NORTH mainland ports have outpaced those in south China through most of 2013, mostly enjoying double digit volume growth while southern harbour post paltry gains in 2013.
In the north, cargo throughput at the Port of Qingdao was up 8.1 per cent year on year in November while Dalian soared 24 per cent, Rizhao was up 27 per cent, Yantai increased 27.8 per cent and Lianyungang was up 10.4 per cent.
Meanwhile the southern ports of Shenzhen rose 1.2 per cent, Guangzhou was up 5.1 per cent and Shanghai increased 3.9 per cent, noted Newark's Journal of Commerce.
Year to date through November Hong Kong throughput fell 4.2 per cent to 20.36 million TEU, behind Shenzhen's 21.3 million TEU.
Hong Kong's decline is blamed on the loss of business to Chinese ports closer to export manufacturing bases that provide lower handling costs.
Container port growth rates in China this year mirror 2012 when northern Bohai Bay ports saw 12 per cent year-on-year growth on average, evidence of strong growth in domestic trade and increased international and coastal transshipments, according to JOC.
Export-minded regions of the Yangtze River Delta only expanded 4.5 per cent while the similar Pearl River region experienced a 1.8 per cent increase.
This was ascribed to the inland migration of manufacturing to lower land and labour costs and the increase in larger containerships on domestic and international routes, encouraging growth in coastal transshipment traffic, boosted by middle class affluence increasing domestic consumption.
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