PSA said container volumes handled by its global terminals last year rose 7.3 per cent to 63.2 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), from the record of 58.9 million set in 2007.

'2008 started strongly amidst the gathering storm clouds over the financial services industry and the major economies,' said Eddie Teh, group chief executive officer of PSA International.

'By the end of the year, though, any lingering confidence that the major economic powerhouses would be able to stay out of a recession had been dashed and global trade worldwide had slowed to a crawl.

'Unless global economies are able to recover in the course of 2009 with the help of huge amounts of proposed spending by governments around the world, our industry will likely experience an extremely difficult year.'

Mr Teh said in a statement the port operator was preparing for the tougher months ahead but gave no further details.

PSA International is owned by state-linked investment firm Temasek Holdings.

It is one of the world's leading port operators with facilities in 16 countries across Asia, Europe and the Americas with a total capacity of 111 million TEUs. -- AFP