IT'S boom time in Southampton docks with the port achieving record levels in almost every sector, according to figures released today.

New trade has poured into Southampton docks in the first part of the year, boosting local jobs and the regional and UK economy.

Nationally, Associated British Ports, the owners and operators of Southampton docks, saw underlying operating profits at its 23 ports increase to more than £75 million in the last six months with a 11 per cent dividend rise although profit before tax slipped from £57 million to just under £53 million.

Most significantly, Southampton Container Terminals saw quayside activity grow by a bumper five per cent in the first half of the year with high volumes of Far East imports and new contracts with shipping lines, CMA and Noarasia.

This continued growth in the container trade will further fuel ABP's controversial moves to develop Dibden Bay on Southampton Water into a world-class trade hub able to handle the biggest cargo ships afloat.

It is confidently expected that the total number of container units handled by SCT this year will be close to the one million mark.

New services also set the tone for the docks' strong performance in the roll-on/roll-off sector with Southampton once again coming out as the country's number one port for vehicle handling.

"The number of cars imported through Southampton grew 14 per cent to 118,000, driven by increases in Ford and Renault traffic although exports were lower as a result of reduced Rover volumes, although this was partly offset by considerable growth in Toyota exports,'' said ABP's group chief executive Bo Lerenius.

The new two-vessel freight-ferry service between Southampton and the French port of Bayonne, which begins next week, is set to push these ro/ro figures even higher in the second half of the year.

Southampton's position as the UK's premier cruising port has been confirmed once again with ABP predicting continued growth for the remainder of this year and for 2000.

Southampton reinforced its position as one of the country's leading fresh produce ports with the opening of the extended Windward Terminal in the Western Docks to handle the consolidated banana-import operations of Fyffes and Geest.

The only area in the port's trade to show a reduction was in grain exports which were hit by a concentrated period of wet weather earlier in the year.

Mr Lerenius said the drop in profit before tax reflected the absence of substantial property sales, which are expected to be made good in the second half of the year, and higher interest charges.

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