PORT of Brisbane handled a total of 138,476 TEU over October, a decrease of 5.7% on the same month last year.

This decrease was echoed in the rolling 12 months container throughput numbers. In the 12 months to October this year, the port handled 1.53 million TEU, down 3.7% on the 12 months to October 2022.

Imports

In October this year, the port handled 65,613 TEU of imported containers.

The port’s top export commodity for the month was “import other”, with 31,620 TEU, an increase of 4% on October last year.

The next biggest containerised import was household items at 7812 TEU (down 11% on last year), followed by building products at 6623 TEU (down 9%); electrical equipment (5285 TEU, down 14%); and iron and steel (4451 TEU, up 18%).

Exports

Containerised exports through the Port of Brisbane tell a similar story.

The port handled a total of 64,794 TEU in exported containers, 48% of which, or 30,876 TEU, were empty.

Looking at only full container imports, the port handled 33,917 TEU in October, a decrease of 7% on the same month last year.

The port’s biggest export category was “export other” at 12,381 TEU, down 11% on October 2022.

This was followed by cotton exports at 7678 TEU (up 11% on last year), meat products (5805 TEU, up 28%) and agricultural seeds (3216 TEU, down 53%).