Singapore, Hong Kong port volumes down

  

 Some of the biggest ports in the world are showing just how bad the November decline in consumer demand dropped.

   The Port of Hong Kong, once the world's busiest container port, saw volume in November fall 13.2 percent to 1.8 million TEUs from the same month in 2007. For the year, Hong Kong throughput has declined 4.6 percent, according to statistics from the Hong Kong Marine Department cited in a Hong Kong Shipping Gazette report Wednesday. Some of the falloff in Hong Kong can also be attributed to the opening of more container terminals in South China, like Nansha and Da Chan Bay, developments which threatened overcapacity in the Pearl River Delta region even before the economic downturn fully took hold in the fall.

   Meanwhile, the Singapore Maritime and Port Authority reported that the Port of Singapore saw a 1.5 percent decline in volume in November, to 2.29 million TEUs, though volume for the year is still up 10.1 percent. Singapore was the world's biggest port in 2007, but is facing a threat from Shanghai for the title in 2008. 

Source: American Shipper