PSA REPORTS 9.9% CONTAINER TRAFFIC GROWTH IN SINGAPORE

PSA REPORTS 9.9% CONTAINER TRAFFIC GROWTH IN SINGAPORE    PSA Corp., the operator of the port of Singapore, said that its Singapore terminals increased their combined container traffic to 1.48 million TEUs in July, an increase of 9.9 percent from July 2001.
   The July throughput was the highest volume in 23 months, PSA said.
   For the first seven months of the year, Singapore terminals handled 9.2 percent more containers than in the same period last year.
   “The good performance in Singapore was due largely to the strong growth in transshipment volumes across all major markets, especially China and South Asia, as well as local exports growth,” the port group said.
   PSA’s overseas container terminals more than doubled their combined container volume in July, registering a 129-percent growth over July 2001, to 780,000 TEUs.
   This growth in overseas throughput included the volumes handled at Hesse-Noord Natie, the Belgian terminal company acquired this year.
   Aden Container Terminal, in Yemen, also witnessed good growth due to the addition of several new services, PSA said.