Container traffic at Abu Dhabi’s Mina Zayed port surged 36 per cent last year to 530,000 containers despite global recession, said a report.

The increase came as the emirate’s population grew and large projects such as the Yas Marina circuit were built, port officials were quoted as saying by a report in The National newspaper.

However, general cargo, which includes steel, timber, cement, grains and vegetable oil, fell by 4 per cent. Motor vehicles handled at the port also fell by 59 per cent to 38,000 units, compared with 93,000 last year.

The port is forecasting a container traffic growth of 8 per cent this year, the report said.