China's quarterly port volume points to strong recovery

CHINA's port cargo throughput and foreign trade cargo throughput rose more than 20 per cent year on year in the first quarter, indicating strong domestic demand and accelerated economic growth, said transport ministry spokesman He Jianzhong in a Xinhua report.

Data revealed that the first quarter showed robust throughput of commodities such as iron ore, coal and crude oil, boosted by growing domestic demand, which came on the back of rapid growth in fixed-asset investment, rising power generation and booming auto sales.

Some 173 million tonnes of iron ore imports were moved at Chinese ports in the first three months, up 16 per cent from a year earlier. Crude oil arriving at Chinese ports rose 30 per cent to 48.42 million tonnes.

Customs authorities said China's exports rose 24.3 per cent in March to US$112.1 billion from the same month a year earlier, while imports soared 66 per cent year on year to $119.3 billion. Foreign trade rose 44.1 per cent to $617.85 billion.

But Ningbo Port Co secretary Huang Weiping said strong growth in the first quarter was due to the low base, with actual throughput not having increased from the pre-crisis levels of 2008.

"We can't be blindly optimistic about the current situation as the domestic and international economic environment is still complicated," he said.

The central government has repeatedly warned of the economic uncertainties both at home and abroad and announced in March it will target eight per cent economic growth in 2010, the year described by Premier Wen Jiabao in early March as "a crucial but complicated year for China's economic development."

(Source: www.schednet.com)