WESTPORTS Malaysia was up more than 26 per cent, handling 3.7 million TEU last year compared to 2.9 million TEU in 2005 mainly due to a robust showing in imports and exports trade where for the first time, the port processed more than a million boxes, Bernama News Agency reported.

The report quoted a company statement saying that the port's container throughput in 2006 accounted for 58 per cent of Port Klang's total turnover and 28 per cent of the country's total.

Westports has set a target of 4.2 million TEU for 2007 and is aiming to become a five million TEU port by 2010.

The port's achievement in 2006 included 1.1 million TEU of local boxes, reflecting a growth of 13 per cent compared with 949,000 achieved in the previous year.

Transshipment activities at the port notched a 31 per cent growth from 1.8 million TEU in 2005 to 2.3 million TEU in 2006.

In the last quarter, the port handled 963,662 TEU, which is the highest quarterly achievement in 2006 compared with 767,838 during the same period in 2005. Furthermore, the port surpassed last year's third-quarter achievement of 954,333 TEU.

Currently, Westports has 25 main line operators and 27 feeder operators, linking 300 ports worldwide.