Trade volume at the Port of Kaohsiung’s free-trade zones rose by more than 50 percent as of November, Taiwan International Ports Co said yesterday.
Trade volume and trade value in the free-trade zones have grown significantly since the port received London Metal Exchange (LME) certification in 2013, the company said.
Total trade volume at the zones last year reached 1.099 million in the January-to-November period, an increase of 56.94 percent from the same period in 2016, according to statistics provided by the company’s branch office in Kaohsiung.
Trade value also rose by 20.99 percent to NT$74.8 billion (US$2.52 billion) during the period, statistics showed.
Both figures set new records, the company said.
Trade volume rose by 21.26 percent to 745,200 tonnes in 2015, while trade value grew by 45.72 percent to NT$59.87 billion.
Although trade volume rose by only 3.29 percent to 769,700 tonnes in 2016, trade value grew by 16.14 percent to NT$69.54 billion.
The company said that it is calculating last month’s trade volume and trade value, but added that the statistics suggest that the performance in both categories as of November last year have exceeded those from a year earlier.
The company said it last year succeeded in attracting eight investors, including a company manufacturing large machinery that had warehouses in Nansing Free Trade Zone (南星計畫區), to establish operational bases in the free-trade zones.
Three new warehouses have been built in Nansing Free Trade Zone, First Container Terminal and the free-trade zone in Cianjheng (前鎮), it said.
Aside from non-ferrous metals, the products handled or processed at the free-trade zones before being shipped elsewhere include pulp, fresh food, components for large machinery and chemicals, the company said.
It said that this year it plans to attract more investors to the free-trade zones, specifically logistics firms handling frozen goods and large items, as well as galvanized coil processing firms.
Companies at the free-trade-zones can also have their products processed at the factories there, the company said, adding that it would work with tax authorities to ensure that companies at the free-trade zones would not lose their competitive advantage.
The LME is the world’s largest non-ferrous metals exchange market.
Other LME-certified ports in Asia include Yokohama and Nagoya in Japan; Busan, Incheon and Gwangyang in South Korea; Johor PTP and Klang in Malaysia; and the Port of Singapore.
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