Hutchison Whampoa chairman Li Ka-shing said yesterday at the announcement of the company's results that Hong Kong doesn¡¯t need a 10th container terminal.
The government believes container throughput will continue to increase and is eyeing southwestern Tsing Yi as a possible site to build Container Terminal 10. A Transport and Housing Bureau spokesman said a new berth would be needed by as early as 2015.
But Li dismissed comments by government officials that expanding the port and building a cross-border bridge would boost the city's cargo business as "wishful thinking".
He added that Shenzhen would overtake Hong Kong within four years as the world's third-busiest cargo port.
By cargo tonnage, or the total weight of goods loaded at a port, Shanghai ranked first, with 560 million tonnes in 2007, followed by Singapore with 483.4 million tonnes. Measured by TEUs, Singapore is the world's largest, with about 28 million, and Shanghai second, with more than 26 million.
Hong Kong handled 245.4 million tonnes of cargo and 24 million TEUs last year.
Li noted that at Zhuhai's container terminals in Gaolan, the fees for handling cargo are cheaper than in Hong Kong. ¡°Even if the cargo leaves via Hong Kong, it would still be cheaper than if the cargo was handled here. We cannot compete," he said.
Hutchison Whampoa generated 15 per cent of its revenue last year from port-related business, which earned it US$4.85 billion, up from $4.23 billion in 2006.
The group reported net profit of 3.92 billion for 2007, up 53 percent from $2.56 billion a year ago. But stripping out an exceptional gain of $4.58 billion from the sale of its Indian mobile phone network, Hutchison operated in the red in 2007 because of 3G losses.
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