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Written question asked by George Howarth (Labour) on Tuesday, 8 November 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 10 November 2005. It was answered by Stephen Ladyman (Labour) on Wednesday, 16 November 2005 on behalf of the Department for Transport.

National Port Traffic

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many 20ft equivalent units (TEUs) were (a) imported and (b) exported through the UK's 10 busiest ports in 2004–05; what percentage of each travelled to and from these ports by (i) rail and (ii) road; what the average distance of each TEU from the point of import to the TEU's final destination was; and what percentage of total TEU traffic through the UK's 10 busiest ports consisted of transshipment in 2004–05.
Answer

Estimates of container imports and exports through the UK's busiest ports in 2004, in terms of TEUs, are given in the following table.

Container traffic at UK ports 2004 (thousand TEUs)
Imports Exports
Felixstowe 1,338 1,300
Southampton 735 701
London 525 452
Medway 315 316
Liverpool 254 292
Hull 166 143
Belfast 70 72
Forth 99 100
Immingham 70 63
Tees and Hartlepool 59 70

The information given includes container transhipments. Transhipped container traffic, however, is not separately identified in the returns made by shipping lines and ports to the Department, and separate estimates are not available. Information about the percentage share of container traffic travelling to and from ports by rail and road is not available.The average distances travelled by containers by road, from the port to the final destination, are given in the following table.

Estimated average distance travelled by container by road from port to final destination, 2004
Port Kilometres
Felixstowe 190
Southampton 160
London 110
Medway 170
Liverpool 100
Hull 130
Belfast 90
Forth 60
Grimsby and Immingham 150
Tees and Hartlepool 200
(3) Estimates based on a sample of less than 50 journeys.

Comparable information is not available for rail.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
439 c1231W;439 c1233W; 28083
Session
2005-06
Subjects
Container terminals Exports Imports Ports Railways Roads Containers
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk