Turbulence in the handling of containers at the port of Piraeus continued in May due to a reduction in transit but not in domestic cargo, which remained at satisfactory levels, maintaining profitable results for the Piraeus Port Authority (PPA).
The unstable geopolitical conditions in the Red Sea, with the ongoing Houthi attacks against international shipping, have forced several containerships from Asia to circumnavigate Africa, approaching Cosco Port terminals in Spain and northern Europe.
According to data published by Cosco Shipping Ports, in May 2024, a total of 319 thousand containers were handled from piers II and III managed by the Piraeus Container Terminal (PCT) compared to 420 thousand in the same month of 2023, a drop of 24.1%.
Between January and May 2024 the handling of containers from piers II and III fell by 13.5% compared to the same period in 2023.
Overall, in the first five months of 2024, 1,591 million containers were handled compared to 1,840 million containers in the same period of 2023.
A drop in the handling of containers by approximately 13% from Pier I of the PPA was recorded during the five months.
Results
In the first quarter of 2024, PPA’s revenues rose 2.5% to 45 million euros compared to 43.9 million euros in the corresponding period of 2023.
Profit after tax for the first quarter that ended 31/03/2024 amounted to 13.8 million euros against 12.9 million euros, marking an increase of 6.9%.
A total of 128,027 TEUs were handled from Pier I of the container terminal in the first quarter of 2024 compared to 133,424 TEUs in the same period last year.
Cruise terminals handled a total of 54,989 passengers compared to 36,589 in the same quarter of 2023, up 50.3%.
Passenger traffic in coastal shipping rose 3.9% to 2.6 million passengers in the first quarter of 2024 compared to 2.5 million in the same period of 2023.
Cosco Shipping Ports
Total container traffic at the 36 ports controlled by Cosco Shipping Ports, a member of the Cosco Shipping Group, continued its upward trend in May, rising 5.4%.
In May 2024 container traffic reached 9.6 million containers compared to 9.1 million in May 2023, an increase of 5.4%.
At the five-month level, a total of 44.4 million containers were handled by Cosco’s 36 ports compared to 41 million containers in the corresponding period of 2023, up 8%.
Regarding China, terminals in the Yangtze River Delta region performed particularly well. Lianyungang and Nantong Terminals recorded an increase of 42.1% and 30.8% respectively in container handling in May 2024.
The Chinese giant’s overseas terminals continued to show steady signs of growth and recovery, with traffic up 1.9% year-on-year.
Cosco Shipping Ports (Spain) Terminals performed very well, with traffic up 19.7% in May.
Cosco’s Spanish terminal handled 341 thousand containers against 285 thousand in the same month last year.
