The volume of import containers handled at Qatar’s world-class Hamad Port doubled in September compared with the average number of import containers received in the first six months of the year at the newly inaugurated facility.
While the total number of import containers arrived at the port in the first half of the year stood around 157,000 TEUs, making a monthly average of a little over 26,100 TEUs, the volume of import containers shot up significantly to more than 54,000 TEUs in September, shipping industry sources said.
Confirming the “encouraging” trend, sources attributed the remarkable leap in import volumes to business generated at the port, post blockade.
Equally encouraging were imports in the two previous months, sources said. While it was close to 39,000 TEUs in July, the number exceeded 45,000 in August.
In the current scenario, expectations are that the volumes would continue to shoot up as more and more vessels, including large mother ships, are expected to call on the port in coming months.
With no immediate sign of the resumption of transport through the country’s only international land border, shipping companies are expecting further rise in imports through the local port in the next few months.
Inquiries also found exports from the port in Mesaieed are encouraging, averaging around 14,500 TEUs a month. From Hamad Port, the average is between 2,500 and 2,600 TEUs.
The volume of import containers at the port these days is even higher compared with what used to come via road, inquiries found. Sometime ago, trailer operators said, between 800 and 900 containers were transported into the country daily.
Local trailers operators stand to gain substantially from the growth in imports at Hamad Port, it is learnt.
Source:- Gulf-times.com
