The Hong Kong port's container throughput in the first four months of the year rose 0.4% cumulatively, to 7.4mn TEU, showing weakness in the mid-stream and other cargo handling areas where a downturn rate of -20.5% was recorded. The Kwai Chung-Tsing Yi container terminals, meanwhile, have handled some 5.3mn TEU since the beginning of the year, at a growth rate of 11.8%.

For the month of April, a total of 1.97mn TEU was handled at the overall Hong Kong port, down 1.6% from April last year. At the Kwai Tsing terminals, 1.5mn TEU was handled in April, at a growth of 10.5%.

Meanwhile, the Shenzhen ports handled 1.6 mn TEU in April, a 12.1% rise over April last year. From Jan-April 2007, a cumulative total of 6.2mn TEU had been handled at Shenzhen ports, 14.1% more than the same period last year.