PSA International Pte Ltd (PSA) saw an increase in the container volumes it handled last year increase despite a difficult trade environment.

In a statement, PSA International said it handled 85.2 million Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) of containers across its portfolio worldwide in 2019, up 5.2% over 2018.

Its flagship terminal, PSA Singapore, contributed 36.9 million TEUs, or an increase of 1.6% year-on-year, while PSA terminals outside Singapore handling 48.3 million TEUs also recording a growth of 8.1%.

“2019 was a year where the PSA Group expanded our horizons, against a backdrop of trade wars, climate action and varying technological impacts on business and society,” said Tan Chong Meng, Group CEO of PSA.

“By welcoming new terminals like DCT Gdansk, PSA Halifax and Penn Terminals into our fold, we have broadened our reach and ability to offer greater connectivity to new economies in the Baltics and North America,” he added.

According to PSA, it also redoubled its efforts to develop more transport options for cargo owners and movers through its new PSA Cargo Solutions arm. It also continued to develop CALISTATM as a value-adding and interoperable platform for stakeholders in the global supply chain with Global eTrade Services (GeTS).

“Thanks to the efforts of the global PSA team and strong support from our customers and partners, the PSA Group has achieved good volume growth for 2019,”  Tan Chong Meng said.

“As we begin a new decade in 2020, PSA will continue to build on our global network of ports while harnessing technologies to improve our productivity to serve our customers better. Our vision is to empower supply chain stakeholders with the ability to move their goods with greater intelligence and agility through the Internet of Logistics, and to work alongside our partners to enable greater sustainability for the whole supply chain,” he added.