SHENZHEN has overtaken Hong Kong as the busiest container port after Singapore, which still holds the global lead.

In the first nine months of the year terminals in Kwai Chung handled 11.81 million TEU, compared with the 13.44 million TEU throughput at the Port of Shenzhen which comprises Yantian, Shekou and Chiwan, The Standard newspaper of Hong Kong reported. The figures are said not to include the river trade and mid-stream stevedoring operations.

Industry experts are said to be concerned that their rankings will change permanently, if operators do not take remedial 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.

The Standard added that throughput growth at Kwai Chung is expected to rise by three to four per cent annually over the next few years, driven largely by transshipment and barge volumes.