CONTAINER throughput through the Port of Brisbane saw an uptick in June, with more TEUs crossing the wharf than May and June 2019, according to the latest trade statistics published by the port.
June saw a total of 110,745 TEU move through the port, an increase of 4% on the same month last year, and a 1% increase on the previous month.
Total containerised imports through the port in June were reported at 54,219 TEU, with “import other” (24,442 TEU), building products (5928 TEU) and household items (5544 TEU) as the largest cargo categories. The port also received 6044 TEU of empties.
Turning to exports, 49,988 TEU left the port in June. It comes as no surprise, the largest export category was fresh air, with 27,654 TEU of empty containers shipped out during the month. Other major export categories include “export other” (12,171 TEU), timber (6289 TEU) and meat products (5371 TEU).
Total trade through the port, including non-containerised and containerised freight totalled 2.165m tonnes last month. While this was up on May (5%), it was a 27% decrease on the same month last year.
This decrease was largely driven by a huge drop in coal exports, down from 457,074 tonnes in June 2019 to 221,774 tonnes, a massive 51% drop.
A number of other export commodities saw significant decreases over the period, with refined oil decreasing 88% to 9554 tonnes and iron and steel decreasing 56% to 38,496 tonnes.
Total imports decreased significantly with a 24% increase in June 2020 over the same month last year.
This was on the back of decreases of crude oil, cement and ‘other’ imports, with crude oil accounting for zero tonnage this past June, cement down 40% to 86,691 tonnes and other down 15% to 382,988 tonnes.
One of the few shining lights for June’s imports were fertiliser and chemicals, up 120% to 77,814 tonnes for the month. Other imports to experience increases were building products with 67,892 tonnes for an increase of 27% and iron and steel, up 14% to 54,223 tonnes.
Motor vehicle imports were also down on June 2020, with 9794 units coming through the port, a decrease of 10,555 units from June 2019.
