Regional port activity affected by decline in foreign trade - ECLAC

SANTIAGO, Chile, Jun 29, CMC – The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) says deceleration in the region’s foreign trade continues to affect port activity.



According to new ECLAC data, there was only 1.7 per cent growth in port activity by the end of 2013 -a figure that onfirms the decline in activity in the ports of several countries in the region.



In 2010 and 2011, it said the annual expansion reached 14 per cent, and in 2012 it notched 5.9 percent. ECLAC said the container movement ranking shows the details of this kind of cargo activity in 80 of the region's terminals, where operations in 2013 reached 46.6 million TEUs (the standard unit of measurement, equivalent to containers of twenty feet, or 6.25 meters).



The study relies on information compiled by ECLAC directly from local and national port authorities.

The first 30 ports in the ranking, with activity levels ranging from 500,000 to 3,000,000 TEUs, account for about 82 percent of container operations in the region, ECLAC said.



It said the slowdown in activity compared with previous years was determined mainly by the ports located in five countries of the Caribbean basin, including Colombia, Jamaica, Venezuela, Panama and the Dominican Republic.



The regional port that grew the most in 2013 was Caldera, in Costa Rica, with a rise in cargo movement that topped 246 per cent.



The sharpest declines were registered by the terminals of Puerto Plata and Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic and São Francisco do Sul in Brazil.



WATCH: JAMAICA NOW

Like our new Facebook page:



Gleaner Jamaica



Follow us on Twitter:

@JamaicaGleaner



Follow us on Instagram:

jamaicagleaner



Follow us on YouTube:

Jamaica Gleaner



onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com