Container Trade At Port Botany Continues Record Run

MEDIA RELEASE

CONTAINER TRADE AT PORT BOTANY CONTINUES RECORD MONTHLY GROWTH IN NOVEMBER

Sydney Ports' container throughput hit a record monthly high in November 2009 with 181,700 TEUs being transferred through Port Botany, an increase of 7.9% per cent on the same period last year.

"Container trade figures for the month of November 2009 which show a combination of stronger exports and high demand for imported goods, has helped Sydney Ports reach this significant milestone," Sydney Ports CEO Grant Gilfillan said.

"November's strong container performance has surpassed Sydney Ports' previous record, October 2009, by 2.7% where trade at Port Botany's two container terminals reached an alltime high with 176,900 TEUs.

"This growth comes at a time when one of the world's leading operators Hutchison Port Holdings was last month selected as the successful proponent to operate the 3rd Terminal at Port Botany.

"The $1 billion Port Botany expansion will double the handling capacity at the port to meet the projected long-term trade growth for NSW," Mr Gilfillan said.

Our largest trading partner - China contributed to 30% of the total container trade in November 2009. For the year to date November 2009/10, total container trade performance was 0.816 million TEUs, close to last year's record levels. While this represents 1.2 per cent lower than the same period last year, it should be noted that the 2008/09 volume was the highest ever recorded.

Mr Gilfillan said full container exports for YTD November 2009/10 are up 0.6 per cent to 184,900 TEUs, compared to the same period last year.

"Cereal exports continue to have strong growth following favourable growing conditions in the North West and Central West regions of the State, up 76.5 per cent on the same period last year," Mr Gilfillan said.

"Cotton exports increased by 67.2% as growing conditions returned to favouring northern NSW traditional cotton growing region.

The increased export performance was driven by higher container transfers to
*Australian ports (13.9%),
*Vietnam (117.3%),
*India (48.1%) and
*Taiwan (16.2%).

The higher throughput of full container imports has also been one of the main drivers of the container trade growth in November 2009. Business purchasing power has been significantly enhanced by the appreciation of Australian dollar exchange rate.

Full container imports were up 4.3% up on November 2008, reaching 0.087m TEUs showing a renewed confidence in the NSW economy as we are seeing increased purchases of consumer goods which are up 5.5% on last year.

For the Year to date November 2009, the top imported commodities are
*Non-metallic minerals which include glassware, ceramic tiles and glass bottles
(+85.3%),
*tyres and tubes (+20.2%),
*beverages which include beer, spirits and mineral water (+10.5%).

Total full container imports for year to date November 2009/10 reached 410,700 TEUs, down 1.5 per cent on the corresponding period last year, mainly due to decreases in imports from:
*Oceania (21.1%),
*Europe (13.5%) and
*South East Asia (3.9%).

This was partially offset by the increases in import trade with East Asia (5.7%) and North America (9.1%).

Total trade for the financial year to 30 November 2009 was 11.8 million mass tonnes a decrease of 4.9 per cent compared to the same period last year. This was mainly as a result of the cessation of the motor vehicle trade through Glebe Island in November 2008. If the car trade is removed from the figures, the decrease was only 3.9 per cent.

Contact:
Peter Zangari
0408 441 010

SOURCE: Sydney Ports Corporation