Maritime trade surges

Ghana recorded over 21.5 million tonnes of maritime trade at its two ports in Tema and Takoradi from January to December 2013, according to Ghana Shippers Authority figures obtained by B&FT.
 

 This was made up of about 16.5 million tonnes of imports and 5.0 million tonnes of exports. The figure represents an increase of about 10.7 percent of its performance compared to its operational year of 2012. 

The data revealed that Port Tema handled more than 77 percent of the total trade which amounted to about 16.7 million tonnes, while Port Takoradi handled the remaining 4.4 million tonnes representing 23 percent of total trade during the period.

Additionally, total transit through the two ports totalled five percent of the total maritime trade for the country.  This was an increase of more than 50 percent over the 2012 tonnage. The transit tonnage was made up of more than 1.0 million tonnes of imports and 31,547 tonnes of export.

Total imports for the review period was 10.4 percent more than was obtained in 2012. Total exports also increased by about 11.7 percent over the 2012 tonnage.

Imports for the review period were slightly above 16.5 million tonnes. This comprised 6.6 million tonnes of Liner items, 3.3 million tonnes of Break Bulk, 3.6 million tones of dry bulk items and 2.9 million tonnes of liquid bulk items.

Maritime imports for the review period increased by about 10.4 percent from that obtained in the previous year. For the other types of trade, dry bulk imports decreased by 11 percent and liquid bulk by 28.6 percent.

The statistics revealed that liner import trade for 2013 was made up of items such as chemicals amounting to over 438,667 tonnes, and processed foods which were 1,215,911 tonnes. 

Other items included tiles amounting to 469,057 tonnes; frozen meat and food were 452,220 tonnes; machinery and equipment had 345,437 tonnes; while polythene raw materials and bagged rice amounted to 599,413 tonnes and 51,444 tonnes respectively.

Total dry bulk imports for the year 2013 amounted to about 3.7 million tonnes, 12 percent decrease over the performance in the previous year. Clinker was the highest import item in this trade category, recording about 1.77 million tonnes -- a decrease of 4% over the previous year’s tonnage. 

This was followed by cement which was 775,514 tonnes and bulk wheat recording 600,449 tonnes. Limestone and other dry bulk imports also dropped, by over 14 percent and nearly 54 percent respectively.

The liquid bulk import trade showed an overall decrease of about 29 percent during the review period. Most of the items saw decreases in the quantities imported compared to the figure recorded in 2012.  Petroleum products decreased by 15 percent while bitumen decreased by 95 percent.  However, liquefied petroleum gas saw an increase of 25 percent.

The majority of the maritime imports for 2013 came from the Far East, Africa and the North Continent, the Mediterranean and other ranges. Each of these ranges recorded tonnages as follows:  Far East, 6.2 million tonnes or 38 percent; Africa, 2.9 million tonnes or 18 percent; North Continent, 2.6 million or 16 percent; Mediterranean, 1.3 million tonnes or eight percent; and other ranges 2.1 million tonnes, or 13 percent.  

Maritime imports from the North America range recorded 950,780 tonnes or close to 8 percent of the total import trade for the review period. The UK range recorded 295,517 tonnes amounting to only two percent of total maritime imports for the period.

Export trade

The total export trade for the review period amounted to about 5.0 million tonnes. This was made up more than 1.5 million tonnes of liner items and 3.5 million tonnes of dry bulk items.

The remaining 82,568 tonnes comprised of liquid bulk items. Break bulk items amounted to 308,908 tonnes.

Compared to the 2012 tonnage, 2013 recorded a slightly over 11.7 percent increase in export trade. The liner trade recorded a decrease of 25 percent while the dry bulk trade recorded an increase of more than 33 percent. The liquid bulk trade recorded a decrease of nearly 27 percent.  

Total transit trade for the period was 1.03 million tonnes comprising 1.0 million tonnes of import items, representing 88% of the total transit trade and 31,547 tonnes of export items. 

The total transit tonnage for the review period was about 97 percent more than recorded in 2012.  

All the transit countries including Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger recorded increases in their performance. Burkina Faso recorded a total of 757,253 tonnes, or 83 percent of the total transit trade. The tonnage recorded for Mali increased by 71 percent and Niger’s trade increased by about 257 percent.

The various transshipment destinations and tonnages through the seaports of Ghana:                    For the review period, a total of 170,527 tonnes of transshipments passed through the Tema and Takoradi Ports. The Tema Port handled 168,840 tonnes of transshipments while Takoradi Port handled 1,687 tonnes.