Posted on January 23, 2025
Container volume at the port of Hong Kong dropped 4.9% to 13.69 million teu last year the lowest volume since 1996.
According to Hong Kong Maritime and Port Board, the container throughput of Hong Kong attributed by major port operators declined 4.9% to 13.69 million teu for the whole year of 2024.
Container throughput at Kwai Tsing Container Terminal fell 6.2% to 10.35 million teu in 2024 and the container throughput outside Kwai Tsing Container Terminal decreased 0.9% for the year to 3.34 million teu.
The continued declines in container throughput in Hong Kong mainly caused by the increased competition from ports on the mainland. Ten years ago, the port of Hong Kong’s container throughput was 22.23 million teu, but now it is hard to hit a 14 million teu annual container volume target.
The development of Hong Kong’s maritime and port industry has garnered significant attention locally. In the Legislative Council, lawmaker Lam San-keung proposed a Members’ Motion in mid-January titled “Enhancing Hong Kong’s Status as an International Maritime Services Centre”.
“Hong Kong’s port logistics industry boasts a century of excellent legacy, but in the face of a continuously evolving global landscape of shipping and logistics, we must also keep pace with change and speed,“ said Mable Chan, Secretary for Hong Kong Transport & Logistics.
“I will focus on promoting the port industry to actively expand cargo volume and business and seeking new growth points. We will continuously enhance the competitiveness and efficiency of the port by going smart, green, and digital. We will also do our best to assist Hong Kong’s shipping companies in showing their potential, and make good use of Hong Kong’s finance, legal and institutional strengths to develop and promote our high value-added services to the rest of the world,” Chen continued.
