Hong Kong Box Volume Drops 20 Percent

The volume of container traffic handled by the Port of Hong Kong dropped 20 percent in the first quarter to 4.6 million TEUs, according to statistics published last week by the Census and Statistics Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government.

Within this total, laden containers went down by 21 percent to 3.8 million TEUs, while empty containers dropped by 12 percent to 0.8 million TEUs.

Among laden containers, inbound containers decreased by 20 percent to 1.9 million TEUs and outbound containers also dropped by 22 percent to 1.9 million TEUs.

On a seasonally adjusted quarter-to-quarter comparison, laden container throughput decreased by 12 percent in the first quarter of 2009. Within this total, inbound and outbound laden containers dropped by 11 percent and 13 percent respectively.

Hong Kong’s total port cargo throughput decreased by 17 percent to 52.2 million metric tons compared to a year earlier. Within this total, inbound and outbound port cargo dropped by 16 percent and 17 percent from a year earlier to 30.4 million metric tons and 21.8 million metric tons.

On a seasonally adjusted quarter-to-quarter comparison, total port cargo throughput decreased by 10 percent in the first quarter of 2009. Within this total, inward and outward port cargo went down by 9 percent and 11 percent respectively.

Contact Peter T. Leach at pleach@joc.com.