The number of containers shipped through the Port of Beirut in June 2015 increased by 81 percent compared with the same month last year, according to a statement issued Thursday by the International Chamber of Navigation.
“The number of containers shipped through Beirut Port increased to 9,920 in June 2015 compared to 5,481 only during the same month last year,” the statement said.
The president of the chamber, Elie Zakhour, attributed the increase in exports via Beirut Port to the closure of land routes which prompted Lebanese farmers and industrialists to seek an alternative way to ship their goods. Lebanon’s exports have suffered tremendously in the past three months following the closure of Nassib border crossing, which was the only functioning route between Jordan and Syria and was vital for the transportation of goods from Lebanon and Syria to Jordan and Gulf countries.
As a result, Agriculture Minister Akram Chehayeb proposed subsidizing the additional cost of exporting locally produced products by sea by allocating $21 million over the coming seven months.
By adopting this measure, the state would pay $1,500 toward each truck exported by sea, which is the additional cost incurred when using such a mode of transportation.
Investment Development Authority of Lebanon Chairman Nabil Itani emphasized the importance of this new initiative, which aims at helping Lebanese industrialists and farmers to preserve their export markets.
“This initiative is very important and it will allow us to ship around 35 trucks per day by sea for the coming seven months,” he said during a meeting with the syndicate of fruits and vegetables exporters.
Itani added that the export of agricultural produce dropped by around 2 percent in the first five months of 2015 compared to the same period last year due to the closure of the Nassib border crossing.
But Zakhour noted that this drop was compensated by an increase in exports from Beirut Port of agricultural produce using refrigerated containers to 4,582 in June 2015 compared to 2,576 during the same month last year, an increase of 78 percent.
