2009 Port of London trade: lowest since 1992

- The Port of London Authority (PLA) has announced the worst trade figures since 1992, with total throughput in the Port of London falling 14% to 45.4m tonnes (52.9m in 2008) at the end of 2009 as a result of a rapid decline in trade as economic activity fell off in the latter months of 2008.

In tonnage terms, the most significant decline was in unitised trades (principally containers and lorry trailers) which were down by 2.45m tonnes (-16%). Crude oil and oil product trades declined by 1.9m tonnes (-10%), aggregates were down by 1.3m tonnes (-17%). Smaller volume cargoes which increased included: cereals (7%) and vegetable oils and oil seed (12%).

Explaining the figure, PLA chief executive, Richard Everitt said, “The Port of London is intrinsically linked to economic activity. It was inevitable that 2009 would be a very tough year and we expect trade in 2010 to be little changed”.

He stressed that the fundamental attractions of the port as a destination for trade into the South East remained strong, which had attracted the £1.5bn (US$2.2bn) ‘London Gateway’ container port development.

“This and other developments will underpin what we expect to be the haul back to the 50m tonne plus level of throughput seen for the previous nine years,” he added.

“Our focus during 2009 was on developing our operations for the future – trialling a more efficient harbour patrol launch and starting an extensive improvement programme for our Port Control operation. We are preparing for the upturn and continuing to work to create the conditions for use of the river to flourish,” said Everitt.

(Source: Container Management)