WASHINGTON: TRAFFIC through the Port of Cork decreased slightly last year due to the closure of a mine in Tipperary and the end of zinc and lead exports from Cork Harbour. Traffic through the port reached 9.2 million tonnes and import figures have remained steady. Total container volumes through both Tivoli and Ringaskiddy Container Terminals grew by 2% compared to 2015 figures.
The Port company said the growth in container traffic is very encouraging particularly as the Port moves to redevelop Ringaskiddy Port as their main container terminal. In 2016 the largest container vessel to visit an Irish port called to Ringaskiddy en route from Central America. This weekly service not only ensures the Irish grocery market is fully supplied with fresh fruit, but positions Cork as a deep sea port capable of handling Panamax-size container vessels. Trade in dry bulk cargos such as animal feed, fertilisers, and cereals, saw a marginal decrease, while liquid bulk cargo, predominantly the oil traffic handled through Whitegate Oil Refinery, also reported a slight decrease. In 2016, family-owned Canadian company Irving Oil acquired the Whitegate Oil Refinery and will ensure Ireland has a security of supply of crude products that can be refined within the Irish State and not be totally dependent on international events.
Whitegate supplies 30-40% of the Irish refined fuel market through its road loading facility and by sea to Irish and international ports over its marine jetty. Port of Cork chairman, John Mullins said: “We are very pleased with the results, as achieving traffic figures which are in line with pre-recessionary time highlights the positivity returning to the market and I am confident that the port can sustain this growth across 2017. In particular container traffic through Tivoli and Ringaskiddy increased by 2% with imports fractionally higher than exports. There was impressive growth in the imports of trade cars with over 46,000 vehicles imported.” The Port’s of Cork’s cruise business continued to grow with 58 liners visiting Cork during 2016, bringing This high number of calls brought more than 127,000 passengers and crew. In 2017, 69 cruise liners are scheduled to call, and 2018 is looking even stronger. 2016 saw Brittany Ferries had another successful year on their service from Cork to Roscoff, carrying almost 80,000 passengers in 2016.
