Jordan Times
Tuesday, May 25, 2004
Volume of goods handled
at Aqaba Port rises 28% to 6.5m tonnes in four months
By Khalid Dalal
AMMAN — The volume of incoming and outgoing shipments handled at the Aqaba Port
went up by 28 per cent during the first four months of this year compared to the
same period last year.
“The port handled nearly five million tonnes of different types of cargoes in
January-April period of last year but the number jumped during the same period
in 2004 to reach almost 6.5 million tonnes,” indicated Aqaba Port Corporation
Director General Saud Srour.
As a result, he said, the port generated JD22 million in profit compared to JD20
million in the four months of 2004.
The official attributed the boom in the port's trade activity to the increasing
shipments heading through Jordan to the war-stricken Iraq.
“This is mainly because several international humanitarian organisations, namely
the World Food Programme, has relied on Aqaba Port as a major corridor for its
aid heading to Baghdad,” explained Srour.
In addition to humanitarian aid, thousands of tonnes of construction materials
headed to Iraq during the first four months of this year to contribute to the
reconstruction efforts in Jordan's eastern neighbour.
Srour also mentioned the huge increase in the ro-ro cargo (vehicles) heading
through Aqaba Port for Iraqi market.
“While the port handled around 22,000 vehicles bound for Iraq during the first
four months last year, the number increased by 247 per cent to 76,000 during the
same period this year,” Srour pointed out.
The boom in imports heading to Aqaba Port also came after Jordan started
depending on its southern port to receive its need of 100,000 barrels of oil per
day.
As part of the government procedures to further boost trade activity in Aqaba
pPort, the Danish APM Terminals company was entrusted with the task of operating
and developing the port's container terminal which has been suffering from a
congestion problem since late last year.
While the terminal handled 84,994 containers during the first four months of
last year, the number jumped by 44 per cent to reach 122,332 containers.