CONTAINER throughput through the Port of Brisbane saw an uptick in June, with more TEUs crossing the wharf than May, but down on June 2018, according to the latest trade statistics published by the Port.
June saw a total of 109,310 TEU move through the port, a decrease of 8% on the same month last year, and a 10% increase on the previous month. Of this, a total of 1643 TEU were transhipped.
Total containerised imports through the Port in June were reported at 52,226 TEU, with “import other” (22,567 TEU), household items (5319 TEU) and building products (4687 TEU) as the largest cargo categories. The port also received 7291 TEU of empties.
Turning to exports, 55,440 TEU left the port in June. Of this, a total of 21,785 TEU of empty containers were shipped out during the month. Other major export categories include “export other” (13,199 TEU), meat products (5987 TEU) and timber (5341 TEU).
Total trade through the Port, including non-containerised and containerised freight totalled 2.983m tonnes this past June – a 9% decrease on the same month last year.
This decrease was largely driven by a huge drop in coal exports, down from 1.014m tonnes in June 2018 to 0.457m tonnes, a massive 55% drop.
A number of other export commodities saw decreases over the period, with cotton decreasing 55% to 39,549 tonnes and agricultural seeds decreasing 47% to 41,574 tonnes. Iron and steel was one of the few exports to experience an increase, up 124% to 86,843 tonnes.
Total imports increased significantly with a 22% increase in June 2019 over the same month last year.
This was on the back of significant increases of crude oil and ‘other’ imports, with the former up 62% to 590,491 tonnes this past June, and the latter up 65% to 451,673 tonnes.
Most import categories experienced drops on June 2018. The largest drops in tonnage were refine oil (29,011 tonnes), retail group (21,202 tonnes) and iron and steel (18,423 tonnes).
Motor vehicle imports were also down on June 2018, with 20,349 units coming through the port, a decrease of 23%.
