China terminals? volume improves

China terminalsÆ volume improves    Throughput at Chinese container terminals enjoyed a relatively fruitful November, despite continued declines at the Yangtze River Delta ports of Shanghai and Ningbo.
   Of China's top 10 container ports, eight saw volume growth in November compared to the same month in 2008, according to port statistics compiled by the maritime news service Alphaliner. The biggest percentage gains came at Guangzhou and Xiamen, which grew 16.4 percent (to 980,000 TEUs) and 8 percent (to 450,000 TEUs), respectively.
   Shenzhen, China's second-biggest container port, had zero growth during the month, while Shanghai, the country's biggest port, saw volume dip 6.5 percent to 2.1 million TEUs. For the year, Shanghai is down 12.5 percent to 22.1 million TEUs, while Shenzhen is down 17.5 percent to 16.5 million TEUs.
   COSCO Pacific, the terminal-operating arm of the state-owned COSCO Group, saw volume at its 21 global terminals climb 2.8 percent in November. All but four of those terminals are in China.
   Throughput at its terminal in Nansha, part of the Port of Guangzhou, rose 82.6 percent in November, to 224,000 TEUs. But its terminals in Shenzhen and Hong Kong declined 7.7 percent and 16.5 percent, respectively, while volume at its terminal in Shanghai's deepwater Yangshan port fell 10.4 percent.