Beirut Port freight activity decreased to around 380 thousand tons during the month of January 2024, down from 486 thousand tons in the previous month. Freight activity rose by 5.97% y-o-y in the first month of 2024 up from 359 thousand tons in January 2023. The number of vessels rose by 33.71% year-on-year to 119 in comparison with 89 a year earlier, while the number of imported cars contracted by more than 57% to 3,227 cars as people flocked in early 2023 to buying cars ahead of any increases in the applicable exchange rate when calculating custom fees. In a related context, the Beirut port handled containers with a total cargo capacity of around 59.764 thousand TEUs (including transshipments) in January 2024 in comparison with a cargo capacity of some 57.770 thousand TEUs a year earlier.