Cargo volume in Hong Kong declines by 6%

The volume of cargo passing through Hong Kong’s ports shrank 6% in the fourth quarter of last year compared with the year before, reversing a 9% increase in the third quarter. Census and Statistics Department figures showed port cargo throughput fell 6% year-on-year to 61.3 million tons, as global trade succumbed to the credit crunch and deepening recession. Significantly, the quarter-on-quarter decline was 10%, of which in-bound cargo dropped 8% and out-bound shipments fell 12%. (March 10, 2009)