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SCMP Reporter

THE rise of Hong Kong, Singapore, Kaohsiung and Pusan as hub ports has spurred smaller Japanese ports to open regular international container routes, according to the Nittsu Research Institute.

  The new routes, most of them centring on South Korea, had boosted the volume of international container cargo handled at the smaller Japanese ports.

  The number of smaller ports handling foreign trade container cargo had risen to more than 30 from 22 in 1993, the institute said.

  It noted that ensuring the best balance between export and import cargo would hold the key to the future development of smaller Japanese ports.

  It said Hong Kong, Singapore, Kaohsiung and Pusan were strengthening their transshipment functions for container cargo moving between Asia, Europe and the United States. This had established them as hub ports for linking intra-Asia feeder routes, with trunk routes to Europe and the US.

  In recent years, Pusan had bolstered its role as a hub, greatly boosting the volume of international cargo passing through the port.

  The ratio of transshipments at Pusan shot up from the 4.8 per cent in 1991 to 16.5 per cent last year.

  The report said that in many cases the cost of overland transport of cargo to major Japanese ports constituted a major burden on local shippers.

  Moreover, fees for the use of major Japanese ports were exorbitantly high, about 2.5 times those of Singapore and about twice that of Pusan, the institute said.

  For these reasons, the use of regular container routes linking nearby smaller Japanese ports to Pusan and other hub ports could reduce total costs.

  Distances to China, South Korea and Southeast Asian countries from local ports on the Sea of Japan and in the Kyushu and Shikoku regions were relatively short.

  If adequate service frequencies could be secured, shipping from Japanese local ports would spell a great advantage in terms of transit time, the report said.

  In line with the opening of new routes, the volume of international container cargo handled at Japanese ports other than the five major ports was increasing smoothly, the institute said.

  The volume of cargo handled reached 7.07 million tonnes in exports and 6.8 million tonnes in imports in 1993, it said.

  The proportion of cargo handled by local ports to Japan's overall international container cargo had also increased, exceeding 10 per cent in exports and imports in 1993.

  At local ports, the Southeast Asian and nearsea trades accounted for large proportions of cargo.

  The expansion of manufactured imports was believed to be a major plus factor as a result of Japanese manufacturers' plans for a full-scale transfer of facilities to Asian countries, the report said.

  Some of the local ports handling international container cargo did not necessarily have large industrial hinterlands, while their consumer bases were rather limited in scale.

  To further develop the handling of international container cargo at local ports, it would become important to ensure the best balance between exports and imports and secure high value-added cargo suitable for container shipping, the report said.

  Accordingly, local governments and port-related interests would face an increasing need to launch a port sales campaign and cultivate new cargo sources.



Japan's smaller ports lift trade