La Spezia Container Terminal (LSCT) has recorded its largest ever result in container throughput in the first four months of 2017. Total throughput at the terminal, which is the leading gateway container handling facility in Italy operated by the Contship Italia Group, was in excess of 276,000 units for the period January 1st, 2017 to April 30th, 2017.
This represents a rise of 15% in total throughput compared to the corresponding four months of 2016 which recorded a throughput figure of 240,000 units. The increase in traffic reflected strong performances in the trades to/from the USA and Asia, as well as intra-Mediterranean services. LSCT said such a performance was particularly encouraging because the increase in volume was spread across several trade lanes.
The Contship Italia Group also saw a surge in rail traffic volume during the same four months, with the percentage of boxes moved via rail into southern Europe increasing by 20% year-on-year. This was the strongest increase ever recorded at the Southern gateway terminals.
The rail growth, specifically in La Spezia, was due primarily to increased competitiveness thanks to faster transit-times via LSCT’s fast-corridor and pre-clearing systems.