Beach have different codes?

Because they are separate ports with separate authorities, despite sharing a harbour and usually being quoted together as one gateway. USLAX and USLGB are not interchangeable on a booking.

Is this list complete?

No. UN/LOCODE contains over 100,000 entries and is revised twice a year. This page lists a selection of significant container ports; the UNECE register is the authoritative and complete source.

Port Codes in Ocean Freight — UN/LOCODE Explained

This is a selection, not a directory. UN/LOCODE holds well over 100,000 entries and is revised twice a year. Listed here are codes for ports that matter in international container trade — a small fraction of the register. For the complete and current list, use the UNECE register itself.

How the code is built

NLRTM

NL — first two charactersCountry, from ISO 3166-1. NL is the Netherlands.
RTM — last threeThe location within that country. RTM is Rotterdam.

That is the whole rule. It is why the table below groups by country: every code in the China section begins CN, every code in the Brazil section begins BR.

Things the code will not tell you

Which terminal. A port code identifies the port, not the berth. A large port has several terminals, and “arrived at CNSGH” does not say where to collect.
Whether two codes are neighbours. USLAX and USLGB share a harbour; CNSNZ, CNSHK and CNYTN are all Shenzhen. The code does not encode geography.
The current name. Codes outlive renamings. VNSGN is Ho Chi Minh City, from Saigon. INMAA is Chennai, from Madras.

Port codes by country

Countries A–Z, and codes A–Z within each country. 115 entries.

Australia (AU)

AUBNE	Brisbane
AUFRE	Fremantle
AUMEL	Melbourne
AUSYD	Sydney

Belgium (BE)

BEANR	Antwerp	Antwerp-Bruges since the 2022 merger; the code is unchanged.
BEZEE	Zeebrugge

Brazil (BR)

BRPNG	Paranaguá
BRRIG	Rio Grande
BRSSZ	Santos	South America’s busiest container port.

Canada (CA)

CAHAL	Halifax
CAMTR	Montreal
CAPRR	Prince Rupert	Shortest Asia–North America sailing, and rail-connected inland.
CATOR	Toronto	A Great Lakes port handling bulk — cement, sugar, salt — rather than containers. FrateZone is based in the Greater Toronto Area.
CAVAN	Vancouver

Chile (CL)

CLSAI	San Antonio
CLVAP	Valparaíso

China (CN)

CNDAL	Dalian
CNGGZ	Guangzhou
CNNBO	Ningbo	Operated jointly with Zhoushan as Ningbo-Zhoushan; the register lists Ningbo.
CNQIN	Qingdao
CNSGH	Shanghai	The world’s busiest container port.
CNSHK	Shekou	A terminal area of Shenzhen with its own code — not the same as CNSNZ.
CNSNZ	Shenzhen
CNTNJ	Tianjin
CNXAM	Xiamen
CNYTN	Yantian	A terminal area of Shenzhen, coded separately.

Colombia (CO)

COBUN	Buenaventura
COCTG	Cartagena

Denmark (DK)

DKAAR	Aarhus
DKCPH	Copenhagen

Egypt (EG)

EGALY	Alexandria
EGPSD	Port Said	At the Mediterranean end of the Suez Canal.

France (FR)

FRFOS	Fos-sur-Mer
FRLEH	Le Havre
FRMRS	Marseille

Germany (DE)

DEBRV	Bremerhaven
DEHAM	Hamburg
DEWVN	Wilhelmshaven

Greece (GR)

GRPIR

Piraeus

Hong Kong (HK)

HKHKG

Hong Kong

India (IN)

INCOK	Cochin
INMAA	Chennai	The code preserves the former name, Madras.
INMUN	Mundra
INNSA	Nhava Sheva (JNPT)	India’s largest container port, serving Mumbai.

Indonesia (ID)

IDJKT	Jakarta	The container terminal is Tanjung Priok, which has its own non-port code; cargo moves under IDJKT.
IDSUB	Surabaya

Italy (IT)

ITGIT	Gioia Tauro
ITGOA	Genoa
ITSPE	La Spezia

Japan (JP)

JPNGO	Nagoya
JPOSA	Osaka
JPTYO	Tokyo
JPUKB	Kobe
JPYOK	Yokohama

Malaysia (MY)

MYPEN	Penang
MYPKG	Port Klang
MYTPP	Tanjung Pelepas

Mexico (MX)

MXATM	Altamira
MXLZC	Lázaro Cárdenas
MXVER	Veracruz
MXZLO	Manzanillo	Mexico’s busiest container port. Not to be confused with Manzanillo, Panama.

