Strong first quarter for China ports

Strong first quarter for China ports    China's seaports have staged a dramatic recovery in volume in the first quarter of 2010, with most of the country's biggest ports recording growth of at least 12 percent, according to figures compiled by maritime consultant Dynamar.
   Shanghai throughput rose 14.6 percent to 6.4 million TEUs, Shenzhen's was up 26.7 percent to 4.9 million TEUs, and Guangzhou's rose 28.2 percent to 2.8 million TEUs. Only Qingdao, at 9 percent (to 2.7 million TEUs), failed to grow by double digits.
   Though the growth figures are skewed by the abnormally low volume levels in early 2009, most ports are faring well when compared with the first quarter of 2008. Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Ningbo, Tianjin and Xiamen have all seen volume increase the past quarter relative to the first quarter of 2008, while Shanghai and Qingdao are marginally down.
   In all, ports in China handled 28.8 million TEUs from January through March, 6 percent higher than the volume handled in the first quarter of 2008 and 21 percent higher than the first quarter of 2009.
   River ports in China also grew substantially, to 3 million TEUs. That's an increase of 29 percent over the first quarter of 2009 and 44 percent over the same period in 2008.
   Meanwhile, on the other side of the transpacific, volume has risen significantly at all U.S. West Coast ports except for Tacoma, which has seen business migrate to the nearby Port of Seattle in the first quarter.
   Los Angeles throughput is up 8 percent on the first quarter of 2009, to 1.6 million TEUs, while Long Beach has grown 15.9 percent, to 1.3 million TEUs. Both those figures are down from first quarter 2008 levels (Long Beach is 18 percent lower and Los Angeles 11 percent lower). Oakland volume was up 8.7 percent, to 500,000 TEUs (down 9 percent on 2008), while Seattle volume rose 45.3 percent, to 384,000 TEUs (up 9 percent on 2008).
   Tacoma throughput fell 21.8 percent, to 214,000 TEUs (down 35.5 percent on 2008).