Hong Kong: The high terminal handling fees and trucking costs at Hong Kong (HK) may cost the port its pre-eminent port position. Analysts believe that the fees levied at the SAR port account for the fact that a greater number of containers made their way to Shenzhen in the fourth quarter of this year. Although the Kwai Chung container terminals have seen a a 10.4% increase in the number of teus handled in the first nine months of this year (11.81m teus), container terminals at the Shenzhen ports of Yantian, Shekou and Chiwan handled 13.44m teus, showing an increase of 12.8 % during the same period.
According to current estimates, the cost of shipping a container from Dongguan to the US West Coast would be US$300 higher is transported through Hong Kong as opposed to Shenzhen, 2/3rd of which have been attributed to handling charges and trucking costs.
Officials at Hong Kong's Modern Terminals have asked the government to consider plans to cut costs at the Hong Kong terminals in order to maintain traffic growth at the ports. They are optimistic that the Kwai Chung terminals will see consistent growth for the fourth quarter and anticipate a 3-4%annual increase in throughput for the next few years.
Hong Kong is expected to increase traffic as the Pearl River Delta market continues to grow. [06/12/06]
Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved. Seatrade, a trading name of Informa Markets (UK) Limited.
