20/09/2012 (Business Recorder) - The Karachi Port handled 70,134 tonnes of cargo comprising 46,954 tonnes of import cargo and 23,180 tonnes of export cargo including 2,754 loaded & empty containers during the last 24 hours ended at 0700 hours on Wednesday. The total import cargo of 46,954 tonnes comprised 19,734 tonnes of containerised cargo; 163 tonnes of general cargo; 27,057 tonnes of bulk cargo: 18,974 tonnes of coal; 3,870 tonnes of DAP and 4,213 tonnes of rock phosphate.

The total export cargo of 23,180 tonnes comprised 14,513 tonnes of containerised cargo; 145 tonnes of general cargo; 8,372 tonnes of bulk cargo: 1,117 tonnes of cement; 4,874 tonnes of talcum powder; 1,860 tonnes of loose bulk cement; 521 tonnes of sugar and 150 tonnes of oil/liquid cargo. As many as 2,754 containers comprising 1,365 containers import and 1,389 containers export were handled during the last 24 hours on Wednesday. The brakeup of imported containers shows 453 of 20's and 421 of 40's loaded while 4 of 20's and 33 of 40's empty containers, whereas that of exported containers shows 323 of 20's and 331 of 40's loaded containers while 122 of 20's and 141 of 40's empty containers were handled during the business hours.

Five ships namely TS Qingdao, Hanjin Monaco, Spar Virgo, Invicta and Iron Butterfly carrying two container ships, two bulk cargo ships and one general cargo ship respectively sailed out to sea during the reported period. Five vessels viz Ever Result, APL Brisbane, Jolly, SFA Hope-II and Curia with three container ships, one bulk cargo ship and one general cargo ship respectively are currently at the berths.

A talcum powder carrier namely Leeds Castle sailed out to sea on Wednesday, while three container ships namely Ever Result, UASC Shuwaikh and Jolly are expected to sail on Thursday. Seven vessels viz APL Chicago, Kota Azam, YM Ningbo, MT Quetta, Mandarin Harvest, Sea Coral and President with three container ships, one crude oil tanker, one coal carrier, one general cargo ship and one soyabean meal tanker respectively are due to arrive on Friday.

Port Qasim
A cargo volume of 113,783 tonnes comprising 84,476 tonnes of import cargo and 29,307 tonnes of export cargo inclusive 3,432 loaded & empty containers (TEUs) was handled at Port Qasim during last 24 hours on Wednesday.

The total import cargo of 84,476 tonnes includes 30,853 tonnes of furnace oil; 2,457 tonnes of diesel oil; 7,699 tonnes of palm oil; 15,800 tonnes of canola seeds and 27,667 tonnes of containerised cargo. The total export cargo of 29,307 tonnes includes 2,944 tonnes of cement and 26,363 tonnes of containerised cargo. Two ships namely CV Maersk Montana and MT Al-Salam-II carrying containers and diesel oil sailed out to sea during the last 24 hours, while two more ships namely CV Hanjin Venezia and CV Hanjin Elizabeth with containers sailed out to sea on Wednesday morning.

A total number of nine vessels viz CV Maersk Montana, CV Hanjin Venezia, CV Hanjin Elizabeth, CV Sealand Michigan, MV Pagona, MT Bom Chin, MT Al-Salam-II, MT Karachi and MV Sonoma are currently occupying berths to load/offload containers, cement, canola seeds, palm oil, furnace oil and diesel oil respectively during last 24 hours.

As many as five ships namely Framura, CMA CGM Latour, CMA CGM Chopin, Shan Dong Haitong and Fisher-D with containers, fertiliser and cement respectively are currently at the outer anchorage of Port Qasim. Two vessels viz CV CMA CGM Latour and CV CMA CGM Chopin with containers are expected to take berths at Qasim International Containers Terminal on Wednesday.