Kenya: The Port of Mombasa has dropped from position 117 to 120 in world container ports ranking this year. The port experienced a drop in cargo volumes handled last year by 9,500 20-feet containers (TEUs) – having handled 894,000 TEUs compared to 903,000 TEUs handled in 2012.

The downturn is attributed to political jitters last year, as there was an extended election period that created uncertainty among traders doing business through the facility.

But Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) Managing Director Gichiri Ndua expressed optimism, noting that the first six months of this year has witnessed significant positive performance compared to a similar period last year.

“Total cargo throughput registered a growth of 12.8 per cent, having handled 11.9 million tonnes up from 10.5 million tonnes handled in 2013,” he said in a recent stakeholder meeting in Nairobi.

China’s Port of Shangai maintained its grip as the top port, followed by Port of Singapore. Seven of the top 10 container ports are from China.

Container throughput

Shangai and Singapore enjoyed phenomenal transhipment growth, rising by around 35 per cent according to The Container Management Magazine’s latest edition. In Africa, Mombasa Port was ranked fifth after Durban (South Africa), Alexandria (Egypt), Tanger Med (Morocco) and Port Said (Egypt).

Ndua said imports grew by 11.7 per cent, posting 10.06 million tonnes, compared to 8.99 million tonnes registered in 2013. “At the same time, exports increased by 13.9 per cent, recording 1.65 million tonnes up from 1.45 million tonnes handled in 2013,” said Ndua

KPA observes that container traffic is expected to surge with more ships docking at the harbour and the commissioning of berth 19. “Transhipment traffic is a key segment of cargo traffic that would strive to capture,”‘ Ndua explained.

“We in Mombasa have made efforts to attract this business in the last few years and I am glad to report that transhipment traffic has also recorded robust performance, posting 160,000 tonnes of cargo in the first half of 2014 against 72,000 tonnes recorded in the corresponding period last year – reflecting an impressive increase of 88,000 tonnes or 12.2 per cent.”

Port analysts say there is a like hood that Mombasa Port could transact more volumes this year. Container traffic registered a growth rate of 11.5 per cent, reaching 463,807 TEUs compared to 415,948 TEUs registered during the same period last year. The growth is above the global average rate of eight per cent per year.

Source URL: Standard Digital

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