Malaysia's Northport first quarter up 26pc to 779,867 TEU

NORTHPORT, at Port Klang, Malaysia, has announced a 26 per cent increase in first quarter container volume to 779,867 TEU compared to 620,633 TEU in the same period last year.

Exports stood at 223,450 TEU, a 25 per cent increase while imports came in at 231,450 TEU, up 20 per cent with transshipments showing notable increase of 30 per cent at 324,899 TEU which was attributed to regional growth, said Northport managing director Basheer Hassan Abdul Kader.

Mr Kadar said the growth in transshipments at the port was a reflection of its service standards attracting global customers. "We offer a very competitive level of service based on high productivity, consistency and efficiency because we are very focused on optimising on asset utilisation which gives us the edge and the shipping lines good value for money," he told Bernama news agency.

The port is expected to increase volume 10 to 15 per cent overall in 2010 against 2009's decline of two per cent and contraction of country's economy by 1.9 per cent.

In the past Northport's primary operations has been with national trade but it now boasts a feeder network linking it to 250 ports worldwide while handling 120 shipping lines.

(Source: www.schednet.com)