Port of Qingdao throughput surpasses 6m TEU mark

The mainland China port of Qingdao in Shandong province handled more than six million TEU during the first 10 months of the year.The figure is not far off from matching the total volume of containers handled by the port during the whole of last year when the annual box volume reached 6.3 million TEU, Xinhua News Agency reports.The strong performance follows improvements in box handling efficiency with quay cranes at the port's Qingdao Qianwan Container Terminal (QQCT) lifting on average 40 containers an hour.QQCT set a new daily box handling record on October 14 when the terminal lifted a total of 25,674 TEU, breaking an earlier record of 22,775 TEU set on July 19.The increase in container volumes also follows the launch of 24 new ocean and feeder shipping services this year from the port. In September, a new ocean liner service that calls at ports in Southeast Asia also starting making stops at QQCT along with three new feeder services, the report added.