Strong export growth boosts trade volumes at Dublin Port by 6.1%

PARTICULARLY strong export growth boosted trade volumes at Dublin Port by 6.1% last year, according to figures.

Some 28.1 million tonnes went through the country’s main port, last year, which was less than 10% down on its best ever performance in 2007, at the height of Ireland’s economic boom.

Of this, 16.93m tonnes related to imports; a figure which was up by 2.4% on a year-on-year basis and 11.18m tonnes were export-related, which represented a 12.2% increase on the preceding year.

Commenting on the latest figures, Dublin Port Company’s new chief executive Eamonn O’Reilly said 2010 was “an exceptional” year for the port.

“Notwithstanding the poor performance of the economy, port volumes grew by 6.1% as importers and exporters sought to minimise the cost of moving goods to market. Passenger and tourism volumes were also very buoyant as the benefits and reliability of ferry travel became clear particularly during the ash-cloud crisis,” he said.

Mr O’Reilly added that the company is anticipating continued growth for 2011, “albeit at a reduced level compared to 2010”.

On the ferry side of things, passenger figures through Dublin Port grew by 17.6% last year, to 1.76m, with tourist cars up by 9.1% at 381,547. In addition, Dublin retained its position as the country’s largest port for cruise ships, with 85 such vessels docking throughout the year.

The volume of Ro-Ro freight units increased by 12.8% to 725,665.

Dublin’s position as the island’s largest unitised port was reinforced by the commencement of rail freight services linking the capital to Ballina. Demand for these services continues to grow and during 2011, Dublin Port Company expects rail freight to remove up to 10,000 trucks from the road.