Hong Kong Port hit by steep decline in throughput as plans afoot for cross-border ships to replace Covid-struck truckers

The Port of Hong Kong opened the new year with what might be a record monthly decline in box throughput in January.
 

Just ahead of the Lunar New Year, which commenced on February 1, the box throughput at Hong Kong Port plummeted by 19.4%.
 

Digging down into the figures the Kwai Tsing terminals handled 1.049m teu compared with 1.249m teu in January 2021, representing a 16% decline. 
 

The January throughput decline for the midstream operators was more severe, at 190,000 teu, or 34.2% fewer boxes handled than the 289,000 teu handled a year before.
 

Hong Kong is currently suffering the worse outbreak of the coronavirus since 2020, with thousands of infections being registered daily. With the territory highly dependent on fresh food supplies from the Mainland, the disruption caused by the latest outbreak has led to shortages of essentials, mainly vegetables, which have soared in price in recent days.
 

A small light in the gloom for the port is being proffered by the Hong Kong Government, which is said to be arranging for ships to take up the slack presented by the loss of cross-border trucking capacity as 20% of local cross-border drivers have either contracted coronavirus or are undergoing quarantine.
 

It is understood that the fresh goods would be transported by sea from Shekou port in Shenzhen to the Tuen Mun River Trade Terminal and Kwai Tsing Container Terminals, should the arrangement be finalised.
 

“Once the Hong Kong Government gives the green light, the measure can be implemented within a week,” Hong Kong Vegetable Union vice-president Oscar Chan Nga-leung told the South China Morning Post. This would provide about 70% of the original transport capacity for vegetables.

Source: Hong Kong Maritime Hub

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