XN000022-1974-04-16 — Page 4

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TUESDAY, APRIL 16, 1974.

RECORD TONNAGE OF CARGO HANDLED IN MARCH

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THE WEIGHT OF CARGO HANDLED IN THE PORT OF HONG KONG LAST MONTH WAS THE HIGHEST FOR ANY ONE MONTH.

ACCORDING TO STATISTICS RELEASED BY THE MARINE DEPARTMENT, A TOTAL OF 1.6 MILLION DEADWEIGHT TONS OF CARGO WAS HANDLED OVER ALL PUBLIC CARGO WATERFRONTS. THIS SHOWED AN INCREASE OF OVER 473,000 TONS COMPARED WITH THE FIGURE FOR THE CORRESPONDING MONTH LAST YEAR.

OF THE TOTAL, 1,166,685 TONS OF GOODS INCLUDING GENERAL GOODS, FUEL OIL, PETROLEUM PRODUCTS AND CEMENT WERE IMPORTED WHILE 422,896 TONS OF OUR PRODUCTS INCLUDING GENERAL GOODS, IRON ORE AND SCRAP IRON WERE EXPORTED OUT OF HONG KONG.

THE NUMBER OF OCEAN-GOING VESSELS ENTERING PORT LAST MONTH TOTALLED 648 COMPARED WITH 629 FOR THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR.

COMMENTING ON THE STATISTICS, A SPOKESMAN FOR THE MARINE' DEPARTMENT SAID THE INCREASE IN THE CARGO HANDLING BUSINESS REFLECTS THE CONTINUING PROSPERITY OF HONG KONG IN TERMS OF GOODS IMPORTED AND EXPORTED BY WEIGHT.

IT ALSO REFLECTS HONG KONG'S TRADING POSITION IN THE WORLD, HE ADDED.

NEW STATISTICAL REVIEW ON SALE

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THE FIRST OF A NEW SERIES OF ANNUAL STATISTICAL REVIEWS HAS BEEN COMPILED BY THE COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY DEPARTMENT TO REPLACE ITS OLD STYLE ANNUAL DEPARTMENTAL REPORT.

COVERING THE FINANCIAL YEAR 1972-73, IT CONTAINS 26 TABLES OF STATISTICS ON TRADE AND INDUSTRIAL MATTERS. DETAILED INFORM- ATION IS GIVEN TO SHOW PERFORMANCE AGAINST QUOTA LIMITS IN MARKETS WHERE HONG KONG TEXTILE EXPORTS ARE UNDER RESTRAINT.

THE NEW PUBLICATION IS ON SALE AT $7 A COPY AT THE GOVERN- MENT PUBLICATIONS CENTRE, STAR FERRY CONCOURSE.