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Figures released by the port of Sohar show that container throughput jumped by a highly impressive 53 per cent, to 142,000 TEU, in the third quarter of 2015 compared to the same period of last year. The increase is largely due to the transfer of container traffic from Port Sultan Qaboos to Sohar last year.
Comparing the combined traffic for the two ports there was still, however a rise of 5 per cent over the first three quarters of 2015 compared to this period last year. For the period from January to September 2015, container volume in Sohar reached over 400,000 teu, suggesting a full year figure of more than 600,000 teu will be achieved.
“Our rapid growth has positioned Sohar as a significant regional hub, and we are fully committed to building a sustainable logistics infrastructure,” said Andre Toet, Sohar Port chief executive.
Bulk cargo was also up, by 9 per cent, from 10.4 million tonnes in the third quarter of 2014, to 11.3 million tonnes in the third quarter of 2015. In the year to date bulk traffic at Sohar is up by over 22 per cent, reaching over 34 million tonnes for the period from January to September 2015.
The general cargo terminal at Sohar has also seen significant growth this year, with throughput up by 60 per cent over the first three quarters of 2015, reaching a combined volume of 2.3 million tonnes. Much of this growth has been captured from other regional ports. Ro-ro volumes jumped by 181 per cent in this 9 month period, and the port of Sohar now handles well over 200,000 vehicles a year.
