Cargo volumes at Colombo terminal surge 33%

Cargo volumes at a Colombo port private container terminal in which John Keells Holdings has a big stake rose 33 percent in January over the same month the previous year, albeit from a low base the year before as trade recovers from recession, Lanka Business Online reported.

The South Asia Gateway Terminal (SAGT) handled 162,890 TEUs in January 2010, however, 76 percent of SAGT's container volumes consist of transhipment traffic on which profit margins are lower. It was SAGT’s second highest-ever monthly volumes.

SAGT, in which John Keells Holdings has a 42.2 percent stake, handled a record high volume of containers in 2009 despite the global economic slump, which reduced shipping volumes worldwide.

In 2009 SAGT's volumes were up 1.4 percent to 1,749,796 TEUs from the previous year and it also took market share from the government-owned terminals.

In December 2009, SAGT's container volumes rose 26.5 percent to 155,691 TEUs from a year earlier.

Container volumes at the government-owned Jaya Container Terminal (JCT) are also recovering as trade flows picked up with global recession coming to an end.

The Sri Lanka Ports Authority said the JCT handled a total of 153,317 TEUs in December 2009, up 12.5 percent from the same month a year ago.
 
(source: Cargo News Asia)