NPA posts strong Q3 report, says cargo up by 16.2%, export containers surge to 1,085%

By Ezurike Ugochukwu

The Nigerian Ports Authority(NPA) has reported 1,085% surge in export containers, with total cargo hitting 33.52m tonnes in third quarter(Q3) of 2025 amid rising trade activity.

Container traffic climbed 18.9% to 546,931 TEUs in third quarter 2025 vs 460,038 TEUs in Q3 2024. Import-laden containers rose 33.1% to 268,713 TEUs; export-laden jumped to 69,039 TEUs from 5,812 TEUs in 2024.

Export container surge cut empty container traffic 21.5%, showing better import-export balance & stronger non-oil exports.

Ship traffic grew: vessel calls up 8.4% to 1,074; Gross Registered Tonnage jumped 18% to 42.64m, handling larger vessels.

Breakdown of the number of ship calls along the port locations revealed that Tin Can Port topped the chart at 22.7 per cent, followed by Apapa Port at 22.2 per cent.

Onne and Lekki Ports followed with 18.9 per cent and 18.4 per cent respectively, while Calabar Port contributed the least at 2.1 per cent.

However, the analysis of ship calls by size of ship revealed that Lekki Port received the largest size ships with an average Gross Registered Tonnage (GRT) of 57,244, followed by OnnePort with an average of 51,276 GRT. Apapa and Tin Can Island Port received ships of average GRT of 35,556 and 34,400, while the average size of boats calling at Delta Ports was 18,677 tonnes.

Similarly, a breakdown of cargo throughput by port showed that Lekki Port emerged as the dominant growth driver, accounting for 46.8 per cent of total cargo handled in Q3 2025. Onne Port contributed 17 per cent, followed by Apapa Port with 15.1 per cent and Tin Can Island Port with 10 per cent, while Calabar Port recorded the lowest share.

A further analysis along the cargo type revealed that Liquid Bulk accounted for the highest share at 53.8 per cent, followed by Containerised Cargo, which contributed 26.6 per cent, while Dry Bulk and Other General Cargo contributed 11.3 per cent and 8.2 per cent respectively.

Dr Dantsoho

Commenting on the figures, NPA Managing Director, Abubakar Dantsoho, attributed the strong performance to the Federal Government’s export-focused economic reforms and improved investor confidence, noting that the results reflect growing efficiency across all pilotage districts.

He added that ongoing port modernisation, the deployment of export processing terminals and the expansion of digital systems such as the electronic truck call-up platform have helped reduce bottlenecks, improve turnaround time and position Nigeria’s ports to play a more strategic role in regional trade.

Industry analysts say the Q3 performance underscores the increasing contribution of the maritime sector to Nigeria’s non-oil export drive, as the ports align more closely with the country’s broader economic diversification agenda.