Sri Lanka Colombo Port volumes up 16.2-pct in 1Q, fastest after Singapore

ECONOMYNEXT - Containers handled at Sri Lanka's Colombo port grew 16.2 percent from a year earlier to 1.7 million twenty foot equivalent units (TEUs) in the first quarter of 2018, at a rate only second to Singapore, the state port agency said.

Colombo's transhipment volumes grew 20.9 percent to 1.32 million TEUs, with March volumes up 19.4 percent to 477,043.

Only Singapore's grew at a faster rate of 16.5 percent among major ports, Sri Lanka Ports Authority said, quoting a ranking by Alphaliner Monthly, a shipping publication.

Other fast growing ports in the region were Xiamen, China 11.6 percent, Antwerp, Belgium 10.7 percent ad Ningbo-Zhoushan, China at 10.4 percent, which have bigger bases.

Domestic volumes in Colombo were up 1.4 percent to 358,692 with March volumes down 7 percent to 119,375.

Colombo's first quarter growth was much faster than the 8.3 percent recorded in 2017, when the port handled 6.2 million containers, the SLPA said.

Total cargo handling was up 13.4 percent to 25.47 million metric tonnes, with discharged growing 11.6 percent to 15.06 million metric tonnes and loaded cargo up 16 percent to 10.4 million tonnes.