Grain shutdown reduces Albanian port trade

A three-month shutdown of grain operations has resulted in an 11 per cent downturn in trade through the Albany port in the past financial year.The shutdown was part of a $100 million upgrade of facilities at the port by grain handler CBH, and meant only 720,000 tonnes of wheat was exported from the port in 2005/'06, compared to 1.2 million tonnes the previous year.In contrast, woodchip exports through the port more than doubled from 458,000 tonnes to just over one million tonnes.The Albany Port Authority's recently published annual report says total exports for the year were almost 2.7 million tonnes, with the bulk of trade heading to South-East Asia, followed by the Middle East and Europe.