China's annual throughput for domestic containerised sea freight grew from five million TEUs in 2001 to 52.53 million TEUs in 2011, accounting for 32 per cent of the total container handling, according to Exim News Service.
According to the Planning Institute of the Transport Ministry, the average growth rate of domestic coastal container handling was 37.9 per cent during the Tenth Five-Year Plan, and 24.5 per cent during the Eleventh Five-Year Plan, increasing by 22.2 per cent year-on-year in 2011.
The key growth of domestic coastal container handling shifted from coastal areas to inland. According to statistics, from 2003-2011, the average growth rate of container handling capacity at inland ports was 37.2 per cent. This comes as the average tonnage of ships rose from 18,000 tons in 2000 to 31,000 tons in 2010.
In the first four months of 2012, domestic throughput at coastal ports increased 5.9 per cent; laden container freight rose 12 per cent; domestic coastal container throughput increased by 15 per cent, while the total of other goods category was flat.
The number of domestic coastal containers handled is expected to rise to 60 million TEUs this year and to 80 million TEUs in 2015. |
