|
|
|
|
Hong Kong hands port crown to
Singapore
HONG KONG
- Singapore has overtaken Hong Kong to become
the world's busiest container port once again.
Hong Kong handled 5.28 million TEUs (20-foot
equivalent units) in the first three months of this year,
up just 1.4% over the same period last year.
Singapore handled 5.52 million TEUs, up about 14%
year-on-year and 240,000 TEUs more than Hong
Kong's total.
State-run PSA Corp, the
dominant operator in Singapore, handled 5.31
million TEUs, up 13%, while the multi-purpose
Jurong Port handled 212,000 boxes, 58% more than
in the same period of 2004. Since 1987, Hong Kong
has been the No 1 container port, except in 1990,
1991 and 1998 - when Singapore held the title.
Hong Kong's share of containerized cargo
shipments from southern China has fallen in recent
years because of higher costs and growing
competition from Shenzhen terminals across the
border, where it costs about US$300 less to
process an export container. Singapore, mainly a
transshipment port, has benefited as exporters
from Indonesia, Thailand and other Southeast Asian
countries ship their goods through its terminals
to Asia, Europe and the United States.
"Growth in intra-Asia trade has been very
strong because of China's booming economy," says
Geoffrey Cheung, an analyst at the Daiwa Institute
in Hong Kong. "Because of its strategic location
in the Malacca Strait, Singapore captures a lot of
the growing trade in Southeast Asia and the Indian
subcontinent."
Ironically, Hong Kong
port's growth rate is slowing at a time when
global cargo volumes are rising on the back of
growing demand from the US and Europe for
China-made toys, clothing, shoes, electronic goods
and furniture. The end of global textile and
garment quotas from January 1 is likely to reduce
Hong Kong's volumes by up to 250,000 TEUs this
year because major importers in the US and Europe
have told their suppliers to ship goods from the
lower-cost Shenzhen terminals. Textile-related
shipments account for about 20% of Hong Kong's
exports and imports.
Also, China's export
growth is expected to slow to about 15% this year,
from nearly 33% last year, reducing the growth
rate of container traffic to and from the southern
Guangdong province. The province, the main cargo
catchment area for Hong Kong and Shenzhen ports,
accounts for about one-third of China's foreign
trade.
Ironically, Singapore has taken the
top spot just as PSA Corp raised its banner in
Hong Kong by acquiring minority stakes in two
smaller terminals at the Kwai Chung container
port. After paying HK$3 billion (US$385 million)
to Hong Kong property developer NWS Holdings, PSA
has become a partner of Dubai Ports International
in the one-berth CT3 and two-berth CT8 West
terminal. PSA has been getting more business
because it became more responsive on pricing after
losing two key customers - Denmark's Maersk
Sealand and Taiwan's Evergreen Marine - to the
fast-growing neighboring Malaysian port of Tanjung
Pelepas. Maersk Sealand is the world's largest
container carrier while Evergreen Marine, Taiwan's
largest shipping line, is ranked No 4 in the
world.
Hong Kong's relegation to the No 2
spot will be a big disappointment to the
government, which has been promoting the city as
South China's preferred port and logistics hub. At
the urging of the Hong Kong Shippers' Council, the
government has been pushing plans to build
Container Terminal 10 (CT10), although terminal
operators say there is enough capacity at Kwai
Chung to absorb growth until 2015. A
government-commissioned study - Hong Kong Port
Master Plan 2020 - has identified two possible
sites for CT10, one at Lantau island and one at
Tsing Yi island. But no decision has been made
yet.
Kwai Chung operators are unfazed with
Hong Kong losing the crown because they are more
concerned with their profit margins, which are
among the highest in the world. "Nothing lasts
forever. Singapore this year, maybe Shanghai after
a few years. It does not make much difference to
us," says Erik Bogh Christensen, managing director
of Modern Terminals, the second-largest operator
at Kwai Chung, with five berths. "I don't care if
Hong Kong is number one or number 10, so long as
it is number one to its stakeholders, which it
is," adds John Meredith, Group Managing Director
of HPH.
(Asia Pulse/Asia
Today) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
All material on this
website is copyright and may not be republished in any form without written
permission.
© Copyright 1999 - 2005 Asia Times
Online Ltd.
|
|
Head
Office: Rm 202, Hau Fook Mansion, No. 8 Hau Fook St., Kowloon, Hong
Kong
Thailand Bureau:
11/13 Petchkasem Road, Hua Hin, Prachuab Kirikhan, Thailand 77110
|
|
|
|
