Officials at the Port of Taichung have announced that the Port of Taichung handled 122.62 million metric tons of cargo during 2014 (January - December) - a 1.75% increase over the volume handled in 2013. This announcement further confirms the rising importance of the Port of Taichung. The port has handled over 100 million metric tons of cargo each year for the past five years, with 2014 setting a new all-time record for handled cargo volumes, Taiwan International Ports Corporation said in its press release.
Port of Taichung cargo handling volumes for 2014 totaled 2.11 million tons more than the 120.51 million tons handled in 2013. The additional volume in 2014 came primarily from increases in coal shipments (+1.589 million tons), metals (+0.572 million tons), non-hazardous cargoes (+0.310 million tons), and grains (+0.253 million tons). Additionally, the 1.514 million TEU in containerized cargo handled in 2014 marked a 3.14% increase over the 1.468 million TEU handled the previous year. In 2014, imports rose by 9,100 TEU (approx. 330,000MT) and exports rose by 21,011 TEU (approx. 760,000MT) over 2013 levels. Further, container transshipments rose by 21,634 TEU (approx. 780,000MT) over 2013 levels, demonstrating the fruits of TIPC’s strategic efforts to significantly expand blue highway transshipment volumes at Taiwan’s international commercial ports.
In terms of new business recruitment, the Port of Taichung signed 12 contracts during 2014 worth an estimated NT$7.98 billion in new investment, 5.7185 million in additional handled cargo volume each year, and 3,377 new jobs.