PSA suffers a double digit fall in container volumes in 2009

PSA International (PSA) handled 56.93m teu at its port projects around the world for the year ending 31 December 2009 representing a decline of 9.9% over 2008, with PSA Singapore Terminals contributing 25.14m teu (-13.1%) of the total. This first-ever decline in PSA’s global container throughput was brought on by the sharp contraction in world trade last year.

Eddie Teh, Group CEO, PSA International, said, “2009 was a year of unprecedented hardship and challenges for the port and shipping industries. The global economic downturn and massive slump in global trade caused a drastic drop in demand for container shipping. PSA took urgent measures in 2009 to reset its capacity needs and reduce operating costs (and) we will continue to work very closely with all our customers through these difficult times.

In 2008 Singapore retained the title as the world’s busiest container port for the fourth consecutive year followed by Shanghai and Hong Kong. The world awaits the figure from these two ports to see if Singapore has retained its lead or has been finally overtaken by Shanghai.

What is certain is that the global ports industry faces another challenging year ahead.

Source: Port News