Singapore closes box traffic gap with Hong Kong

Singapore closes box traffic gap with Hong Kong    The port of Singapore closed the gap in container traffic with Hong Kong in 2004, preliminary statistics from the Hong Kong marine department confirmed.
   Last year, Singapore handled 20.6 million TEUs, as compared to Hong Kong’s 21.9 million TEUs, which remained the world’s-largest container port for another year. But Singapore’s traffic increased 14.1 percent last year, faster than Hong Kong’s 7 percent annual rise.
   Hong Kong’s relatively slow growth is believed to be the result of the continuing diversion of cargoes to mainland Chinese ports.
   This means Hong Kong’s traffic lead over Singapore narrowed from 2.4 million TEUs in 2003 to 1.1 million TEUs in 2004.
   If Singapore and Hong Kong continue to grow at the same rates this year, Singapore will again overtake Hong Kong to become the world’s top container port after several years when it was the second largest.