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The Port of Mombasa experienced a 9.8 per cent container
traffic growth registering 1,306,283 twenty foot equivalent units – an inexact
unit of cargo capacity often used to describe the capacity of container ships
and container terminals. – during the period January – December 2018 against
1,189, 957 TEUs handled in the same period in 2017.
In total cargo throughput, the Port recorded 1.4 per cent
growth in the year 2018 compared to the previous year. The total cargo volume
through the Port of Mombasa therefore was 30,759,854 tons in the period January
to December 2018 against 30,344,370 tons recorded in the corresponding period
in , which translates to an increment of 415,484 tons.
Dry bulk goods, which include grains, clinker, fertilizer
and coal, recorded a slight growth of 0.2 percent.
However, Liquid Bulk and Conventional cargo declined to
7,799,810 deadweight tonnage (DWT) from 8,259,365 and from 2,135,656 tons to
1,814,969 respectively during the period under review.
“The drop in Liquid Bulk was mainly attributed to a decline
in the importation of refined petroleum products and vegetable oils. Similarly,
the decline in conventional cargo was attributed to the decrease in importation
of vehicles and Iron and Steel products during the year under review,” says Dave
Jones Buchere, Senior Communications Officer at Kenya Ports Authority in a
statement to the media.
Meanwhile KPA’s efforts in transshipment continued to post
positive results with the end of the year results showing a growth of 38,616
TEUs after 119,819 TEUs were handled in 2018 compared to the 81,203 TEUs
handled in the previous year.
“This positive trajectory has been bolstered by a number of
projects that the Authority has undertaken to ensure the port’s competitiveness
is maintained.
Key among them is the construction of the Standard Gauge
Railway connecting the Inland Container Depot Nairobi with the Port,” added Mr
Buchere.
Over 190,000 TEUs have been moved to the ICD via the
railtainer, greatly increasing the port’s fluidity.
Recently, the port completed the second phase of the SGR
within the Port, which has facilitated movement of bulk and loose cargo to the
ICD.
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