Foodstuff dominate imports handled at the Port of Mombasa's conventional cargo terminal
Mombasa – October 18, 2017
Foodstuff imports handled at the conventional cargo terminal at the Port of Mombasa accounted for 127,714 metric tonnes or 45. 84 percent in the week ended October 11th 2017.
Bulk wheat topped the list, recording 52,596 metric tonnes out of the total weekly throughput of 278,592 metric tonnes at an average of 39,799 metric tonnes per day. Other foodstuff commodities included 24,795 metric tonnes of bulk sugar and another 9,199 metric tonnes bagged, 31,700 metric tonnes of bulk maize and 9,424 metric tonnes of bulk sorghum.
Trucks loaded with steel coils at the Port of Mombasa's conventional cargo terminal ready for takeoff.
The conventional cargo terminal registered 26 vessels that went alongside for loading and discharge operations. Other notable cargoes handled at the same terminal included 44,595 metric tonnes of steel, 40,050 metric tonnes of bulk illuminate, 34,050 metric tonnes of bulk coal, 29,296 metric tonnes of bulk clinker and 2,887 metric tonnes of assorted cargo. A total of 250 units of motorcars and 41 trucks rolled off the car carriers that went alongside the terminal.
During the week under review, the busy container terminals where the bulk of port business is witnessed received 13 vessels that registered ship average working time of 1.82 days. (The time between first and last slings).Container dwell time, a key parameter for measuring port efficiency recorded 3.41 days.
The container ships discharged 11,293 Twenty Feet Equivalent Units (TEUs), full and empty, recording a decline of 1,471 TEUs compared to the previous week. The ships loaded for export another 14,502 TEUs, full and empty registering an increase of 1,617 TEUs. Containers delivered from the port by road transport registered 11,313 TEUs while the rail hauled 276 TEUs only.
The port reported a container yard population of 11,967 TEUs, dropping by 4,285 TEUs from the previous week. This comprised 4,479 TEUs awaiting pickup order, 2,905 TEUs ready for collection by consignees and 912 TEUs full exports (nominated/un-nominated).Transhipment containers reported a decline of 65 TEUs to register 960 TEUs while empties recorded 1,837 TEUs and the Customs Warehouse registering 874 TEUs. The Container Freight Stations (CFS) received 823,093 TEUs delivered to consignees 819,707 TEUs leaving a balance of 3,386 TEUs.
Import population breakdown showed that 5,633 TEUs were transit bound compared to 1,644 TEUs for local destination. The Transit market segment traditional leader, Uganda, was at it again recording 4,247 TEUs or 75.39 percent followed by South Sudan with 567 TEUs, Tanzania with 390 TEUs and the Democratic Republic of Congo with 203 TEUs. Other transit destinations are Rwanda which registered 173 TEUs, Somalia and Burundi with 34 TEUs and 11 TEUs respectively.
Meanwhile forecast for the next 14 days reveals that the Container Terminals expected to discharge 9,270 TEUs and load 11,229 TEUs. At the same time, the conventional cargo is expected to discharge 306,222metric tonnes and load 3,464 metric tonnes.