Quarterly Trade Report

SUMMARY

Following a strong Q2, cargo tonnage has increased again this quarter by 2.3% to a total of 14.7m tonnes.  This was attributable to a 4% increase in imports while export tonnage actually fell by a similar proportion.  Imports currently account for 80.5% of tonnage (compared to 83.4% in 2024).

Unitised cargo - containers increased again this quarter albeit more modestly than in previous quarters.  After a strong Q2, aggregate tonnage fell in Q3 and remains 9% below the same point last year.  Oil tonnage increased significantly by 13.6% this quarter after a slight increase last quarter.

Vegetable oils and seed dropped sharply in Q3 after steady growth since Q2 of 2024.  Other Goods which comprise 3% of all tonnage and 6% of non-unitised tonnage have increase steadily since Q3 of 2024 and are currently 39% up on this time last year.
Historic seasonality trends would suggest that we should expect a drop in overall tonnage in the next quarter.

Image