Beirut Port freight activity contracted to around 381 thousand tons during the month of April 2023, down from 472 thousand tons in the previous month. The dampened activity could be attributed to the increase of the customs tariff rate from LBP 45,000 per USD to LBP 60,000 per USD in mid-April. Moreover, and on a cumulative basis, freight activity contracted by 2.51% y-o-y to 1,648 thousand tons during the first four months of 2023 down from 1,691 thousand tons a year earlier. The number of vessels rose to 403 in comparison with 389 a year earlier, while the number of imported cars more than doubled to 21,024 as people flocked to buying cars ahead of any increases in the applicable exchange rate for calculating customs rates. In a related context, the Beirut port handled containers with a total cargo capacity of around 243.428 thousand TEUs (including transshipments) up to April 2023 in comparison with a cargo capacity of some 221.353 thousand TEUs during the same period last year.