Last month's container throughput probably fell almost 14 per cent from the year before, based on The Straits Times' back of the envelope calculations, making it the second consecutive contraction and far exceeding November's 1.5 per cent fall - the first decline since the dot.com bust in 2001.

On the bright side, for the full year, container throughput continued to grow, rising 7.1 per cent from the year before to 29.9 million twenty-feet equivalent units or TEUs, the technical term for container units, maintaining its leadership posiiton in container throughput.

Although December's official figures are yet to be released by MPA, subtracting the full year figure from the total for the first eleven months last year showed that container throughput for December was approximately 2.1 million TEUs - down significantly from the 2.48 million TEUs shipped in December 2007.

CIMB-GK economist Song Seng Wun said that although exports were expected to fall given the global slump in demand, it is now likely to be even worse than what the most pessimistic could have predicted.

'We expected the numbers to fall, but I don't think anyone could have predicted the speed and magnitude of the decline,' he said.

In terms of month-on-month figures, container throughput also fell for the fifth straight month.

Overall, for Singapore's port, cargo throughput for the year rose 6.5 per cent to 515.3 million tonnes, while total vessel calls at the port increased 11.1 per cent to 1.6 billion gross tons and bunker sales volume - the sale of ship fuel - grew 10.7 per cent to 34.9 million tonnes.

Read the full story in Friday's edition of The Straits Times.