BEIRUT: Revenues for the Port of Beirut declined 4.79 percent in 2011, undermined by lower car imports, stated a report issued by Blominvest Bank Saturday.

According to the report, revenues fell to $158.84 million, 4.79 percent lower than 2010 and 2.84 percent lower than 2009 levels.

December revenues recorded by the port also fell to $13.15 million, 9.59 percent lower than a year earlier, the report showed.

The weaker revenues, the report said, were chiefly a result of lower demand for imported cars during the first 10 months of the year, following lower economic confidence due to uncertainty in the Middle East.

“The total number of imported vehicles plunged by 29.49 percent in 2011 to 67,022 units, its lowest level during the past four years,” the report said.

The total number of docked vessels also dropped by 5.1 percent to reach 2,167, the report said.

But the total container activity at Beirut’s Port jumped 8.97 percent in 2011 to reach 1.03 million, 20-foot equivalent (TEU), compared to 949,155 TEU in 2010. The boom was led by trans-shipment, which surged to 449,029 TEU from 349,668 TEU last year. “The improvement of trans-shipment activity in 2011 is likely a byproduct of the regional unrest as transit shipping shifted from ports of neighboring countries,” the report added.

However, container activity, excluding trans-shipment, declined by 2.3 percent despite total imports and exports increasing by 3.22 percent to 6.68 million tons in 2011.