by Our Economic Affairs Editor
The Port of Colombo has achieved a historic milestone, surpassing 7 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in container throughput by the end of November 2024, according to local media reports. This marks the highest performance since 2021 and positions the port to close the year with its largest-ever annual throughput.
By November, total throughput reached 7.1 million TEUs, reflecting a 12.6% year-on-year increase. The port previously surpassed the 7 million mark in 2018 and 2021 but has now exceeded the 6.91 million TEUs handled throughout 2023 within just 11 months.
The Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT) handled 3.07 million TEUs, with a 4.8% year-on-year increase, while the Jaya Container Terminal (JCT) and the partially operational East Container Terminal (ECT) recorded a combined 23.4% growth, handling 2.19 million TEUs. The South Asia Gateway Terminal (SAGT) also saw strong performance, handling 1.84 million TEUs, up 15.1% year-on-year.
Transshipment volumes, which accounted for 81% of the port’s throughput, surged by 32.5% year-on-year in November alone, reaching 523,362 TEUs. Over the 11-month period, transshipment volumes grew by 10.2% to 5.77 million TEUs, aided by the Red Sea crisis.
Import container volumes rose 23% year-on-year to 483,528 TEUs, while export container volumes grew 5.7% to 275,364 TEUs. Restowing volumes saw a dramatic rise of 60.1%, reaching 279,910 TEUs.
However, the number of container ships calling at Colombo declined by 10.2% year-on-year to 3,198, with total ship arrivals dropping 7.1% to 3,601. Conventional and other cargo ship arrivals, however, showed an upward trend.
