COSCO Pacific volume drops easing

COSCO Pacific volume drops easing    Container throughput for the Chinese terminal operator COSCO Pacific fell 2.3 percent in October, and is down 6.5 percent for the year.
   COSCO's October volume fell to 3.82 million TEUs, as consistent drops at key Chinese ports weren't completely offset by gains at ports in the Bohai Rim region. For the year, the operator, which has stakes in 17 Chinese terminal and four foreign ones, is down to 35.69 million TEUs through October.
   COSCO's Yangtze River Delta terminals shed 11.8 percent of volume in October, marginally better than the 12.9 percent drop for the year. The company's Pearl River Delta terminals lost 4.5 percent in October and 9.8 percent for the year, with sizable gains at Nansha not enough to overcome drops at Hong Kong and Shenzhen.
   In the Bohai Bay, volume rose 1.9 percent in October and is up by the same percentage for the year, helped by gains at Qingdao and Tianjin.
   Meanwhile, in October, COSCO took over operations at Piraeus in Athens, its fourth foreign terminal. The terminal handled 41,300 TEUs during the month.