The performance of Johor Port in last year exceeded its expectation.

"While we did expect a positive performance of the port during the year, we are pleasantly surprised that the volume of cargo handled by the port, notably in container traffic, proved beyond our expectation," its executive chairman, Dato Mohd Taufik Abdullah.

He said the hinterland of Johor Port in particular showed healthy growth especially with a number of industries expanding their production output.

"The expansion of these industries, which are largely export-oriented, was reflected in the increased volume of containers handled by the Port," he said.

Containerised tonnage at the port has emerged as the largest cargo type totalling about 10 million tones, making about 46 per cent of the total throughput handled by the port.

Last year, Johor Port handled a total of 659,181 TEUs, an increase of 18 per cent compared with the volume handled the previous year.

A significant aspect of the container growth was that Johor Port displaced Penang as the second largest container port in the country after Port Klang which handled 3.2 million TEUs.

Dato Taufik said Johor Port, which last year handled a total of 23.5 million tones of cargo, is accessed by a larger number of shippers from the northern and western industrial areas in the state.

"The fact that container traffic now makes up the largest group of cargo handled by the Port is a clear reflection of the vast potential Johor Port holds as the gateway port of Johor," he noted.

There are a total of 20 mainline operators calling regularly to various ports, especially in the Far East and China.