CONTAINER throughput at the Port of Townsville fell marginally short of December 2020’s numbers, according to the latest available trade statistics from the port. Through the month, a total of 4260 TEU passed through the port which was down 2% month to month. However, it was an increase of 73% on January 2020.
Looking at imports, full imports were down 526 TEU from June to 1112 TEU. The top imported commodities were tyres (135 TEU), heating and cooling equipment and parts (116 TEU) and iron or steel articles (113 TEU). During the month the port received 1305 empty containers.
Full export containers accounted for 32% of the port’s total container throughput for the month, with 1351 TEU departing the port during the month, down 213 TEU from December 2020 (1564 TEU). The largest export commodity for January was refined non-ferrous metals (910 TEU), making up just over two thirds of all containerised exports. The next closest was fertilisers (187 TEU) and vegetables (84 TEU). A total of 492 empty containers left the port during the month.
Total tonnage through the port during the month of July was 654,296 tonnes. Of this, 77% were exports (505,669 tonnes). Imports totalled 148,626 tonnes for the month. The breakdown (in tonnes) for each category was as follows:
Break Bulk (down 19.6% on January 2020)
Import: 2491
Export: 34,681
Total: 37,172
Container (up 63.4% on January 2020)
Import: 13,006
Export: 46,193
Total: 59,199
Dry Bulk (up 45.5% on January 2020)
Import: 59,014
Export: 399,292
Total: 458,306
Wet Bulk (up 21.7% on January 2020)
Import: 74,116
Export: 25,503
Total: 99,619
