Ghana’s maritime trade declined by 44.9% to 3.77 million tonnes in the first quarter of 2020, data from the Ghana Shippers’ Authority (GSA) has shown.
The drop in throughput was influenced by a corresponding decline in all trade types: imports, exports and transit/transhipment.
Research by the GSA shows that the volume of goods passing through the country’s two seaports, Takoradi and Tema, fell from 6.84 million tonnes in the first quarter of 2019 to 3.77 million tonnes for the same period this year.
The volume of import trade decreased by 24.5% and export trade volume decreased by 66.1% in comparison to the first quarter of 2019.
The total transit/transhipment trade volume in the first quarter of 2020 also decreased by 76.1% over the first quarter of 2019.
Seaports
The cargo throughput for Ghana’s seaports for the first quarter of 2020 was 3.77 million tonnes. Cargo throughput for the Port of Tema was 2.96 million tonnes, representing 79% of the total, while the Port of Takoradi recorded 804,437 tonnes, the remaining 21% of total seaborne trade.
Transit and transhipment imports amounted to 61,568 tonnes, while transit/transhipment exports recorded 17,884 tonnes.
The total import and export trade volume for the review period January to March 2020 recorded a net effect of negative 43.3% compared to the same period in 2019.
The data further shows that imports for the first quarter of 2020 decreased by 24.52% compared to the same period in 2019.
Total imports for the review period (the first quarter of 2020) were 2.7 million tonnes. This comprised 205,573 tonnes of liner cargo, 112,662 tonnes of breakbulk, 1.63 million tonnes of dry bulk cargo and 747,727 tonnes of liquid bulk imports.
Total exports
The total export trade volume for the first quarter of 2020 was 996,331 tonnes. This represents a 66.1% decrease compared to the first quarter of 2019.
Exports were made up of 458,684 tonnes of liner items, 148,427 tonnes of breakbulk items, 338,390 tonnes of dry bulk items and 50,830 tonnes of liquid bulk.
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