The Port of Mombasa handled 21,458 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) at its two container terminals in the week ending October 5.
In a weekly update on port operations, the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) said eight container ships called in to discharge 10,551 TEUs and load another 10,907 TEUs.
A TEU is used to describe a ship’s cargo carrying capacity, with a standard 40-foot (40x8x8 feet) container equal to two TEUs (each 20x8x8 feet)
A breakdown on imports showed the port received 1,849 TEUs for the local market and 3,799 TEUs for transit, with Uganda maintaining its lead position, accounting for 2,795 TEUs.
Tanzania-bound cargo came in a distant second with 326 TEUs, followed by South Sudan with 238 TEUs, the Democratic Republic of Congo with 234 TEUs, and Rwanda with 110 TEUs.
A total of 9,681 TEUs were delivered by road, against just 270 TEUs by rail.
“The ship average working time was reported as 1.88 days, up from 1.62 days the previous week, while the dwell time was 3.46 days,” KPA said.
The total container yard population reported a significant decline to 10,810 TEUs from 12,489 TEUs the previous week.
During the week under review, the conventional cargo terminal received 20 vessels and handled 287,369 metric tonnes of general cargo.
Clinker, a key ingredient in cement manufacturing, recorded the heaviest tonnage at 69,950 metric tonnes. It was followed by steel, wheat, general cargo, fertiliser, project cargo and vehicles.