The major ports along the Yangtze trunkline recorded a total throughput of 28.46m tons in November, equivalent to just 80 per cent of the amount carried in the same period last year. Out of this total, 5.191m tons was foreign trade-related cargo, representing just 78 per cent of that of last year.
Container throughput continued to increase, though at a slower pace. The Yangtze ports recorded a total throughput of 488,000 teu in November, up eight per cent year-on-year. Among them, 228,000 teu were for exports, one per cent down from last November, while 260,000 were for imports, up 17 per cent.
According to Mr Fan Lijian, board chairman of Jingzhou Port Group, the growth trend in container throughput has been affected by shrinking export volumes, but will continue to be driven largely by domestic trade. The biggest port operator in Jingzhou, where multinational giant Philips has been operating an auto lighting manufacturing plant for 10 years, has enjoyed impressive growth in container throughput over recent years. In 2006, its container throughput doubled to 40,000 teu, rising by 30 per cent to 51,900 in 2007. Mr Fan is predicting a 40 per cent increase by the end of this year.