Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Limited (Hactl) has blamed the softening in demand in the US and other major export markets for the slow down in volume growth in the first quarter of 2007, and has warned that there are no signs of an early rebound.

A company statement said the total volume handled in the first three months of the year was 576,877 tonnes, representing a mild increase of 0.1 per cent compared to the same period last year.

The company said the slow down in tonnage growth in the first quarter was primarily attributed to declines in export volume to major markets such as US (-1.1 per cent), Europe (-1.4 per cent, Japan (-4.1 per cent), South Korea (-6.8 per cent) and the mainland (-2.0 per cent).

Total export volume for the first quarter was 314,604 tonnes, representing a slight decline of 0.9 per cent against the same period last year.

The total import volume grew marginally by 0.1 per cent to 162,014 tonnes in the first quarter of 2007. Performance of intra-Asia trade, which accounted for over 60 per cent of import volume, was weak, with a growth rate of only 0.2 per cent cent registered in the first quarter.

Imports from the US and Europe declined by 0.3 per cent and 0.9 per cent respectively during the quarter. However, on a brighter note, Hactl said that import volume from Japan grew 20.8 per cent, offsetting some of the impacts of the declines in other markets.

"The slow down in cargo growth in the first quarter continued from the fourth quarter 2006. Key markets of the US and Europe continue to show weakness, and there is no sign of a rebound in growth rates in the short term," said Lilian Chan, general manager for marketing and customer service.