Figures released by the Port of Beirut show that the aggregate volume of imports by the top five shipping companies and freight forwarders through the port totaled 61,149 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in the first quarter 2025, constituting an increase of 30.5% from 46,846 TEUs in the same period last year. The five shipping and freight forwarding firms accounted for 91.6% of imports to the Lebanese market in the covered period.  Merit Shipping handled 23,228 TEUs in the first quarter 2025, equivalent to 26.4% of the total import freight market to Lebanon. Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) followed with 17,228 TEUs (19.6%), then Sealine Group with 14,499 TEUs (16.5%), Gezairi Transport with 4,167 TEUs (4.7%), and Seanautics shipping with 2,027 TEUs (2.3%). Sealine Group registered a rise of 591% in imports in the first quarter 2025, the highest growth rate among the covered companies, while A.P. Moller-Maersk posted a decline of 87%, the steepest decrease among the five firms in the first quarter of 2025 from the same period of 2024. Also, the import shipping operations of the top five firms through the port increased by 42% in March 2025 from the preceding month and by 27.3% from March 2024.  In parallel, the aggregate volume of exports by the top five shipping and freight forwarding firms through the Port of Beirut reached 15,079 TEUs in the first quarter 2025, constituting a decrease of 14% from 17,543 TEUs in the covered period of 2024. The five companies accounted for 98.8% of exported Lebanese cargo in the covered month.  Merit Shipping handled 8,087 TEUs of freight in the first quarter 2025, equivalent to 51.3% of the Lebanese cargo export market. Sealine Group followed with 3,674 TEUs (23.3%), then MSC with 1,970 TEUs (12.5%), Gezairi Transport with 851 TEUs (5.4%), and El Fil Shipping with 497 TEUs (3%). Sealine Group posted a surge of 791.7% in exported cargo in the first quarter 2025, the highest growth rate among the covered companies, while A.P. Moller-Maersk registered a decrease of 97.8%, the steepest decline among the five firms year-on-year in the first quarter 2025. The export-shipping operations of the top five companies increased by 8.8% in March 2025 from the previous month and decreased by 24.6% from March 2024. (ICE BEIRUT)

Fonte notizia: Byblos Bank, June 23-28, 2025