A report issued by the Damietta Port Authority (DPA) showed a decrease in the number of docked vessels in the port by 6.9% during March 2017 compared to March 2016. According to the report, the number of docked vessels in Damietta port recorded 229 ships during March, compared to 246 ships in the comparative period of 2016. According to the report, the volume of goods traded in the port declined during March by 1.3% compared to 2016. The size of goods traded at the port was 3.03m tonnes in March 2017, compared to 3.07m tonnes in March 2016. The report showed a growth in exports of general cargo by 33% in March 2017 compared to March 2016. The volume of exported goods increased from 459,900 in March 2016 to 611,200 tonnes in March 2017, an increase of 151,300 tonnes, supported by the increased quantities of methanol, sand, and salt. According to the report of March, the number of containers traded by the port increased by 30.5% compared to March 2016. The number of containers traded in the port was 76,100 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in March 2016 and reached 99,300 TEUs in March 2017. The DPA revealed that the number of vessels received by the port during 2016 increased by 8% since 2015. The number of vessels increased from 2,357 vessels in 2015 to 2,562 vessels during 2016. The report attributed the increase to the increased number of dry bulk ships by 46%, with an increase of 472 vessels during 2015 to reach 690 ships in 2016. The increase in the amount of exported methanol was 371.5%. Exported quantities of methanol rose from 117,100 tonnes in 2015 to 552,200 tonnes in 2016. The exported amounts of fertiliser have increased from 1m tonnes in 2015 to 2.1m tonnes during 2016, an increase of 179%. The amount of containers increased during the past year compared to 2015 by 12.6%, and registered an increase from 719,500 TEUs in 2015 to 810,300 TEUs during the past year.
