Sea freight movement at Hong Kong’s container port continued on its downslide in October, as throughput shrank nearly 10 percent to 1.9 million 20-foot-equivalent units (TEUs) compared to the same period last year.
The Kwai Tsing terminals recorded a box volume of 1.4 million TEUs, a dip of 5.7 percent from a year ago, while the non-Kwai Tsing terminals posted a setback of almost 21 percent to 460,000 TEUs compared to the equivalent month in 2011.
Meanwhile, Asia Airfreight Terminal (AAT), the second cargo terminal handler at Hong Kong International Airport, announced that its tonnage throughput in October 2012 fell 4 percent year-over-year to almost 60,000 tonnes.
Export cargo registered 42,500 tonnes, a drop of 2 percent against the same month last year. Import volume was 17,000 tonnes, declining 7 percent, while transshipment cargo recorded 425 tonnes, a decrease of 17 percent.
From January to October 2012, the cumulative export tonnage was 401,400 tonnes, up 2 percent against the same period last year. The import tonnage for the first ten months registered 175,200 tonnes, representing a 2 percent year-on-year growth. But the cumulative transshipment cargo volume dropped 46 percent to 5,064 tonnes compared to the same period last year.
“The continuous yet slow recovery in recent tonnage hints that there are still downside risks in the global economic environment. It is believed that Hong Kong’s trade outlook remains challenging in the near future. Therefore AAT has to stay vigilant,” said Kenneth Yeung, AAT general manager corporate development.
Photo: artist in doing nothing
