Record traffic through ports
Page 10
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• UK freight traffic through ports reached a record 495 million tonnes last year, up three million tonnes on 1990, according to the latest figures from the Department of Transport.
The increase was the net result of a seven-million-tonne rise in exports (largely due to a fivemillion-tonne rise of crude oil and petroleum products), offset against falls in imports and domestic traffic of one and three million tonnes.
More than half the tonnage handled last year was bulk fuel; up 3% on the previous year. Total bulk cargoes accounted for 76%. Containers and RO-RO traffic accounted for 18% and semi-bulk goods for 4%. Less than 1% of goods by weight was handled by conventional (breakbulk) methods.
There was a steady growth of 2% in unitised freight; the same growth rate as 1990. But non-fuel cargoes fell by a total of 4% in 1991.