WESTPORTS Malaysia at Port Klang handled a record 1.16 million TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) of cargo in the first quarter ended March 31 2008, up 19 per cent from 976,832 TEUs the previous year.

Its container throughput for March 2008 also hit 421,637 TEUs, the highest ever achieved in a single month to date.

In a statement issued last Friday, Westports said the achievements bode well for the port to achieve its target of five million TEUs by year-end.

Westports Malaysia Sdn Bhd executive director Ruben Emir Gnanalingam attributed the achievements to the enduring support of its shipping line customers.
"Additionally, our determination to meet our customers' expanding needs has driven us to continuously upgrade our infrastructure, increasing the capacity of the terminal yards and supplying them with modern machinery to efficiently handle our customers' cargo as well as efficient services required by the new generation mega-sized vessels," he added.

The port's handling of local containers during the January-March 2008 period grew to 351,624 TEUs from 266,693 TEUs in the same period last year.

"This represents an impressive 32 per cent growth compared with last year's. The port has targeted to achieve 1.5 million local containers this year," Ruben said.

Meanwhile, transshipment activities hit 730,101 TEUs, a 13.6 per cent growth from 644,449 TEUs recorded in the corresponding period last year.

Westports' total container volume last year was 4.3 million TEUs, of which 1.3 million were local boxes.

Westports' current market share at Port Klang stands at 62 per cent.

The NST, 07.04.2008