IPA - 10% increase in freight during the first five months

Israel’s Port Authority (IPA) has released figures for cargo movement in its three main ports, during the first five months of the year. The figures show that there has been a 10% increase in cargo volume in comparison to the same period in 2003.
 
The three Israeli seaports handled, during the five months period, 15.4 million tons of cargo. In the container sector there has been an increase of 11% to TEU 681,000 out of which TEU 92,000 were trans-shipped via the three ports.
 
Mr. Amos Ron Director General of the Israeli Ports Authority said in a press release that the  growth trend will most probably continue but noted that the dramatic increase just indicated, can be attributed in the main to the Customs and Ports strikes that were held during the parallel period last year. An analysis of the published figures show that export cargo was up 6% to 6.6 million tons and import was up 13% to 8.8 million tons.