Historic shake-up in container port rankings

Themis Qi

Hong Kong fell out of the world's 10 busiest container ports for the first time in history following a decline for seven years in a row, according to Alphaliner's latest report.

Hong Kong, the world's No 1 container port two decades ago, has been overtaken by Singapore and other mainland ports one by one due to the intensifying competition in the Asia Pacific region, the supply chain disruptions caused by Covid lockdowns, and geopolitical tensions.

Hong Kong International Airport, however, remained the world's busiest cargo for the 13th consecutive year, according to the Airports Council International.

Alphaliner data showed Hong Kong's container ports throughput contracted to 14.34 million twenty-foot equivalent units - TEUs - last year, down 14 percent from one year ago and 21.6 percent from 2019.

The drop in volume led to Hong Kong's global ranking slipping a notch to 11th and being surpassed by Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, said global shipping researcher Alphaliner.

Hong Kong reported the biggest fall last year among the top 15 busiest container ports worldwide - one of only five to see their volume decline.

The current picture is totally different from two decades ago. Thanks to its strategic location and rising exports from the mainland, Hong Kong topped the world's busiest ports for 12 years from 1992, according to the Census and Statistics Department

But its ranking has kept falling since 2005 as Singapore and mainland ports kept rising and began surpassing the once-champion one by one. Shanghai has stayed in first spot since 2010.

During the pandemic, Hong Kong dipped further to ninth place as throughputs slumped, data from the Hong Kong Marine Department showed.

In the latest ranking, Shanghai, Singapore and Ningbo remained in the top three. The volume of Qingdao in Shandong jumped 16.9 percent last year, the fastest among the first 15 ports. Guangzhou stayed at sixth but Shenzhen dipped one place to fifth.

Stephen Ng Tin-hoi, chairman and managing director of Wharf Holdings, has said significant volumes of throughputs have been redirected from Hong Kong to Shenzhen and Guangzhou's Nansha.

Ng also warned that Hong Kong's role could be further weakened in the short term due to global supply chain disruptions and rising geopolitical tensions.

Former city leader Leung Chun-ying has also predicted that Guangxi province, which borders Vietnam and is out of Alphaliner's top 15 ports, will catch up with Hong Kong as trade between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations has developed rapidly in recent years.

And according to a report by Sea Intelligence, Ocean Alliance - one of the world's three major shipping alliances - will reduce its direct port calls via Hong Kong to six this year from 11.

Hong Kong will also be removed from the alliance's Pacific South West and Pacific North West services for its 2025 network, the report added.

themis.qi@singtaonewscorp.com