Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Maritime trade up 20%

Ghana recorded a total of over 4.9 million tonnes of maritime trade at its two ports in Tema and Takoradi during the first quarter of 2012, according to Shipping Review, a quarterly journal published by the Ghana Shippers Authority. This was made up of about 3.7 million tonnes of imports representing 76% and 1.2 million tonnes of exports representing 24% of the total maritime trade volume at the two ports. The figure represents an increase of 20% on the figures recorded within the same period of 2011, which stood at over 4.1 million tonnes. Out of the total figure, the Tema Port alone handled over 77%, which is over 3.8 million tonnes with Takoradi Port taking care of the remaining 23%, amounting to 1.1 million tonnes of the total trade volume. The total transit trade however recorded 174,516 tonnes, representing 4% of the total maritime trade made up of 150,043 tonnes of imports and 24,473 tonnes of exports within the period. According the journal, while total imports increased by 23% over the 2011 figure, the total export figure went up by over 12% within the same period. “Total imports for the review period was over 3.7 million tonnes. This comprised 2.0 million tonnes of liner items or 53% of the total import trade; 1.1 million tonnes of dry-bulk items (30%); and 629,211 tonnes of liquid bulk items (24.17%). “Maritime liner imports for the review period increased by over 40% from what was obtained in the 2011 period. Dry-bulk import increased by 26.8%. However, liquid bulk decreased by 14% for the review period,” the journal explained. The maritime trade in Ghana is classified into three major areas including liner trade (import and export), dry-bulk trade (import and export) and liquid bulk trade (import and export). Goods that fall under the liner import trade are: iron, steel, pipes, plates, processed foods, chemicals, tiles, frozen meat and foods, machinery and equipment, polythene raw materials, and bagged rice. The liner export goods include: cocoa beans and products, log timber and sawn timber or lumber, handicrafts and other non-traditional export products. While the dry-bulk import goods comprise clinker -- one of the major import items, cement and limestone, bulk grains and fertiliser, the export goods are bauxite, manganese and bulk sheanut. The liquid bulk import trade includes: bulk chemical, crude oil, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and petroleum products, whereas the export traffic consists of petroleum products, palm oil and palm kernel among others. According to the journal, the total import liner trade for 2011 was 1,433,027 tonnes and that of 2012 was 2,017,456 tonnes. Break-down of the others are as follows: Total liner exports for 2011,481,043 tonnes and 631,322 tonnes for 2012. Others are total dry bulk imports for 2011,887,109 tonnes and 1,125,532 tonnes for 2012; dry bulk exports for 2011, 538,380 tonnes and 496,890 tonnes for 2012. The rest includes total liquid bulk imports for 2011, 739,428 tonnes and 629,211 tonnes for 2012; and liquid bulk exports for 2011, 29,014 tonnes and 52,006 tonnes for 2012. source:b&ft

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