According to the port authority of Taicang, throughput of general cargo soared by 36 per cent year-on-year to nearly 7m tons during the first two months of this year, driven by metal ores and construction materials. Throughput of metal ores reached 20,300 tons, that of non-metal ores 211,600 tons, and that of construction materials 234,800 tons. The throughput of breakbulk cargo surged by 88 per cent to nearly 1.8m tons. Container throughput grew by 11 per cent year-on-year to 177,300 teu on the back of strong domestic trade and growing trade with Taiwan.