NYK Line's Hong Kong operations recorded a 15 per cent increase in container volume handled in the first half of this year because of strong demand from the United States and Europe.
NYK (HK) chairman Koichi Aoki said the carrier handled about 240,000 teu (20 ft equivalent units) in Hong Kong and about 50,000 teu in the southern mainland annually.
'To cope with peak season demand, we intentionally reduce our transport of metal scrap and agriculture products to Asia because the consignees sometimes keep the containers for a long time. We also face difficulties in collecting charges,' Mr Aoki said.
As a result, the carrier prefers to bring back empty containers to carry more lucrative cargo from Asia to the US or Europe.
Mr Aoki said the peak season for this year started in July and if the US maintained its purchasing until its presidential elections at the end of this year the tonnage handled by NYK would increase tremendously.
Mr Aoki said the government could do more to promote Hong Kong as a premier shipping hub, especially for shipping lines, if it could convince the mainland to offer the same treatment to Hong Kong-registered ships as those registered on the mainland.
Although the government had done much to improve the Hong Kong shipping register, NYK Line had not registered its vessels in the SAR as it would not gain much.