A report issued by the Damietta Port Authority showed an increase in the volume of goods handled at the port during the past year by 32%, growing from 32m tonnes in 2016 to 37m tonnes in 2017.

According to the report, the number of inbound and outgoing ships from the port increased from 2,562 in 2016 to 2,820 in 2017.

The report showed an increase in the number of ships at the port by 10% in 2017 compared to 2016.

The report attributed the increase to a rise in the number of general cargo ships by 13% last year, where their amount increased to 1,607 in 2017 from 1,427 in 2016.

The number of container vessels increased by 7%, from 1,135 in 2016 to 1,213 in 2017.

The volume of maize exports through Damietta Port increased by a significant percentage during 2017 compared to 2016, increasing from 2,800 tonnes to 117,100 tonnes in 2017.

The weight of container cargo handled by the port increased 37% to 1.4m tonnes from 1.1m tonnes in 2016.

The port saw an increase in the number of ships by 23.4% in December 2017 compared to the same month in 2016.

The amount of goods handled at the port last December increased by 27%, reaching 3m tonnes in December 2017, up from 2.8m tonnes in December 2016.