Shenzhen threatens to take HK's No 3 spot as growth slows at big ports

THE world's 25 largest ports handled a total of 238 million TEU in the first nine months of the year, representing a year-on-year growth rate of 4.5 per cent, nearly half the growth rate of 8.7 per cent achieved in the same period in 2011.

Hong Kong volumes declined 3.9 per cent in the first nine months, making it the worst performer among the main ports this year and now stands to lose its third place ranking to Shenzhen by the end of the year.

Shenzhen's container volumes have exceeded Hong Kong for the last five months and its year to date growth of 3.1 per cent is ahead of the 0.3 per cent growth recorded in 2011.

Based on volume data collected by Alphaliner, Shanghai retained the top spot with total container volumes handled at 24.2 million TEU, up 1.9 per cent compared to the same January - September period last year.

Singapore, which remained in second place, has narrowed the gap with Shanghai as its volumes grew at a faster pace of 6.8 per cent to 23.7 million TEU though it is not expected to regain its number one spot this year.

Strong south east Asia volumes helped Singapore mount a strong challenge to Shanghai this year, led by Jakarta which saw its container throughput jump by 13.9 per cent to hit 5.6 million TEU in the first nine months in 2012.

Chinese ports continue to dominate the port throughput rankings, with 11 of the top 25 ports located in China (including Hong Kong). The northern China port of Dalian reported the largest volume gain so far this year at 26.2 per cent and has overtaken the port of Tanjung Pelepas and Xiamen to reach number 17 among the world's major ports with 5.8 million TEU handled in the nine-month period.

The port of Yingkou joined the top 25 list for the first time, as it overtook the ports of Tokyo, Valencia, Nhava Sheva, Port Said and Colombo to jump from number 30 to 25 in the league table. Yingkou's container volumes reached 3.6 million TEU for a growth of 16.5 per cent in the year-to-date to September.

European ports suffered the largest volume falls with its top three ports - Rotterdam, Hamburg and Antwerp - all recording volume declines due to the weak performance of the European economy. Only Bremerhaven was able to post volume gains, with the German port handling 4.7 million TEU this year.

The top five ports are: Shanghai 24.2 million TEU (up 1.9 per cent); Singapore 23.8 million TEU (up 6.8 per cent); Hong Kong 17.5 million TEU (down 3.9 per cent); Shenzhen 17.3 million TEU (up 3.1 per cent) and Busan 12.8 million TEU (up 6.3 per cent).