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SHENZHEN may be catching up to Hong Kong's container throughput when measuring major terminal volumes, according to assessment reported in The Standard newspaper, but the government says such views did not account for the secondary yet substantial operations elsewhere in the territory.
In the first nine months of the year terminals in Kwai Chung handled 11.81 million TEU, compared with the 13.44 million TEU at the Port of Shenzhen which comprises Yantian, Shekou and Chiwan ports areas, reported The Standard, admitting that the reckoning did not include large scale river trade and mid-stream stevedoring operations that account for a third of Hong Kong's throughput.
A Hong Kong government spokeswoman told the Shipping Gazette that the Census and Statistics Department figures show the SAR handled a total of 17.4 million TEU from January to September, up by 3.8 per cent year on year. The Kwai Tsing terminals handled about two-thirds of the total port throughput in Hong Kong. The remaining volume was handled by other container facilities including the mid-stream and river trade operation, the government statement said.
Industry experts are said to be concerned that the SAR's throughput ranking will change if operators do not take steps now to lower Hong Kong's higher terminal handling fees and trucking costs, in a bid to make the port more competitive against its leading Pearl River Delta rival.
The report said that it presently costs US$300 more to ship a container from Dongguan to the US west coast via Hong Kong than it does through Shenzhen.
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