COLOMBO, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's Colombo Port handled 564,155 containers in January 2018, up 16.4 percent from a year earlier, Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) said in a statement on Tuesday.

Transhipment volumes had risen 20.4 percent to 436,303 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in January, the SLPA added.

The containers at the Colombo Port are handled by the state-run Jaya Container Terminal (JCT) and Colombo International Container Terminals operated by China's CM Ports group and South Asia Gateway Terminals owned by Colombo listed John Keells group.

The Colombo Port reached new heights when it handled its 6 millionth TEU in last December, making it a record for the South Asian port.

In 2016, Colombo Port's volumes grew 10.6 percent to 5.734 million TEUs, helping it overtake Bremen/Bremerhaven in Germany and Tanjung Priok in Indonesia, in a ranking of top 100 container ports by Lloyd's List.

Subsequently, in 2017 the Colombo Port moved up two places to become the 25th busiest container port, next to Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City.

Sri Lankan Ports Minister Mahinda Samarasingha said that it was commendable to witness the Colombo Port had achieved great feats through public-private collaboration.