The Port of Hong Kong accelerated its slide in monthly throughput in April, with overall volume falling 9.3% to 1.6 million TEU from 1.8 million TEU in the previous corresponding period.
The decline was led by a sharp drop among the midstream operators with the non-Kwai Tsing throughput falling 16.7% to 350,000 TEU.
The main Kwai Tsing terminals saw a 7% drop in volumes to 1.3 million TEU, compared to 1.4 million TEU moved in April 2017.
On a year-to-date basis, the growth numbers have now all flipped to negative, perhaps a precursor to the slow, apparently inexorable decline of volumes at the major southern China trans-shipment hub for the year.
Overall cumulative throughput as at April fell 2.8% to 6.5 million TEU compared to 6.7 million TEU in the corresponding four-month period in 2017.
Overall year-to-date growth had started to flatten out at the end of the first quarter and the corresponding figure for the Kwai Tsing terminals was a 1.6% drop, while the non-Kwai Tsing terminals maintained some growth.
However even these terminals have now started to see their throughput drop off, with volumes moving through the mid-stream operators falling 1.6% to 1.4 million TEU in the first four months of the year.
