CONTAINER trade through Brisbane saw a decrease in this past March, according to the latest trade statistics from the Port of Brisbane.
Over the month, a total of 109,731 TEU crossed the wharves at Fisherman Island. This was a decrease of 18%, or 24,901 TEU, compared with throughput in March 2021.
Drilling down into the data, we see the decrease driven in large part by a fall in containerised exports. In March 2022, the port exported a total of 45,569 TEU, a decrease of 29% on the same month last year.
Going down one more layer, we find a precipitous decrease in exported empty containers. This past March, Brisbane exported 24,313 TEU of empty containers (as usual, fresh air was the port’s largest containerised export over the month). Compared with the same month in 2021, this was a decrease of 34%.
Full exports also decreased over the period to 21,256 TEU, a decline of 23% from 27,560 TEU in March 2021. Full exports were down across nearly all reported commodity categories, with the biggest being “export other”, decreasing by 6304 TEU to 21,256 TEU in March 2022.
Turning now to imports, we see a decrease in containerised freight volumes, but not quite as steep as exports.
This past March, Brisbane imported 54,096 TEU of containerised freight, a decrease of 15% on the same month last year.
The biggest commodity category by volume, and decrease, was “import other”, with 25,301 TEU crossing the wharves in March. This was a decrease of 15% on the same month last year.
