KARACHI: The Karachi Port Trust (KPT) showed an outstanding performance as its accumulated import and export cargo handling during financial year ending closed at 50.05 million tons whereas in the previous financial year it remained at 43.42 million tons, showing a record 15.25% more cargo handling during 2015-16.
The breakup shows that KPT handled 16.59% more to record 34.59 million tons accumulated imports and exports of dry cargo during the ending financial year 2015-16 whereas it remained at 29.67 million tons in the financial year 2014-15, said a statement of KPT here Monday.
Similarly, KPT also handled 12.37% more to record 15.45 million tons accumulated imports and exports liquid bulk cargo whereas that remained at 13.75 million tons. Further breakup imports and exports shows that KPT handled 40.26 million tons of import cargo and 9.79 million tons of export cargo during the financial year ending 2015-16.
In the corresponding financial year 2014-15, these remained at 33 million tons and 10.42 million tons respectively. The cargo import handling has recorded a hefty gain of 22% at the close of ending financial year. Both the dry cargo imports and liquid cargo imports have registered gains of 25.58% and 15.84% respectively to close during the financial year ending at 26.19 million tons and 14.07 million tons.
Previously, these remained during the corresponding financial year 2014-15 at 20.86 million tons and 12.14 million tons respectively.
The ending financial year 2015-16 has also remained good for container handling at Karachi Port. The accumulated imports and exports container handling at Karachi Port during the ending financial year closed at 1.96 million TEUs (Twenty Equivalent Units) whereas the same remained last year 13.46% less at 1.72 million TEUs.
The breakup shows that KPT handled 1.01 million TEUs of imports containers and 0.95 million TEUs of exports containers during the ending financial year 2015-16; whereas these remained during the previous financial year at 0.896 million TEUs and 0.828 million TEUs respectively. Hence, the imports container handling has recorded a gain of 12.22% and the exports container handling recorded a gain of 14.81% in comparison from the handling taken place the previous financial year 2014-15.
The ship handling, another aspect of Karachi Port Operations, also shows that during the ending financial year 1,893 ships have been handled whereas the port handled last year only 1,732 ships. The breakup shows that KPT handled 738 container ships, 222 bulk cargo ships, 374 general cargo ships and 559 oil tankers during the ending financial year. The same remained at 790 last year container ships, 193 bulk cargo ships, 255 general cargo ships and 494 oil tankers respectively.
It is indeed of the result of the favourable and business friendly policies of present government which resulted unprecedented increase in cargo/container handling at KPT during the financial year ending; fruits of which have been enjoyed by the port users at large apart from the record revenue of government of Pakistan.
