Figures released by the Hong Kong Port Development Council (PDC) Secretariat show that the port's container volume rose 1.2 per cent in January year on year to 1,902,000 TEU.

Overall, Hong Kong handled 23,308,000 TEU in 2006, an increase of 3.1 per cent over 2005. Within this total, Kwai Tsing container terminals handled 16,048,000 TEU up 12.4 per cent over 2005.

Other terminals in Hong Kong handled the remaining 7,260,000 TEU, down 12.7 per cent, which suggests that the container trade previously handled by these terminals is being diverted to Kwai Tsing, the main container hub in Hong Kong.

Kwai Tsing container terminals contributed 1,362,000 TEU to the total, an increase of 11.5 per cent. Other terminals collectively handled 540,000 TEU, a decrease of 18 per cent compared to the same month a year ago.