XN000022-1995-05-05 — Page 14

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Of the seaborne outward cargo, 60% in terms of tonnage were seaborne exports (domestic exports plus re-exports) and 40% were seaborne outward transhipment. 87% of them were containerised cargo.

The above statistics are summarised in Table 1.

In the fourth quarter of 1994, the top five countries of loading for seaborne inward cargo (comprising seabome imports and seaborne inward transhipment) were Singapore (which accounted for 15% in tonnage terms), Japan (15%), China (13%), Taiwan (10%) and the Republic of Korea (9%). The top five countries of discharge for seaborne outward cargo (comprising seaborne exports and seaborne outward transhipment) were the USA (20%), China (19%), Taiwan (9%), Japan (6%) and the Federal Republic of Germany (5%).

The top five principal commodities of seaborne inward cargo in tonnage terms include petroleum, petroleum products and related materials (19%); coal, coke and briquettes (9%); artificial resins and plastic materials (7%); iron and steel (7%); and paper and paper products (6%).

The top five principal commodities of seaborne outward cargo in tonnage terms include machinery (11%); other manufactured goods classified chiefly by material (11%); other manufactured articles (8%); toys (5%); and articles of apparel and clothing accessories (5%).

The distribution of the top ten countries of loading and discharge and their changes in the tonnage of seaborne inward and outward cargo between the fourth quarter of 1994 and the fourth quarter of 1993 are shown in Table 2 and Table 3.

Similar statistics for seaborne inward and outward cargo analysed by the top ten principal commodities are shown in Table 4 and Table 5.

Ocean vessel statistics are compiled primarily from general declarations submitted to the Marine Department by ship masters or authorised shipping agents and cover all ocean vessels entering and leaving Hong Kong, excluding yachts and pleasure craft.

Seaborne, cargo statistics are compiled from a sample of consignments listed in the ocean cargo manifests supplied by shipping companies or agents to the Census and Statistics Department. The sampling method is described in the Explanatory Notes of the report.

More details of ocean vessel and cargo statistics for the fourth quarter of 1994 are contained in the report entitled Hong Kong Shipping Statistics, October December 1994. This report is now published in bilingual form.

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