Container trade through the Port of Melbourne reached a milestone in 2011. PHOTO: PoMC

Container trade through the Port of Melbourne reached a milestone in 2011, passing through the 2.5 million container mark to record a throughput of 2,506,726 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) in the full calendar year, up 6.6% on the 2010 result.

"The trade figures show a strong upward trajectory since we announced reaching the 2,000,000 TEU milestone four-and-a-half years ago, despite a brief lull experienced during the global financial crisis in 2008/9," says Port of Melbourne Corporation chief executive officer Stephen Bradford.

"In short, the port is now handling an additional half a million containers, driven by population growth and good recent rainfall which has helped boost commodity exports."