Turkish ports handled 313.3 million tons of cargo in the first seven months of this year, up 2.7 percent from last year, and 7.9 million TEUs of containers, marking a 9.5 percent increase, according to Hürriyet Daily News.
In a written statement, Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu emphasized that Türkiye is one of the world’s leading maritime countries, adding that they continue to work without slowing down in order for the country to get a larger share of maritime trade.
Stressing the importance of increasing the volume of maritime trade in terms of the country’s economy and employment, the minister said that the necessary investments are being made to increase the opportunities offered by the sea and to bring the resources to the economy.
“The amount of cargo handled in our ports in July this year was 44.8 million tons,” Uraloğlu said.
“In the January-July period of 2024, the total amount of cargo handled in our ports reached 313.7 million tons. In July, the amount of cargo from our ports to foreign ports increased by 15 percent compared to the same month last year, reaching 11.9 million tons.
The amount of cargo coming from foreign ports to our ports decreased by 9.1 percent to 20.3 million tons compared to the same month of last year. In July, the international cargo traffic decreased by 1.5 percent compared to the same month of last year to 32.2 million tons.”
In July, the port facilities operating within the administrative borders of Aliağa Regional Port Authority had the highest volume of goods handled with 7.06 million tons on the basis of regional port authorities.
Uraloğlu said that the type of cargo that showed the highest increase on a monthly basis in the same period was the handling of iron ore and concentrates and that the most common cargo transported by ships from Turkish ports to foreign countries was Portland cement
