Container trade through the Port of Melbourne has recovered, according to data for December 2009, recording a 6.6 percent increase on the same month in 2008. The port handled almost 195,000 containers over the entire month.
“We are always cautious about drawing conclusions on trends from one month’s trade results but the signs are very encouraging,” said the port’s CEO Stephen Bradford.
“There were some horror stories about declining trade volumes earlier in 2009 in some international container ports so December’s trade figures, consistent with November, are a welcome result which we hope will be sustained.”
Full international container exports rose by more than six percent on the same period the previous year, with wheat (up 73 percent), wine (up 54 percent), pulp and wastepaper (up 25 percent) contributing significantly. Full international container exports maintain an upward trend increasing 4.6 percent for the financial year to date.
