Nigerian container throughput remains stagnant as Singapore rise to 6.7% in March
Details of Container throughput both incoming and outgoing in Nigeria since October last year have been very scanty as the last data published by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has details only from January to September, 2016, checks on the official website of the federal agency has shown.
Between October last year and now, NPA has not posted cargo throughput data on website. It was not clear if it was due to observed little or no activity at the ports or official complacency on the part of the department in charge of computing or uploading the data.
However, sources at the NPA confided in our correspondent that all has not been well with the nation’s shipping activities since the beginning of the last quarter of 2016 when recession invaded the economy, forcing import and export activities to ebb drastically.
But a top clearing agent who barred his mind on the development said apart from the pinching impacts of economic recession, the forex ban on 41 items further frustrated business activities at Nigerian ports.
However, the port of Singapore saw container volumes rose in March compared to the year-ago period, according to figures from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA).
Box throughput was registered at 2.69m TEU in March, representing an increase of 6.7% compared to 2.52m TEU recorded in March 2015, data from MPA showed.
Last month’s throughput also jumped by 17% compared to 2.3m TEU seen in February this year.
In the first quarter of 2017, Singapore port handled a total throughput of 7.61m TEU, a hike of 3% compared to 7.39m TEU moved in the same period of 2016.
