The port of Singapore moved higher box volumes in February over the previous corresponding period in 2013, according to preliminary estimates from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA).

The republic handled 2.41m teu of container throughput last month, up 2.1% compared to 2.36m teu moved in February 2013, data from MPA showed.

Last month's volumes, however, dropped 10.4% compared to 2.69m teu recorded in January this year.

In the first two months of 2014, Singapore registered total throughput of 5.1m teu, relatively stable compared to the same period of last year.

In 2013, Singapore recorded an annual throughput of 32.58m teu, making it the world's second busiest container port behind China's Shanghai.