Piraeus Port Authority SA, which operates Greece’s biggest port, said containers handled at its Pier 1 facility in the eight months through August 31 rose more than 34 percent from a year earlier.

The pier handled 436,244 20-foot-equivalent units, up from 324,598 in the first eight months of 2011, the authority said in a statement on its website late on Thursday.

The port’s car terminal saw imports rise about 7 percent to 296,293 vehicles as an almost 20 percent increase in so-called transit cars, which are destined for Balkan markets, offset a 41 percent drop in car imports destined for the Greek market, according to the statement.

Greece may sell a stake in Piraeus Port as part of a program of state asset sales.

The harbor’s Pier II is run by Piraeus Container Terminal SA, a unit of Cosco Pacific Ltd, which will also build a Pier III.

[Bloomberg]