Vietnam's main container ports: Cat Lai, Cai Mep and Haiphong explained for shippers

Almost all of Vietnam’s container trade moves through two port systems: the Ho Chi Minh City cluster in the south, which serves the industrial belt where most export furniture, garments and consumer goods are made, and Haiphong in the north, which serves Hanoi and the northern manufacturing provinces. Central Vietnam has smaller ports at Da Nang and Quy Nhon. Which one your cargo uses depends on where the supplier is, the shipping line and whether the service is direct or transships.

Port of Ho Chi Minh City: Cat Lai

Cat Lai (Tan Cang-Cat Lai terminal, operated by Saigon Newport Corporation) sits on the river in Thu Duc, on the eastern side of Ho Chi Minh City, and is the busiest container terminal in Vietnam. When a booking or bill of lading says “Ho Chi Minh City” for a container, it very often means Cat Lai.

• Strengths: close to the city and the factories of the southern industrial belt, very frequent sailings, and the main hub for LCL consolidation warehouses.
• Limits: as a river terminal it takes smaller vessels than the deep-water ports, so most services are intra-Asia. Cargo from Cat Lai to the US or Europe is often transshipped at a hub such as Singapore, Hong Kong or Kaohsiung, or trucked or barged to Cai Mep for a direct service.
• Congestion: road access around Cat Lai is busy; container trucks face time restrictions in parts of the city, so allow margin for gate-in cut-offs.

Cai Mep-Thi Vai deep-water terminals

Downriver toward the coast, the Cai Mep-Thi Vai cluster is Vietnam’s main deep-water gateway in the south. It was in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province until the July 2025 provincial merger and is now part of Ho Chi Minh City. Terminals there, including TCIT, CMIT, Gemalink and SSIT, can berth the largest container ships and handle direct mainline services to the US West and East Coasts and to Europe.

• Strengths: direct services mean shorter and more predictable transit to the US, with no transshipment wait.
• Consider: it is further from most factories than Cat Lai, so trucking or barge costs from the supplier are higher. For full containers to the US, the direct service usually outweighs that.

Haiphong and Lach Huyen (northern Vietnam)

Haiphong is the gateway for Hanoi and the northern provinces, where much of Vietnam’s electronics and a growing share of furniture and garments are produced. The older river terminals (such as the Dinh Vu area) serve mostly intra-Asia routes, while the deep-water Lach Huyen terminals (including Haiphong International Container Terminal, HICT) handle direct services to the United States.

If your supplier is in the north, shipping from Haiphong avoids a long trucking leg south, which is often slower and dearer than the sea time saved.

Central Vietnam: Da Nang and Quy Nhon

Da Nang (Tien Sa port) serves central Vietnam, including the handicraft and furniture workshops around Hoi An; services are mainly intra-Asia, with long-haul cargo transshipped. Quy Nhon, now in Gia Lai province, handles bulk cargo and wood products for the surrounding region, including its outdoor furniture makers. For LCL or small volumes from central Vietnam, trucking to Ho Chi Minh City for consolidation is often the practical route.

Which port suits your shipment?

Port codes you will see on bookings

Some shipping lines use the city code on the bill of lading even when the cargo loads at a specific terminal; check the carrier’s booking confirmation.

Transit from Vietnam’s southern ports

Port-to-port, allow roughly 14-22 days to the US West Coast, 28-45 days to the US East Coast and 18-35 days to the main Australian ports, before packing, waiting for the sailing and destination clearance. See shipping from Vietnam to the USA and to Australia for route details.

Related

• Sea freight from Vietnam (LCL, FCL)
• Importing furniture from Vietnam
• ISF filing before loading in Vietnam
• LCL vs FCL