Damietta Port Authority recorded an increase of 2.6% in jetties throughout the third quarter (Q3) of 2016 compared to 2015. The number of vessels increased from 584 ships in 2015 to 599 ships in 2016 in the same period, owing to the rise in dry bulk vessels from 120 to 159—an increase of 32.5%.
The number of containers handled at the port declined from 7.8m tonnes in Q3 of 2015 to 7.3m tonnes in the corresponding period of 2016, registering a drop of 6.8%. A report issued by the port authority attributed the decline to the decrease in imports of wheat to public sector companies, as well as corn and iron.
The report showed that the amount of wheat imported to the public sector decreased from 687,000 tonnes in 2015 to 126,000 in the same period of 2016—a decline of 81.6%. Meanwhile, the import of corn dropped from 1.07m tonnes to 833,500 tonnes—a decline of 28%. Iron imports also declined by 13% from 137,400 tonnes in 2015 to 119,200 tonnes in the Q3 this year.
Moreover, the report stated that the number of containers handled at the port declined from 182,500 in Q3 of 2015 to 163,100 containers this year—a decline of 10.6%. Inbound containers dropped by 16%, from 91,070 containers to 76,900 containers. The number of outbound containers also declined from 91,400 containers in Q3 of 2015 to 86,200 containers in 2016—a decline of 5.6%.
