A positive rebound in trade volumes saw total trade through the Port of Melbourne in December 2009 increase 6.6 percent on the corresponding month the previous year.

“We are always cautious about drawing conclusions on trends from one
month’s trade results but the signs are very encouraging,” said , Port
of Melbourne Corporatin’s (PoMC) chief executive officer, Stephen
Bradford.

“This positive trade figure provides an important point of comparison
given that the impact of the global financial crisis started to have an
influence on port trade in December 2008.”

The core container trade increased 4.4 percent overall resulting in the
Port of Melbourne handling an average of over 6200 containers a day for
December (194,184 TEUs in total).

Full international container exports underpinned the boost in container
volumes increasing 6.3 percent on the same period the previous year.
Wheat (up 73 percent), wine (up 54 percent), pulp and wastepaper (up 25
percent) all contributed to the strong export performance which has
seen full international container exports maintain an upward trend
increasing 4.6 percent for the financial year to date.

Full international container imports rose 12.5 percent over the
previous December, boosted by insulation material (up 244 percent),
rubber manufactures (up 36 percent), furniture (up 28 percent) and
clothing (up 21 percent). Mirroring exports, full international
container imports are down 4.6% for the financial year to date.

In a further encouraging sign, new motor vehicle trade posted its third
consecutive month of growth increasing 33.8 percent on December 2008 to
be down just 7.4 percent for the year to date. Imports of new passenger
vehicles were the single biggest contributor to the December result
increasing 61.2 percent while transport equipment imports also rose
17.4 percent.

Source: CargoNewsAsia

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