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"Since the information to be collected from the surveys will be useful to the Government and the business community in evaluating the industrial development and investment environment of Hong Kong, we urge those establishments selected in the surveys to co-operate by completing the questionnaires," the spokesman said.

"Information on individual establishments collected from the surveys will be treated in the strictest confidence," he added.

End/Thursday, May 25, 1995

Latest throughput figures shows need for port facilities

Hong Kong's need for new container port facilities has been underlined by its latest throughput figures.

In the first four months of this year, the eight container terminals at Kwai Chung and Stonecutters Island recorded an 18 per cent increase in throughput when compared with the same period last year.

The terminals handled a total of 2.5 million twenty-foot-equivalent units (TEUS) in the first third of 1995, compared with just over two million the first four months of 1994.

Month by month, the terminals handled 666,000 TEUS in January, 482,000 TEUS in February and 651,000 TEUs in March, making a total of 1.8 million TEUs for the first quarter. April saw them handling another 659,000 TEUs.

The early months of the year are a comparatively quiet time for Hong Kong. The busiest months are July to September.

Last year, Hong Kong handled one million TEUS in each of those months. It was the only port in the world to handle one million TEUS in a single month. Some 66 per cent of the total throughput was handled by the eight terminals while the rest was handled by mid-stream and river trade operators.

The 18 per cent growth in terminal figures follows a record 1994 when Hong Kong's overall container throughput rose by 20 per cent to 11 million TEUS. Of this total 7.3 million TEUS passed over the quayface at the eight terminals.

Although the port has so far managed to handle the substantial increases in throughput, businessmen are worried that continued growth will cause port congestion and severe economic losses to Hong Kong.