The Port of London, which virtually went into hibernation in the 50s for three decades, has once again provided proof of its reincarnation by hitting a “highest this decade” – with cargo volume in 2016 up 10% to top the 50 million tonnes (mt) mark for the first time since 2008.
Before this exceptionally strong performance, trade throughput had been growing 2-3% annually.
Port of London Authority (PLA) figures show that the tonnage of cargo handled at terminals on the Thames last year was 50.4mt, 5m (or 11%) up on 2015.
Growth was principally in oil trades which rose by 22% from 10.9mt in 2015 to 13.3mt in 2016. Containers and trailers (unitised traffic) were up 7% to 18mt; aggregates and cement increased 16% from 10.7mt-12.4mt; and cereal volumes by 15% to 1mt.
