Beirut Port freight activity improved to around 490 thousand tons during the month of October 2024, up from 446 thousand tons in the previous month. On a cumulative basis, freight activity rose by 1.50% y-o-y during the first ten months of 2024 to 4,595 thousand tons up from 4,527 thousand tons a year earlier. The number of vessels increased by 9.45% year-on-year to 1,251 in comparison with 1,143 a year earlier, while the number of imported cars contracted by 23.01% to 37,282 cars as people flocked in early 2023 to buying cars ahead of any increases in the applicable exchange rate on custom fees. In a related context, the Beirut port handled containers with a total cargo capacity of around 640,843 thousand TEUs (including transshipments) up to October 2024 in comparison with a higher cargo capacity of some 669,629 thousand TEUs in the same period last year.