The Port of Cork recorded profits of EUR5.4 million (US$7.29 million) for 2006, up 6.3 per cent over the previous year.

Revenues were up 5.9 per cent to EUR23.2 million.

Port of Cork Company chairman Dermot O'Mahoney attributed the improvement of the port's fortunes to growth in existing trades and the attraction of new business.

Container traffic rose by 10.6 per cent to 185,000 TEU at the country's second largest port after Dublin.

Total cargo in 2006 at the port on Ireland's south coast was 10.3 million tonnes, the second year in a row that throughput was in excess of 10 million tonnes, a report by the Irish Independent said.

The company has invested more than EUR74 million since 1997 in port infrastructure and is now seeing the rewards of this expenditure.

Mr O' Mahoney said a major challenge now facing the company is the provision of port infrastructure to meet the growth in cargo volumes, as capacity at Ireland's ports in the medium term become tighter, particularly in the unitized cargo sector.

Furthermore, the Tivoli Container Terminal at Cork port is nearing capacity, the report said. As a result, the company has drawn up plans to develop a major new container facility at the Oyster Bank in Ringaskiddy to add much needed capacity.