Kaohsiung port moved a total of 9.94m teu of container boxes in 2013, an increase of 1.6% compared to 9.78m teu recorded in 2012, according to figures from the port authority.
In December 2013, the Taiwanese port posted a throughput of 882,791 teu, the highest monthly volume recorded in the whole of last year.
The 2013 throughput of 9.94m teu is marginally below the the port authority's target. David Cheng, harbor master of Kaohsiung port, told Seatrade Global earlier that Kaohsiung has aimed to move 10m teu last year.
At present, Kaohsiung port has a maximum annual box handling capacity of 13m teu. The port is adding 611,000 teu of new container handling capacity by 2018 to meet the expected steady rise in throughput over the years.
The throughput expansion project, slated to start in 2015, is estimated to cost NT$143.31bn ($477.8m), including NT$3.8bn from government coffers and NT$10.51bn from local private investment.
Kaohsiung port has also acquired 133 hectares of hinterland to develop value-added services such as international logistics and manufacturing industries to support the growing container trade.
Last year, Kaohsiung Harbor Bureau introduced the Taiwan Strait Cargo Incentive Scheme in a bid to attract more activities to the port. In addition, Kaohsiung port offered subsidies for dockage and towage fees for loading/unloading of container vessels under 40,000 dwt shifting berths from 1 July 2013 through to 30 June 2014.
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