SHIPPING VOLUMES through Irish ports have fallen for the first time in 10 years, providing further evidence of the downturn in the economy.

The volume of cargo transported through ports in the Republic fell during the first half of 2008, according to the mid-year analysis of traffic volume carried out by the Irish Maritime Development Office (IMDO).

Container traffic volumes fell compared to the same six months of 2007, with both key market segments in load-on/load-off (lo/lo) traffic declining by 4 per cent and roll-on/roll-off traffic (ro/ro) slightly less, with a decline of 3 per cent.

Bulk volumes fell by 8 per cent year on year to June, due mainly to a fall-off in demand for construction related imports of steel, cement, timber and other building materials.

Weaker consumer sentiment and a fall-off in domestic consumption compounded by a contraction in the housing market contributed to the decline, the IMDO said.

"The ongoing effects of the credit crunch and wider issues impacting the broader international market, including the strength of the euro, would appear to have contributed to weaker export volumes," it said.

This is the first decline in shipping volumes for more than a decade as the Irish shipping market adjusts to the current economic cycle and market conditions, the IMDO said.

Export volumes fell in the first quarter of the year, but remained static in the second quarter. The traffic figures show that the volume of imports declined sharply by 4 per cent compared to 12 per cent growth over the same period last year. A major drop in imports from China was particularly evident, with some operators indicating a reduction in volumes by as much as 20 per cent.

The mid-year shipping statistics appear to show a clear correlation with other recent trade data which also indicated a reduction in the value of imports from China by 14 per cent, IMDO said.

Major shipping lines from Asia also reported an 11 per cent fall in capacity utilisation on west-bound traffic, down to 89 per cent for first six months. It said this was largely due to the supply of shipping and container capacity catching up with the huge demand from the region over the past four years.