Port of Melbourne remains resilient

Container throughput surged to over 200,000 teus per month in the period August to October, before slowing in the second half of the financial year as a result of the global economic climate. With a total throughput of 2.16m teu in the year to 30 June, the Port consolidated its position as Australia’s leading container port, despite a 4.4% decrease in its core container trade.

Overseas import containers recorded a 6.5% decrease, while exports declined by 3.3%, further exacerbated by the drought in south-eastern Australia. Although the domestic economy technically avoided recession, there was an overall 5.7% decrease in total port trade, with tonneage dropping to 71.4m tonnes, compared to the record 75.7m the during the pervious financial year.

“After setting last year’s high water mark, Melbourne has shown strong trade resilience against a backdrop of negative economic growth internationally, handling just under 6000 container per day on average during the year. This first plateau in container growth in 18 years needs to be viewed in this context,” said chief executive, Stephen Bradford.