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Indicator: CO-15 Tonnage and value of containers and bulk commodities transported by sea

Data

The following table shows the quantity and value of cargo transported by sea in and out of Australia between 1994 and 2003.

International Sea Freight Summary, 1994-1995 to 2002-2003

Year	Weight (tonnes)			Value ($billion)
	Exports	Imports	Total	Exports	Imports	Total
1994-1995	362.4	45.9	408.3	53.0	54.5	107.6
1995-1996	372.9	47.1	420.0	60.0	55.8	115.8
1996-1997	404.0	49.8	453.8	63.4	56.9	120.4
1997-1998	427.1	51.9	479.0	69.6	64.1	133.7
1998-1999	431.8	56.3	488.1	68.2	68.5	136.7
1999-2000	462.0	56.7	518.7	78.2	76.5	154.6
2000-2001	495.0	55.0	550.0	99.4	83.0	182.3
2001-2002	501.0	57.8	558.7	99.5	85.2	184.7
2002-2003	529.4	62.2	591.6	93.4	94.9	188.4

Source: Bureau of Transport and Regional Economics 2003, Australian sea freight.

• Australian sea freight: scope and coverage 
• Australian Sea Freight, 2002-2003 (PDF - 5988 KB) 

The following table shows quantity of coastal freight transported by sea within Australian waters between 1994 and 2003.

Australian Coastal Freight Summary, 1994-95 TO 2002-2003

Year	Loaded (kilotonnes)			Discharged (kilotonnes)
	Interstate	Intrastate	Total	Interstate	Interstate	Total
1994-1995	33 692	15 498	49 190	34 180	16 286	50 466
1995-1996	31 982	15 815	47 797	31 808	16 229	48 037
1996-1997	32 581	16 562	49 143	32 505	17 530	50 035
1997-1998	34 322	18 200	52 522	34 741	18 968	53 709
1998-1999	31 934	16 454	48 388	31 047	17 053	48 100
1999-2000	32 743	18 582	51 325	32 359	18 369	50 728
2000-2001	33 216	18 786	52 003	32 783	18 692	51 475
2001-2002	32 484	19 949	52 432	33 183	19 652	52 835
2002-2003	34 274	18 551	52 825	34 993	18 507	53 501

Source: Bureau of Transport and Regional Economics, Australian sea freight, 2002-2003

• Australian sea freight: scope and coverage 
• Australian sea freight 2002-2003 

What the data mean

In 2002-2003, 712.0 million tonnes of cargo moved across Australian wharves. This represented a 6.2 per cent increase over 2001-2002. 76.1 per cent of this cargo was international exports, 8.9 per cent international imports, and 7.5 per cent each for coastal cargo loaded and discharged.

591.6 million tonnes of international cargo moved across Australian wharves, a 5.4 per cent increase in exports and a 7.1 per cent increase in imports by weight. In terms of value there was a 6.5 per cent decrease in exports, and a 10.2 per cent increase in imports.

106.3 million tonnes of coastal cargo was handled through Australian ports. This made up 15.0 per cent of all cargo moved across Australian wharves. Of this amount, 52.8 million tonnes of coastal cargo was loaded and 53.5 million tones was discharged.

1,252 voyages carried coastal cargo. A total 12.3 million tonnes of freight was estimated to have moved around the Australian coast, up from 10.3 million tonnes in 2001-2002. Coastal cargo tonnages are up by nearly 1.0 per cent overall or 0.7 per cent for loaded cargo and 1.3 per cent for discharged cargo.

Data Limitations

These data are not environmentally significant in their own right but provide a baseline for tracking changes in the contribution of the ocean as a medium for transportation to human life which may result from either the declining condition of the resource or from societal responses to that decline. It will be useful to track any changes in quantity and value of cargo handled by shipping against future declines and/or improvements in the aspects of the marine environment that are vulnerable to degradation as a result of shipping activity.

Issues for which this is an indicator and why

Coasts and Oceans — Contributions of the coasts and oceans to human life - Medium for transportation 

Number and tonnage of containers and bulk commodities transported to and from Australia by sea is a broad, partial indicator of the economic value provided by the ocean as a means of transportation.

Other indicators for this issue:

• CO-14 Number of ship visits