HACTL points up transshipment growth

   Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Limited (HACTL), a large cargo handling agent, said it continues to experience growth in transshipment traffic.
   Seven out of nine months this year have seen an improvement over 2010.
   Transshipments are up 5.5 percent for the first three quarters of 2011, and 8.5 percent for September.
   However, HACTL reported that exports are 9 percent down for the year to date, and imports are down 7.8 percent. Overall, the company’s tonnage is down 5.8 percent on 2010, at a total of 2,009,275 tons.
   HACTL continues to handle around 70 percent of all air cargo through Hong Kong, and command about 80 percent share of total cargo volume handled by cargo terminal operators in Hong Kong, with an air carrier list of over 100. HACTL signed up five more scheduled carriers so far in 2011.
   Lilian Chan, executive director of HACTL, attributes the results on exports and imports partly to misleading comparisons with 2010, and to the currently unsettled global markets: “2010 was an exceptional year, with a post-recession bounce caused by global re-stocking particularly in the big-ticket items that form the backbone of airfreight flows.
   “It was unlikely that 2011 would match 2010, and the year began much as we predicted,” Chan said. “Our traffic levels are still above the pre-recession peak of 2008. But there is no doubt that throughput is now being impacted by global uncertainty, fueling soft consumer demand for non-essentials.”
   Chan warned that the first quarter of 2012 “will also be tough.”