Transshipment volumes at Colombo Port decline for second straight month in Aug.

The transshipment container volumes at the Port of Colombo declined for the second consecutive month in August, after almost touching the pre-pandemic levels in the first half of the year, the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) data showed.

In August, the transshipment volumes handled by the port declined by 7.9 percent year-onyear (YOY) to 492,955 TEUS, expanding on the 4.1 percent YOY decline recorded in July.

The container handling at China Merchant Port (Cmport) Holdingsmanaged Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT) declined by 7.2 percent YOY to around 245,000 TEUS in August, according to the company.

In the first eight months of the year, the transshipment container throughput at the Port of Colombo recorded a 2.8 percent YOY growth, handing 3.85 million TEUS.

The domestic container throughput of the port also declined by 5.6 percent YOY to 92,726 TEUS in August.

However, the restowing volumes grew by 9.3 percent YOY to 15,889 TEUS in the month.

Consequently, the overall container throughput of the port was down by 7.2 percent YOY to 601,570 TEUS in August.

Meanwhile, ship traffic at Sri Lanka’s ports recorded a marginal decline of 6.1 percent YOY in August. The cargo handled by the country’s ports decreased by 3.4 percent YOY to 5.1 million metric tonnes (MT) in the month.

However, Cmport-managed Hambantota Port recorded a 20.3 percent YOY growth in cargo handling (excluding vehicle volumes) in the month. In the eight-month period, the port handled 1.16 million MT of cargo, recording a 104 percent YOY growth.

The cumulative cargo volumes handled by the country’s ports in the eight-month period also rose by nearly 10 percent YOY to 73.76 million MT. (NF)