For more information contact:
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19 January 2010
December trade bounces back at the Port of Melbourne
A positive rebound in trade volumes saw total trade through the Port of Melbourne in December
2009 increase 6.6% on the corresponding month the previous year, Port of Melbourne Corporation
(PoMC) announced today.
The core container trade increased 4.4% overall resulting in the Port of Melbourne handling an
average of over 6200 containers a day for December (194,184 TEU¹ in total).
Full international container exports underpinned the boost in container volumes increasing 6.3%
on the same period the previous year. Wheat (up 73%), wine (up 54%), pulp and wastepaper (up
25%) all contributed to the strong export performance which has seen full international container
exports maintain an upward trend increasing 4.6% for the financial year to date.
Full international container imports rose 12.5% over the previous December, boosted by
insulation material (up 244%), rubber manufactures (up 36%), furniture (up 28%) and clothing
(up 21%). Mirroring exports, full international container imports are down 4.6% for the financial
year to date.
In a further encouraging sign, new motor vehicle trade posted its third consecutive month of
growth increasing 33.8% on December 2008 to be down just 7.4% for the year to date. Imports of
new passenger vehicles were the single biggest contributor to the December result increasing
61.2% while transport equipment imports also rose 17.4%.
Commenting on the trade results, PoMC Chief Executive Officer, Stephen Bradford, said:
“We are always cautious about drawing conclusions on trends from one month’s trade results but
the signs are very encouraging.
“This positive trade figure provides an important point of comparison given that the impact of
the global financial crisis started to have an influence on port trade in December 2008.
“There were some horror stories about declining trade volumes earlier in 2009 in some
international container ports so December’s trade figures, consistent with November, are a
welcome result which we hope will be sustained.”
Notes:
1.
TEU = Twenty-foot equivalent unit, the standard international measure for container volumes.
NEWS 
