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Kwai Chung port is bypassed as southern China container terminals take care of extra cargo capacity at peak season

The addition of three new container berths at  Shenzhen's ports in the second half of last year helped southern China's terminal operators absorb the peak season rush without relying  on Hong Kong.

Container throughput at Shenzhen's ports jumped a comparative 39.8 per cent last year to 10.64 million   20-foot equivalent units (teu), while Hong Kong has suffered six consecutive months of decline in cargo volumes  up to November.

Shekou Container Terminal, a western Shenzhen facility held by Hong Kong-listed China Merchants International, saw volume surge 73.3 per cent year on year to 1.53 million boxes as it captured spill-over from Yantian International Container Terminals at the eastern end of the city - Shenzhen's busiest port.

Container throughput at Yantian, which added two berths in October and November, grew a comparative 25.2 per cent to 5.25 million teu.

'There's still a congestion problem in Yantian but it's not as serious as in 2002. It's not a major issue as Shenzhen has been improving its infrastructure,' a Shenzhen-based executive from a European shipping line said.

Shenzhen's ports,  at the southern tip of the Pearl River Delta, are set to benefit from rapid growth in manufacturing in the region. Guangdong province reported a comparative 26.3 per cent growth in exports in the first 11 months of last year to US$136.9 billion, according to statistics from Deutsche Bank.

Some of the cargo growth found its way from Yantian to Shekou but not Hong Kong. Shekou was helped by a new berth which came into service in August.

A Hong Kong-based liner manager agreed that Hong Kong was not benefiting from the volume surge.

'Rotation may be changed due to the congestion problem in Shenzhen, as vessels departing from Shanghai, Ningbo or Xiamen will sail to Hong Kong before berthing at Yantian or Chiwan [Container Terminal]. But I don't see containers being diverted to Hong Kong from the mainland,' the manager said.

Full-year figures for Kwai Chung  are expected next week. It  moved 11.03 million boxes  in the first 11 months, up a comparative 1.9 per cent. But throughput for November dropped 1.9 per cent year on year to 1.007 million teu.

A Shenzhen port operator expected cargo volumes to continue growing rapidly this year with four new berths coming into service, including two at Yantian.

Shekou and Chiwan will each have one new berth available next month after receiving approval from the authorities.

'I can say  that throughput at Shenzhen ports this year will be strong. It will even exceed Shanghai with the new capacity available,' a port operator in Shenzhen said.

Shanghai became the world's No3 port last year, handling 11.28 million boxes or about 30 per cent more than in 2002, according to Xinhua.

'Volumes in Hong Kong will continue to shrink. Throughput in Kwai Chung has been going down for  six months and I don't see anything to turn it around in the next 12 months,' the port operator said.

'But the drop won't be as bad as expected as the US economic recovery has delivered a good signal.'

Michael Chan, the head of research, transport and logistics at Bank of China International, said Hong Kong terminals should not be obsessed with cargo volumes.

'It should look at how to increase profitability by providing third-party logistic services.'



New berths absorb Shenzhen surge