Port of Hong Kong box volumes continue to fall in June

Hong Kong handled 1.61 million TEUs of containerized cargo for the month and 9.16 million TEUs in the first six months of 2016, year-over-year declines of 8.6 percent and 10.5 percent, respectively, according to recent data from the port.    Box volumes at the Port of Hong Kong continued their precipitous decline in June, according to the most recent preliminary data from the Hong Kong Maritime and Port Board.
   Hong Kong saw container volumes fall 8.6 percent to 1.61 million TEUs compared with the same month in 2015. Volumes at the port’s Kwai Tsing Container Terminals slipped 4.9 percent year-over-year to 1.27 million TEUs in June, while throughput at other facilities dropped 20.2 percent to 340,000 TEUs.
   The port said Kwai Tsing’s berths handled 665,000 TEUs of import cargoes – 589,000 loaded TEUs and 76,000 TEUs of empty boxes – and 607,000 TEUs of exports – 553,000 TEUs loaded and 55,000 TEUs of empties – decreases of 3.2 percent and 6.8 percent, respectively, compared with June 2015.
   For the first six months of 2016, throughput of containerized cargo fell 10.5 percent from the previous year at 9.16 million TEUs.
   Throughput at Kwai Tsing terminals has fallen 9.2 percent from last year to 7.25 million TEUs, while the others dropped 14.9 percent to 1.92 million TEUs.
   Kwai Tsing’s volumes stood at 3.7 million TEUs of import cargoes – 3.3 million loaded TEUs and 436,000 TEUs of empties – a year-over-year decline of 9 percent,  and 3.5 million TEUs of exports – 3.1 million loaded TEUs and 346,000 TEUs of empties – a 9.5 percent drop.
   The port has suffered in recent years from a lack of terminal space, as well as the rise of neighboring Shenzhen as a more direct gateway for export cargo in South China.
   According to ocean carrier schedule and capacity database BlueWater Reporting, a total of 72 fully cellular container loops that also operate outside of Asia call Hong Kong, in addition to dozens of dedicated intra-Asia container services.