Double-digit container throughput growth at Kwai Chung terminals between January and June emphasises the need for speedier construction of Container Terminal 9 (CT9), according to Hong Kong Shippers Council chairman Chan Wing-kee.
The terminals recorded 12.8 per cent year-on-year growth for the first six months of this year, while Hong Kong port recorded a 9 per cent year-on-year growth between January and May, compared with a 7.1 per cent growth for 1996.
In Shippers Today, Mr Chan said negotiations on the lease terms of CT9 were continuing.
'The rising growth rate for container throughput this year should signal the need for more terminal capacity and the need not only for CT9, but also for CT10 and 11 to come on-line as early as possible,' he said.
Mr Chan said it was time for the Government to put a 'little fire under the [CT9] project and get it going by setting a deadline on the negotiations, while at the same time making sure the terms, in particular the size of the premium from developers, is reasonable'.
He said that adding capacity was one way to ensure that Hong Kong terminal tariffs - among the highest in the world - could be kept in check.
Sources said the parties negotiating the CT9 deal - Hong Kong International Terminals (HIT), Modern Terminals (MTL) and the Government - could resolve the CT9 land premium as part of the overall costs if they had a deadline.