Port cargo throughput sinks by 13.8% YoY in Q1

The decrease in both inward and outward port cargo drove the overall decline.

Total port cargo throughput sank by 13.8% year-on-year (YoY) in the first quarter (Q1) of 2022 to 42.4 million tonnes, data from the  Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) showed.

The overall decrease was driven by the declines in both inward and outward port cargo throughput which dropped by 13.4% to 27.7 million tonnes and 14.5% to 14.7 million tonnes, respectively.

The decrease in port cargo transshipments, TEUs of containers handled, and the number of vessel arrivals have also dragged the total throughput for the quarter.

In Q1 2022, port cargo imports and inward transhipment decreased by 19.1% YoY and 6.0% YoY, respectively. The drop was also seen in exports by 24.1% and outward transshipments by 11.4%.

In the same quarter, the port of Hong Kong only handled 3.71 million TEUs of containers, representing a drop of 9.9% YoY.

Meanwhile, ocean vessel arrivals also decreased by 9.8% to 3 476, with the total capacity also decreasing by 8.4% to 53.7 million net tons. On the other hand, whilst the number of river vessel arrivals dropped by 9.6% to 9 227m,  its total capacity increased by 3.1% to 12.3 million net tons.