Qatar saw an almost four-fold jump year-on-year in general cargo movement through its Hamad, Doha and Al Ruwais ports this November, the second highest handled in one month; indicating buoyancy in the trade sector as the country eased Covid-19-related restrictions, according to Mwani Qatar.
The three ports also witnessed double-digit growth in handing of containers and building materials; highlighting the return of normalcy in the business activities, said the latest figures of Mwani Qatar, which is a vital part of the world industrial supply chain.
On a monthly basis, the general cargo, RORO (automobiles), containers and building materials witnessed growth.
The general cargo handled through the three ports stood at 233,481 tonnes in November 2020, showing a 268% surge on a yearly basis. It grew more than six-fold month-on-month in the review period.
The cumulative general cargo movement through the three ports stood at 1.27mn tonnes during January-November 2020.
The container handling through the three ports stood at 133,401 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), which grew 14.28% and 3.82% year-on-year and month-on-month respectively in November 2020.
"Mwani Qatar has set a new monthly record for container volume having handled more than 133,000 TEUs," it said.
The three ports have cumulative handled more than 1.29mn TEUs during the 11 months ended November 2020.
QTerminals highlighted that Hamad Port alone handled 129,747 TEUs, breakbulk (141,631 freight tonnes), bulk (44,229 freight tonnes) and RORO (6,010 units) in November 2020.
The initial operations of the second container terminal or CT2 are expected to begin this month. The new terminal has been equipped with 12 RTGs or mobile cranes.
The number of ships calling on these ports stood at 322 in November this year, which however saw 12.2% and 2.42% decline year-on-year and month-on-month respectively.
As many as 3,024 ships had called on the ports during January-November of this year.
Hamad Port’s strategic geographical location offers opportunities to create cargo movement towards the upper Gulf, supporting countries such as Kuwait and Iraq, and south towards Oman.
The three ports together handled 6,123 vehicles (RORO) in November 2020, which shrank 27.68% on a yearly basis; even as it grew 5.17% month-on-month. A total of 57,657 units have moved through these ports during January-November 2020.
The building materials handled amounted to 41,052 tonnes in November this year, which shot up 75.69% and 9.22% on yearly and monthly basis respectively. A total of 315,210 tonnes of building materials had been handled by these three ports during the eleven months ended November this year.
The three ports had handled 29,528 livestock in November, which plunged 52.57% and 10.96% year-on-year and month-on-month respectively. The three ports had cumulatively handled 402,528 heads during January-November 2020.
Besides the usual handling of general cargoes, the Al Ruwais port, Qatar's northern gateway to trade, now handles increased demand of foodstuff and other commodities. It also provides a ready solution by acting as gateway for fresh commodities from neighbouring countries.