Morocco (MA)

MAPTM

Tanger Med

Netherlands (NL)

NLAMS	Amsterdam
NLRTM	Rotterdam	Europe’s largest container port.

New Zealand (NZ)

NZAKL	Auckland
NZTRG	Tauranga

Oman (OM)

OMSLL

Salalah

Panama (PA)

PABLB	Balboa	Pacific end of the Panama Canal.
PACTB	Cristóbal	Atlantic end of the Panama Canal.

Peru (PE)

PECHY	Chancay	Opened 2024 and reshaping South American routings with direct Asia sailings.
PECLL	Callao

Philippines (PH)

PHMNL

Manila

Poland (PL)

PLGDN

Gdańsk

Portugal (PT)

PTLIS	Lisbon
PTSIE	Sines

Saudi Arabia (SA)

SADMM	Dammam
SAJED	Jeddah

Singapore (SG)

SGSIN

Singapore

The world’s largest transhipment hub.

South Africa (ZA)

ZACPT	Cape Town
ZADUR	Durban

South Korea (KR)

KRINC	Incheon
KRKAN	Gwangyang
KRPUS	Busan	North-east Asia’s main transhipment hub.

Spain (ES)

ESALG	Algeciras
ESBCN	Barcelona
ESVLC	Valencia

Sri Lanka (LK)

LKCMB

Colombo

Sweden (SE)

SEGOT

Gothenburg

Taiwan (TW)

TWKEL	Keelung
TWKHH	Kaohsiung
TWTXG	Taichung

Thailand (TH)

THBKK	Bangkok
THLCH	Laem Chabang

Türkiye (TR)

TRAMR	Ambarlı
TRMER	Mersin

United Arab Emirates (AE)

AEAUH	Abu Dhabi
AEJEA	Jebel Ali	The Gulf’s principal transhipment hub.

United Kingdom (GB)

GBFXT	Felixstowe	The UK’s largest container port.
GBLIV	Liverpool
GBSOU	Southampton

United States (US)

USBAL	Baltimore
USCHS	Charleston
USHOU	Houston
USJAX	Jacksonville
USLAX	Los Angeles	Adjacent to Long Beach and often quoted together, but a separate port with a separate code.
USLGB	Long Beach
USMIA	Miami
USNYC	New York	The complex is marketed as the Port of New York and New Jersey, but USNYC names New York. The New Jersey terminals also appear under USEWR, Newark.
USOAK	Oakland
USORF	Norfolk
USSAV	Savannah
USSEA	Seattle
USTIW	Tacoma

Vietnam (VN)

VNHPH	Haiphong
VNSGN	Ho Chi Minh City	The code preserves the former name, Saigon.

Questions

What is a UN/LOCODE?: A five-character code identifying a trade location: two characters for the country under ISO 3166, then three for the place. NLRTM is the Netherlands, Rotterdam. It covers seaports, airports, rail terminals and inland points alike.
Why use a code instead of the port name?: Because names repeat and codes do not. There are many places called Portsmouth, Santa Cruz and Victoria. A booking that says the port name alone is ambiguous; one that carries the code is not.
Is a port code the same as a terminal?: No. A port code identifies the port, not the berth. A large port has several terminals, and knowing a container arrived at a port does not tell you which terminal to collect it from. Terminal-level identification uses a separate scheme.
Why do Los Angeles and Long Beach have different codes?: Because they are separate ports with separate authorities, despite sharing a harbour and usually being quoted together as one gateway. USLAX and USLGB are not interchangeable on a booking.
Is this list complete?: No. UN/LOCODE contains over 100,000 entries and is revised twice a year. This page lists a selection of significant container ports; the UNECE register is the authoritative and complete source.

UN/LOCODE is maintained by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, which publishes the complete and current register. FrateZone is not affiliated with the UNECE, and this page is neither the register nor a substitute for it.

Provided for convenience and general information only.Figures, definitions and descriptions on these pages are compiled from publicly available sources — published industry standards, official code registers and carriers' own published specifications — and are nominal: actual equipment, regulations and commercial terms vary by manufacturer, carrier, jurisdiction and contract, and change over time. FrateZone is not the issuing authority for any of it, does not warrant that any figure here is correct, current or complete, and makes no representation that a source has not changed since it was read. Where a specification belongs to a specific physical unit or a specific contract — a container's certified plate, an airline's tariff, the wording of your own sale agreement — that document governs, not this page. FrateZone accepts no liability for any error or omission here, nor for any operational, commercial, financial or legal decision taken in reliance on it. Verify against the authoritative source before you act.

Port codes in ocean freight