Cargo handled at the Port of Mombasa defied the Covid-19 disruption and a shortage of containers globally to surpass the target in the first half of the year.
Data from the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) indicates the volumes handled at the facility grew to 36 million tonnes in review period from 33.6 million in corresponding period last year, exceeding forecasted target of 353,769 TEUs by 2.8 percent.
Cargo handled at the Port of Mombasa defied the Covid-19 disruption and a shortage of containers globally to surpass the target in the first half of the year.
Data from the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) indicates the volumes handled at the facility grew to 36 million tonnes in review period from 33.6 million in corresponding period last year, exceeding forecasted target of 353,769 TEUs by 2.8 percent.
The Covid-19 that hit the country last year, disrupted the logistics sector impacting negatively on trade across the globe with the throughput cargo at Mombasa port declining in 2020 when compared with 2019.
“Cumulatively, during the financial year 2020/2021, the Port handled total throughput of 36.054 million tonnes representing a growth of 2.4 million tonnes,” said KPA.
Traffic at KPA dipped by four percent to 1,359,579 twenty foot equivalent units (TEUs) in 2020, from 1,416,654 TEUs recorded in 2019, highlighting the impact of Covid-19.
Transshipment traffic also grew by 55 percent to record 125,141 TEUs compared to 80,278 TEUs witnessed in 2020.
However, there was a decline on transshipment traffic in the period, which dropped by five percent to 269,000 tonnes or 5.4 percent, having registered 4.73 million tonnes in 2021 against 5 million tonnes recorded in 2020.
The negative performance is attributed to the decreased handling of cargo for Uganda and Rwanda as the two countries steps up the use of central corridor.
The central corridor connects the Port of Dar es Salaam by road, rail and inland waterways to Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda and Eastern part of the DRC and all of central and northern-western Tanzania.
Uganda Railways Corporation transported 500,000 litres of petroleum products across Lake Victoria from Tanzania after the consignment landed in Dar es Salaam and was ferried by train to the Mwanza port, then to Uganda through the lake.
Uganda is the biggest market for Kenyan goods and the top client to the Mombasa port, especially for transit cargo, ahead of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), South Sudan and Rwanda.
PAYE Tax Calculator
Note: The results are not exact but very close to the actual.
