By: OrePulse

Nigerian ports handled 103,375 imported vehicle units in the first half of 2026, a 42.5 percent increase from 72,568 units in the same period a year earlier, according to figures presented by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) during a quarterly session of the Port Consultative Council in Lagos on September 18, 2026.

The NPA linked the vehicle-import gains chiefly to transhipment volumes handled at the PTML Terminal, located on Tin Can Island Port.

The vehicle data were part of a broader set of first-half figures showing growth across most port operations. Vessel calls rose 6.9 percent year over year to 2,152, while total cargo throughput climbed 12.2 percent to 68.3 million metric tons. Container traffic increased 10.3 percent to 815,346 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), up from 709,142 TEUs a year earlier. Transhipment container volumes — cargo transferred between vessels rather than delivered directly to shore — surged 169.5 percent, to 35,570 TEUs, far outpacing growth in overall trade.

Among individual terminals, Lekki Port posted the biggest gains: vessel calls there climbed 48.4 percent, and the port now accounts for nearly 40 percent of Nigeria's total cargo throughput. The NPA said cargo tied to the Dangote Refinery made up 76 percent of traffic moving through Lekki Port, a volume the authority said equated to roughly 40 percent of total port activity nationwide for the year.

Vessel traffic at Onne Port climbed 26.6 percent, aided by liquefied natural gas exports, and the port made up 22.7 percent of the country's total throughput.

Taken together, the various metrics show Nigeria's ports absorbing rising trade volumes even as the added traffic strains vessel scheduling and berth availability. Despite the broad growth, vessel turnaround slowed to an average of 5.3 days at berth, the NPA said — a 6 percent worsening from a year earlier.

The authority's managing director said accommodating further growth, including Dangote Refinery's planned expansion of refining capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day, would require substantial new infrastructure investment and more balanced policies for managing port traffic, given the strain already evident in slower vessel turnaround times.