The Port of Hong Kong logged contractions in container traffic in both fourth quarter and full year of 2015, according to figures released by the Census and Statistics Department.
In the fourth quarter, the port handled 4.7 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of containers, a decrease of 13.3% compared to a year earlier.
Of this, laden and empty containers decreased by 13.5% and 12.1% to 3.9 million TEUs and 700,000 TEUs, respectively. Among laden containers, inward and outward containers dropped by 12.5% and 14.6% to 2 million TEUs and 1.9 million TEUs respectively.
For 2015 as a whole, the port handled 20.1 million TEUs of containers, a decrease of 9.7% compared to a year earlier. Of this total, laden and empty containers decreased by 10.2% and 6.9% to 17.1 million TEUs and 3 million TEUs, respectively.
Among laden containers, inward and outward containers dropped by 9.2% and 11.1% to 8.7 million TEUs and 8.4 million TEUs, respectively.
On a seasonally adjusted quarter-to-quarter comparison, laden container throughput decreased by 8.5% in the fourth quarter of 2015.
Within this total, inward and outward laden containers decreased by 9.6% and 7.3%, respectively.
Moreover, in the fourth quarter of 2015, seaborne and river laden containers decreased by 14.5% and 11.2% compared with a year earlier to 2.8 million TEUs and 1.2 million TEUs, respectively.
Within inward laden containers, imports and inward transhipment decreased by 11.1% and 13.1% in the fourth quarter of 2015 compared to a year earlier to 600,000 TEUs and 1.4 million TEUs, respectively. For outward laden containers, exports and outward transshipments decreased by 19.3% and 12.4% to 600,000 TEUs and 1.4 million TEUs, respectively.
For the whole year of 2015, seaborne and river laden containers decreased by 11.7% and 6% against 2014 to 12.3 million TEUs and 4.8 million TEUs, respectively.
For full-year 2015, within inward laden containers, imports and inward transshipments decreased by 2.5% and 12% from 2014 to 2.8 million TEUs and 5.9 million TEUs, respectively.
For outward laden containers, exports and outward transshipment decreased by 9.6% and 11.8% to 2.6 million TEUs and 5.9 million TEUs, respectively.
Cargo throughput shrinks 25.5%
Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s overall port cargo throughput decreased by 25.5% to 56 million tonnes in the fourth quarter of 2015 in comparison to a year earlier.
Of this aggregate, inward and outward cargo decreased by 26.9% and 23.3% to 33.4 million tonnes and 22.5 million tonnes, respectively.
For the entire 2015, total cargo throughput decreased by 13.8% against a year earlier to 256.6 million tonnes. Within this total, inward and outward cargo decreased by 17% and 8.6% to 152.8 million tonnes and 103.8 million tonnes, respectively.
On a seasonally adjusted quarter-to-quarter comparison, total cargo throughput decreased by 11.7% in the fourth quarter of 2015.
Within this total, inward and outward cargo decreased by 7.5% and 17.4%, respectively.
Vessel arrivals slow down
On vessel arrivals, the number of ocean vessel arrivals in the fourth quarter of 2015 decreased by 8.7% to 7,024 compared to the fourth quarter of 2014, with the total capacity also shrinking by 1.9% to 101.1 million net registered tons.
Vessel arrivals decreased in number by 5.6% to 38,607, with the total capacity also dropping by 11.2% to 25.5 million net registered tons.
Compared to the whole year of 2014, the number of ocean vessel arrivals in 2015 decreased by 3.9% to 29,011, with the total capacity increasing by 1.8% to 411.8 million net registered tons. The number of river vessel arrivals decreased by 0.5% to 158,508, with the total capacity also decreasing by 6.7% to 103.7 million net registered tons.
Photo: Maersk Line
