Hong Kong’s total port cargo throughput dropped 16.5% year-on-year to 63.8 million tonnes in the third quarter, the Census & Statistics Department announced.
Of this total, inward port cargo decreased 21.5% to 36.9 million tonnes, while outward port cargo fell 8.4% to 26.9 million tonnes.
In the first nine months of the year, total port cargo volume decreased 9.9% year-on-year to 200.6 million tonnes. Inward port cargo declined 13.8% to 119.4 million tonnes, while outward port cargo also dropped 3.5% to 81.2 million tonnes.
On overall container traffic, the port handled 5.2 million twenty foot equivalent units (TEUs) during the quarter, down 8.3% year-on-year. Laden containers fell 8.6% to 4.4 million TEUs, and empty containers slipped 7% to 700,000 TEUs.
Among laden containers, inward and outward containers dropped by 5.8% and 11.3% to 2.3 million TEUs and 2.2 million TEUs, respectively.
From January to September 2015, the port of Hong Kong handled 15.4 million TEUs of containers, a contraction of 8.5% compared with the same period in 2014. Laden boxes decreased by 9.1% to 13.2 million TEUs, while empty containers slipped 5.1% to 2.3 million TEUs.
Among laden containers, inward and outward containers dropped by 8.1% and 10.1% to 6.7 million TEUs and 6.5 million TEUs, respectively.
The number of ocean vessel arrivals declined 4% to 7,130 in the quarter, with the total capacity increasing by 6.3% to 103.4 million net registered tons.
Compared to the first nine months of 2014, ocean vessel arrivals in the same period this year posted a decline of 2.2% to 21,990, with total capacity increasing by 3% to 310.8 million net registered tons.
Photo: Marcus Wong Wongm
