International freight activity

Transport

International freight activity

Details on the tonnages of freight moved into and out of Australia by sea and air are shown below.

Sea freight activity

There was a steady rise in the weight of both exports and imports moved by sea over the five years to 1999-2000 (table 23.11). The nature of Australia's trade means that the weight of exports far exceeds that of imports. Over this period, the weight of exports increased by 23.9% and that of imports by 20.2%. Most of the tonnage of exports and imports is shipped by bulk carriers or tankers.

23.11 INTERNATIONAL SEA IMPORTS AND EXPORTS - 1995-96 to 1999-2000
	million tonnes

Year	Imports	Exports	Total

1995-96	47.1	372.9	420.0
1996-97	49.8	404.0	453.8
1997-98	51.7	427.1	478.8
1998-99	56.3	432.1	488.4
1999-2000	56.6	462.2	518.8

Source: Bureau of Transport Economics; ABS Foreign Trade Database.

Air freight activity

The tonnage of total cargo moved into and out of Australia by air increased slightly in 2000 over the previous year (table 23.12). Tonnage of outgoing freight continued to exceed that of incoming freight (by 4.7% in 2000). In contrast, the tonnage of mail moved out of Australia in 2000 (despite increasing by 20.3%) remained well under the tonnage of incoming mail (which increased by 13.6%). The Australian airlines accounted for 25.9% of incoming and 28.6% of outgoing cargo.

At 31 December 2000 there were seven dedicated freighter airlines operating regular scheduled international air services.

23.12 SCHEDULED INTERNATIONAL AIRLINE TRAFFIC TO AND FROM AUSTRALIA(a) - Year ended December
	1999			2000

Type of traffic	Freight tonnes	Mail tonnes	Total Cargo tonnes	Freight tonnes	Mail tonnes	Total Cargo tonnes

TRAFFIC TO AUSTRALIA

Qantas Airways Limited	91,215	5,005	96,220	76,526	5,476	82,002
Ansett Australia	10,364	637	11,001	7,597	306	7,903
Other airlines	233,689	8,515	242,204	247,972	9,760	257,732
All airlines	335,268	14,158	349,426	332,095	15,542	347,637

TRAFFIC FROM AUSTRALIA

Qantas Airways Limited	93,988	8,061	102,049	83,426	11,560	94,986
Ansett Australia	10,251	75	10,326	8,499	12	8,511
Other airlines	242,009	3,024	245,033	255,927	1,850	257,777
All airlines	346,247	11,160	357,407	347,852	13,422	361,274

(a) Australia and Norfolk Island.
Source: Department of Transport and Regional Services.

Table 23.13 shows the main origin/destination pairs for freight moving into and out of Australia. Despite a fall of 7.3% in 2000, the Auckland/Sydney route remains the major contributor with 7.4% of the total freight. The Seoul/Sydney and Singapore/Brisbane routes recorded the most significant increases in 2000, of 52.6% and 22.3%, respectively.

23.13 FREIGHT CARRIED, By City Pairs(a) - Year ended December

	1998 tonnes	1999 tonnes	2000 tonnes

Auckland/Sydney	54,849	54,047	50,090
Singapore/Melbourne	34,935	51,096	48,574
Singapore/Sydney	38,758	43,689	46,313
Hong Kong/Sydney	36,789	34,252	33,976
Los Angeles/Sydney	26,500	36,061	32,721
Auckland/Melbourne	32,199	34,722	29,559
Singapore/Perth	26,160	27,436	27,822
Hong Kong/Melbourne	23,821	26,031	25,879
Seoul/Sydney	11,399	12,316	18,792
Singapore/Brisbane	11,823	14,988	18,337
Other city pairs	334,674	344,878	347,889
All city pairs	631,908	681,515	679,948

(a) The table does not necessarily show the final origin/destination of freight. For example, all freight going to or coming from Europe would require a stopover, generally in Asia.
Source: Department of Transport and Regional Services.


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