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FRIDAY, AUGUST 20, 1993
CONTAINER THROUGHPUT SHOWS SUSTAINED GROWTH
THE AVERAGE OVERALL GROWTH RATE OF 18.2 PER CENT IN 11ONG KONG'S CONTAINER THROUGHPUT FOR JANUARY TO MAY THIS YEAR OVER THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR INDICATES SUSTAINED GROWTH AND AN UNDERLYING STRENGTH IN CONTAINER HANDLING ACTIVITIES, THE DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF MARINE, MR IAN DALE,SAID TODAY (FRIDAY).
ANNOUNCING THE LATEST CONTAINER THROUGHPUT FIGURES, MR DALE SAID: "HONG KONG HANDLED 3,424,324 TEU'S (TWENTY-FOOT EQUIVALENT UNITS) DURING THE FIRST FIVE MONTHS OF THIS YEAR, COMPARED WITH 2,896,529 TEU'S HANDLED DURING THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR.
THE LARGE 1992 GROWTH RATE OF 29.4 PER CENT OVER THE PREVIOUS (1991) YEAR HAS NOT YET BEEN ACHIEVED THIS (1993) YEAR, BUT WHILE THE PERCENTAGE GROWTH FOR THE LAST THREE MONTHS (MARCH TO MAY) HAS FLATTENED OUT AT THE 18 TO 19 PER CENT LEVEL, IT SHOWS SIGNIFICANTLY STRONGER DEMAND THAN THE 2.6 PER CENT IN JANUARY AND 13.3 PER CENT IN FEBRUARY.
THROUGHPUT AT KWAI CHUNG TERMINALS FOR THE FIRST FIVE MONTHS OF THIS YEAR SHOWS AN INCREASE OF 13.4 PER CENT OVER THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR. IT HAS BEEN INCREASING STEADILY SINCE JANUARY, INDICATING AN UNDERLYING STRENGTH IN DEMAND, HE SAID.
CONTAINER-HANDLING IN THE STREAM IS 19.1 PER CENT
HIGHER THAN
THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR.
MR DALE SAID GROWTH IN THE STEAM THROUGHPUT, LIKE KWAI CHUNG, HAD BEEN STEADY, WITH NO MAJOR FLUCTUATIONS.
RIVER TRADE THROUGHPUT, HOWEVER, WHILE CURRENTLY SHOWING AN 81 PER CENT INCREASE OVER THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR, HAS VARIED WILDLY OVER THE LAST FIVE MONTHS, HITTING A 226 PER CENT INCREASE IN MARCH, ALTHOUGH THIS IS PERHAPS UNDERSTANDABLE GIVEN THAT THE ACTUAL TEU THROUGHPUT OF ABOUT 210,000 FOR THE YEAR TO DATE (AS AGAINST MORE THAN TWO MILLION TEU'S AT KWAI CHUNG) ONLY NEEDS A SMALL VARIATION NUMBERS TO SHOW A LARGE CHANGE IN PERCENTAGES.
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IN
/THE FOLLOWING