China's cargo throughput at main ports up 5% in May

China's cargo throughput at main ports rose 5% from a year earlier to 546 million tons in May, said the Ministry of Transport (MOT) on Tuesday.
May is the third consecutive month of growth in cargo throughput, reflecting an increase in demand for the domestic transportation of bulk commodities.
Foreign cargo throughput increased 4.7% year on year to 182 million tons in May, while domestic cargo throughput was up 5.1% and reached 364 million tons.
China's throughput is expected to reach 9.75 million TEUs in May, down 9.7% year on year or 4% compared with last month.
Shenzhen Port handled 1.47 million TEUs in May, representing a year-on-year decline of 16%, while Shanghai Port handled 2.07 million TEUs and saw an increase of 3% in average volume per day. Ningbo-Zhoushan Port's throughput amounted to 800,000 TEUs last month.
In May, China's ports handled 13.8 million tons of imported crude oil, up 5.1% from a year earlier, and handled 55.5 million tons of iron ore, increasing 24.6% year on year. The domestic and imported coal handled at main ports increased 10.8% to 49.2 million tons.