Singapore PSA container traffic up

State-owned Singapore port operator PSA said on Monday its terminals moved 22.1 percent more containers in the first 10 months of 2005 than a year earlier, thanks to heavy trade between Asia and Europe and North America.
The firm, which operates ports in Singapore and abroad, said in a statement it handled 33.6 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), a standard industry measure, in the period, compared with 27.5 million TEUs in the same period last year.
PSA International's container growth has been lifted since August, when it began including container data from its newly acquired Hong Kong operations.
In June, PSA bought its second set of port assets in Hong Kong in four months to improve its access to China's booming export and import market.
The Singapore firm, which is wholly owned by Temasek, the state-owned investment company, spent close to $1 billion to buy a stake in a container terminal in the territory from conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa. In February, PSA secured a psychologically important foothold in Hong Kong when it bought stakes in two terminals from NWS Holdings for HK$3 billion ($387 million).
The volume of TEUs moved through its flagship Singapore port increased 8.6 percent in the first 10 months of the year to 18.6 million, putting it ahead of its rival Hong Kong and making it the world's busiest container port.
Container movements at its foreign ports - including Hong Kong - jumped 44.1 percent to 14.99 million TEUs.
The global shipping industry has enjoyed a boom thanks to China's roaring economy, although recently freight rates for containers and dry bulk have declined from record highs due to slowing China demand and an expected glut of container ships.
Many of the world's container ports remain heavily congested and PSA faces increased competition from Malaysia, where port charges can be 30 percent lower.
But PSA, the world's second-largest container port operator, says it is more efficient than others, with faster turnaround times.
PSA also has investments in ports in Belgium, Brunei, China, India, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Portugal, South Korea and Thailand.