Port operator PSA International (PSAIN.UL) said its terminals moved 9.9% less containers in 2009 compared to the previous year, the first decline ever, as recession hit global trade and container shipping.  The company, which runs ports in Singapore and overseas, said in a statement it handled 56.93 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of containers in 2009. 

 

PSA said its Singapore terminals handled 25.14 million TEUs in 2009, down 13.1% from the year ago, while its operations outside Singapore suffered a 7.1% decline in volume to 31.78 million TEUs. 

 

”This first-ever decline in PSA’s global container throughput was brought on by the sharp contraction in world trade last year,” PSA said in a statement. 

 

World Trade Organisation had forecast a 10% decline in global trade last year. 

 

Singapore is a key trading hub in Asia and home to a major shipping company, Neptune Orient Lines.