Haulage operators involved in international haulage received a little good news last week, on the back of shipping figures, which show a return to growth.
Latest figures released by the Irish Maritime Development Office (IMDO) show that growth is returning to Irish shipping.
Volumes in three of the principle freight segments showed growth for the first six months of 2010. Lo/lo export volumes grew 5%, ro/ro export volumes increased 5% and dry bulk throughput grew 15% between January and June compared to the same period last year.
The midyear data points to a steady recovery in ro/ro traffic, which grew 2% on an all-island basis, with 771,585 units handled. The rate of decline eased significantly in the lo/lo sector which only fell 1% in the first half of the year, although this continued fall was caused by falling imports, down 2%, largely due to weak consumer demand.
In the Bulk sector, dry bulk traffic recovered some of the record losses of 2009, partly attributable to the strong demand in animal feed, fertilizers and grains. Break bulk volumes, related to the construction sector continued to decline, falling 11% in H12010 with volumes athistorically low levels. Liquid bulk volumes fell 4% for the first 6 months of 2010, primarily due to lower storage levels for transshipment.
Overall, the outlook for
the volume recovery in the short term is contingent on the recovery in the global economy.
