Total port cargo throughput rose to 63.8 million tonnes in the second quarter, up 7% on the same period last year, the Census & Statistics Department says.
Within this total, inward port cargo rose 5% to 37.3 million tonnes, while outward port cargo grew 10% to 26.6 million tonnes.
On a seasonally-adjusted quarter-to-quarter comparison, total port cargo throughput rose 11%. Within this total, inward and outward port cargo rose 12% and 9%.
For the first half of 2007, total port cargo throughput grew 3% over a year earlier, to 118.8 million tonnes. Within this total, inward port cargo fell 1%, to 69.7 million tonnes, while outward port cargo grew 8%, to 49.1 million tonnes.
In the second quarter, the port of Hong Kong handled 6.1 million TEUs of containers, a rise of 4% over a year earlier. Within this total, laden containers rose 5%, to 5.1 million TEUs, and empty containers recorded virtually no change to 1 million TEUs. Among laden containers, inward and outward containers grew 4% and 5% to 2.4 million TEUs and 2.6 million TEUs.
In the second quarter, the number of ocean vessel arrivals fell 7% over a year earlier, to 9,140, as total capacity rose 7%, to 92.1 million net registered tons. Over the same period, the number of river vessel arrivals fell 1%, to 48,310, as total capacity fell 5%, to 25.6 million net registered tonnes.