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Singapore port
terminals handled 5.9 per cent more containers in July than in
June, but traffic plunged 18.6 per cent from a year earlier, data
from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore showed.
The numbers show trade at the world's busiest container port has
improved as the global economy slowly pulls out of its worst slump
in decades.
Most containers passing through Singapore's port are
transshipments between East and West, and so are a barometer of
world trade.
The July figures come as the Singapore government narrowed down an
expected contraction of 2009 non-oil exports to 10-12 per cent.
However, while July container throughput was the highest since
November last year, the government and private analysts said it
was too early to say if Singapore is seeing a strong, sustained
trade recovery.
"For now, the global demand story remains tepid, and hence export
demand weakness across both non-electronics and electronics could
linger for a couple more months," said economist Selena Ling of
OCBC bank.
Singapore relies on exports for about 60 per cent of its economy.
State-owned PSA International, which runs ports around the world,
said container volumes at its Singapore port fell 17.8 per cent in
the year to July, versus the same period a year ago.
The world trade downturn has battered shipping firms such as
Singapore's Neptune Orient Lines and pushed Singapore into its
deepest ever economic contraction in the first quarter. - Reuters |
