After ceding its status as the world’s third-busiest container port to Shenzhen and falling to fourth place this year, Hong Kong is likely to see its business volume drop further next year.
In the first 11 months of this year, throughput at the city fell 4.2% to 20.36 million TEU after dropping 5.2% last year.
In contrast, Shenzhen’s throughput rose 1.2% to 21.3 million TEU in the first 11 months, while that of Shanghai, the world’s busiest port, grew 4% to 30.95 million TEU, official data showed.
Next year, Hong Kong’s decline as a port would be exacerbated as more factories left the Pearl River Delta to low-cost countries like Vietnam.
~ SCMP, December 31, 2013 ~