In the first quarter (Q1) of 2018, activity at the Port of Beirut (PoB) improved, with the port’s revenues recording a 7.38% annual growth to stand at $59.4M, thereby hitting a 5-year high in first quarter profits.
As such, total container activity including transshipment (TEU+TS) recorded a yearly uptick of 10.02% to reach 315,881 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) by March 2018. In details, container activity excluding transshipment escalated by a yearly 5.26% to 210,325 TEU, while transshipment activity alone surged by an annual 20.94% to 105,556 TEU in Q1 2018.
Of the two major shipping/logistic firms operating at the port, MSC and CMA CGM, MSC witnessed a growth of 5.94% year-on-year (y-o-y) to 61,480 TEU in transshipment activity. Whereas at CMA CGM, transshipment activity contracted by 3.22% y-o-y in the first three months of 2018 to end the quarter at 38,655 TEU.
Details of the PoB’s activity in Q1:
| 2018 | 2017 | Y-o-Y change | |
| Number of docked ships | 471 | 461 | +2.2% |
| Total volume of imported & exported merchandise (in 000’ tons) | 2,060 | 2,179 | -5.5% |
| Number of imported cars | 19,951 | 29,238 | -31.8%* |
*In fact, the Association of Lebanese Car Importers (AIA) recorded a 7.01% y-o-y contraction in the number of newly registered commercial and passenger cars to 8,136 cars in Q1 2018.
Annual PoB Revenues in Q1 (in $M)
Source: PoB