XN000022-1984-02-23 — Page 8

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1984

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HONG KONG RACING TO THE TOP IN CONTAINER TRADE

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IN THE RACE FOR SUPREMACY IN GLOBAL CONTAINER TRADE, HONG KONG IS FAST CLOSING THE GAP WITH NEW YORK, THE WORLD'S SECOND LARGEST CONTAINER PORT AFTER ROTTERDAM.

WITH THE RESURGENCE OF ITS EXTERNAL TRADE, HONG KONG HANDLED 1.84 MILLION TWENTY EQUIVALENT UNITS (TEU's) OF CONTAINER CARGO LAST YEAR, UP 10.7 PER CENT ON 1982, ACCORDING TO STATISTICS RELEASED TODAY BY THE MARINE DEPARTMENT.

+WHILE 1983 FIGURES FOR NEW YORK ARE NOT AVAILABLE YET, A CHART PLOTTING THE ANNUAL GROWTH RATES FOR THE TWO PORTS SHOWS THAT HONG KONG COULD OVERTAKE NEW YORK IN A MATTER OF MONTHS, + THE DEPARTMENT'S SENIOR MARINE OFFICER, MR T.J. FRAWLEY, SAID.

A RECENT PUBLICATION BY CONTAINERISATION INTERNATIONAL IN LONDON POINTS OUT THAT OF THE WORLD'S TOP 10 CONTAINER PORTS, HONG KONG HAS CONSISTENTLY SHOWN THE HIGHEST TRAFFIC GROWTH RATES OVER THE PAST 10 YEARS.

IN 1978, HONG KONG WITH A THROUGHPUT OF 1.22 MILLION TEU'S STILL TRAILED FAR BEHIND NEW YORK WITH 1.78 MILLION TEU'S, HE RECALLED.

BUT SINCE THEN, FOLLOWING MAJOR EXPANSION OF ITS KWAI CHUNG CONTAINER PORT IN THE 1ID-1970'S, HONG KONG HAS KEPT UP ITS GROWTH MOMENTUM WHILE NEW YOK HAS SHOWN SIGNS OF SLOWING DOWN. FROM THAT YEAR TO 1982, HONG KONG'S AVERAGE ANNUAL GROWTH RATE WAS ABOVE EIGHT PER CENT, AGAINST NEW YORK'S AVERAGE RATE OF LESS THAN 1.9 PER CENT.

DESPITE THE SPREADING GLOBAL RECESSION, HONG KONG NOTCHED A 6.9 PER CENT INCREASE IN CONTAINER TRAFFIC IN 1981 WHILE NEW YORK'S THROUGHPUT WAS DOWN BY 4.6 PER CENT.

HONG KONG'S MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH CAME IN 1980 WHEN IT OVER TOOK KOBE AS THE WORLD'S THIRD LARGEST CONTAINER PORT BY A PAPER-THIN MARGIN-- 1.46 MILLION TEU'S AGAINST KOBE'S 1.45 MILLION TEU'S.

OVER THE YEARS HONG KONG IN ITS RAPID ASCENT TO THE TOP HAS LEFT KOBE FAR BEHIND.

THE NEW RANKING WILL BE OF MORE THAN SYMBOLIC IMPORTANCE.

+ INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING GIANTS OFTEN SET THEIR SIGHTS ON PUKTJ WITH LARGE AND GROWING TRAFFIC TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE ECONOMIES OF SCALE. AND THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT HONG KONG IS OFFERING,+ MR FRAWLEY SAID.

SHIPS, INCLUDING THE THIRD-GENERATION TYPES OF 59 000 GROSS TONS, UNLOADED EMPTY CONTAINERS TOTALLING 217 562 TEU'S LAST YEAR, 4.5 PER CENT MORE THAN IN 1982.

/+MORE IMPORTANTLY,