Port policy dangerous, say HK operators

A policy intended to help Hong Kong's dwindling port cargo and logistics business could help kill it off, complain the city's big terminal operators.

The operators - including Hutchison Port Holdings, Modern Terminals and DP World - were referring to an announcement earlier in the week that five sites in Kwai Chung would be tendered to logistics companies to provide high-value goods and services.

They said it would be better to use the land for container storage - for which two of the sites are now being used.

The Transport and Housing Bureau said the decision was made after balancing the different interests of the industry. It said it would put the sites, totalling 29.5 hectares, out for tender in stages and amend the policy if need be.

Container Terminal Operators Association chairman Alan Lee Yiu-kwong said that while using the land for logistics centres would yield much greater land sales revenue and economic benefits than using it as a container depot, it would do more harm than good to the industry.

"Where would there be goods for the logistics sector to add value to if the pier hasn't enough space to keep the container boxes in the first place?" he asked.

Hutchison's Hongkong International Terminals will have to find alternative storage for up to 10,000 containers it stores on one of the sites.

"We will have to return boxes to the shippers if we cannot find a new place for them," Ivor Chow, financial director of Hutchison Ports South China said.

"And when word spreads that Hong Kong ports are full, clients will move elsewhere and will not come back."

(Source: Cargo News Asia)