5. Darwin Port
Kicking off our list is Darwin Port, Australia’s closest
port to Asia and the nation’s “northern gateway” for Australasian trade.
Officials from the port recently told PTI that in calendar
year 2021, a total of 20,707 TEU passed through its facilities. This included
11,442 TEU in loaded imports and a further 9,265 TEU in exports.
4. Port of Fremantle
During its 12-month 2021 period, the Port of Fremantle
handled 778,614 TEU.
Based in the city of Perth, the port handles almost all of
the container trade for Western Australia but also has facilities for livestock
exports, motor vehicle imports, other general cargo trades, cruise ships and
visiting naval vessels.
Near the end of the year, the Port of Rotterdam signed an
agreement with the McGowan Government in Western Australia to collaborate on
the development of the hydrogen supply chain.
3. Port of Brisbane
Port of Brisbane is yet another port in the country that had
a very productive year, processing 1,554,061 TEU in calendar year 2021.
For 2021, Brisbane received 730,252 TEU on imports. The port
exported 723,951 TEU for the 12-month period – over half of which were empty
containers.
Jamie Wardle, Trade Development Executive at the Port of
Brisbane, said that around AU$500 million ($362 million) of CAPEX investment
has been made at Brisbane since privatisation in 2010. He also said the port is
allocating another AU$680 million ($493 million) between 2019 and 2023,
including AU$89 million ($64.5 million) for future port expansion, and AU$42
million ($30.5 million) to develop wharf infrastructure to accommodate larger
vessels.
2. Port Botany
After going through its monthly trade reports, PTI worked
out Port Botany’s total container throughput for 2021 to be 2,761,769 TEU, this
was later confirmed by port officials.
Located in South-Eastern Sydney, Botany is the largest
container port in the state of New South Wales and Australia’s largest common
user bulk liquids facility.
“With the impact of COVID-19 and increased consumer goods
purchasing, awareness of our ports’ role in supporting the nation’s economy and
the lifestyles of Australians has grown significantly,” Calfas told PTI.
1. Port of Melbourne
Topping this instalment of our ‘Top Ports’ series is the
Port of Melbourne.
As the country’s largest port for containerised cargo, it is
only natural for Melbourne to take the top spot, handling 3,278,635 TEU in
2021.
A spokesperson from the port told PTI: “Port of Melbourne
has continued to operate every day of the year during the pandemic.
“While the port has not been immune to the global supply
chain challenges of manufacturing shutdown, container shortages and increased
demand for consumer goods, we have worked hard to keep freight moving.
“The local workforce has been impacted at times as well, but
the industry has worked incredibly hard to mitigate these challenges, and we’re
proud to have processed more than 3 million TEU over the past year,
consolidating our position as Australia’s largest container and general cargo
port.
“Our 2050 Port Development Strategy is our roadmap to
respond to anticipated future growth at the port, including some nine key
projects that respond to global trends and meet future freight volumes.”