Over 77,000 new cars imported through Dublin Port in 2016

More than 77,000 new vehicles were imported through Dublin Port in the first nine months of 2016, up nearly 10 per cent on the same period last year.

The spike in demand for new cars and commercial vehicles, a bellwether of economic recovery, was revealed in Dublin Port’s latest trading update.

It showed overall trading volumes at the port increased by 6.8 per cent during the first three quarters of the year, putting the business on course for another record year.

The figures showed total throughput – imports and exports – was 26 million tonnes, with exports up 7 per cent to 10.6 million tonnes and imports up 6.7 per cent to 15.4 million.

Ferry passenger traffic rose marginally by 0.5 per cent as 1.4 million ferry passengers and over 400,000 tourist vehicles passed through the port, as holidaymakers and Ireland soccer fans took advantage of direct routes to France and Britain.

Cruise ships

Dublin Port’s cruise business grew with 103 visits by cruise ships in the first nine months bringing 152,000 cruise visitors to the capital.

"At 6.8 per cent growth in the first nine months of the year, we are now certain that 2016 will be the third record year in a row for trade at Dublin Port, " the company's chief executive Eamonn O'Reilly said.

He also noted that if if current growth levels were to continue into the future, Dublin Port’s volumes would double over the 12 years to 2025.

“We are seeing the re-emergence of exponential compounding growth which has characterised the business of Dublin Port for many decades,” Mr O’Reilly said.

“In the period to September this year, we handled the same volume as we did in the whole of 2009, our lowest point after the economic collapse,” he said.

Mr O’Reilly said the challenge was how best to create additional port capacity in sufficient time to stay ahead of this growth.

He said the company had purchased 44 hectares of motorway connected lands 14km from the port. Developing this land as an “external port logistics zone” over the next five years to increase the port’s capacity is a priority .

“We are also preparing plans for the development of over 50 hectares of port lands on the Poolbeg peninsula both within the area of the west Poolbeg strategic development zone and elsewhere on the peninsula,” he added.

Redevelopment project

Last year, Dublin Port secured a €100 million loan from the European Investment Bank to finance its Alexandra Basin redevelopment project.

The scheme, the largest ever undertaken by the company, will deepen the navigation channel to allow for bigger container and cruise ships.

It is expected to take five years to complete, costing an estimated €230 million.