Taiwan's int'l harbor traffic up 10% in 2007

The total volume of containers handled at Taiwan's three international harbors in 2007 amounted to 13.73 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), up 4.78 percent year-on-year, according to statistics released yesterday by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC).

An MOTC official said that Kaohsiung Harbor in southern Taiwan handled 10.26 million TEUs last year, exceeding its operating target of 10 million TEUS for the first time, adding that the figure represents an increase of 4.93 percent compared with the previous year's level.

Import-export and transshipment containers each accounted for 50 percent of the total, with import-export containers posting an annual growth of 516,000 TEUs or 11.18 percent, primarily due to strong demand for raw materials from several emerging countries, including China and India, the official pointed out.

The official further said the northern harbor of Keelung and the central harbor of Taichung handled 2.22 million TEUs and 1.25 million TEUs, up 4.07 percent and 4.11 percent, respectively.

According to the statistics, the total volume of cargo loaded and unloaded at local harbors reached 710.27 million tons in 2007, up slightly by 0.53 percent over the previous year's level.