The global financial crisis has yet to have an impact on trade through Sydney ports, with 7.3 million mass tonnes of total trade moving through the trade for the first quarter of 2008/09, an increase of 0.7 per cent compared to the same period last year.
Total container throughput for year to date (YTD) September 2008/09 was 0.49 million TEU – up 13.2 per cent on the same period last year.
September 2008 container trade reached another record high of more than 165,000 TEU, which was 12.8 per cent higher compared to September 2007. This performance was driven by higher container movements through New Zealand, the US and China.
Total full container imports for YTD September 2008/09 reached 247,300 TEU – up 11.3 per cent on the corresponding period last year. The leading import regions were dominated by East Asia (45 per cent), Europe (16 per cent) and South East Asia (15 per cent), which combined account for 76 per cent of total full container imports through the ports of Sydney.
Total full exports also increased by 20.5 per cent, recording 109,700 TEU. The higher exports of timber, machinery and transport equipment, cereals and chemical products have been the primary drivers of this growth.
The leading containerised exports in TEU through the ports of Sydney for YTD September 2008/09 were chemical products, machinery and transport equipment and paper products. These increases were partially offset by the decline in agricultural products such as cotton (59.0 per cent) compared to previous YTD. The change was primarily a result of the drought.
Empty container exports increased by 10.8 per cent to 127,800 TEU compared to the same period last year. Non-containerised imports for YTD September 2008/09 decreased by 8.5 per cent to 3.3 million mass tonnes as a result of a decrease in crude oil imports.