On a seasonally adjusted quarter-to-quarter comparison, total port cargo throughput decreased by 4% in the first quarter of 2011. Within this total, inward and outward port cargo decreased by 5% and 2% respectively. The seasonally adjusted series enables more meaningful shorter-term comparison to be made for discerning possible variations in trends.
Port cargo
Within port cargo, seaborne cargo increased by 3% over a year earlier to 43.2 million tons, while river cargo decreased by 6% to 19.5 million tons in the first quarter of 2011.
Within inward port cargo, imports decreased by 2% in the first quarter of 2011 over a year earlier to 18.3 million tons, while inward transhipment increased by 1% to 17.6 million tons. For outward port cargo, exports (including domestic exports and re-exports) decreased by 3% over a year earlier to 9.2 million tons, while outward transhipment increased by 2% to 17.6 million tons.
Containers
In the first quarter of 2011, the port of Hong Kong handled 5.5 million TEUs of containers, representing an increase of 1% over a year earlier. Within this total, laden containers recorded virtually no change at 4.6 million TEUs, while empty containers rose by 5% to 0.9 million TEUs. Among laden containers, both inward and outward containers recorded virtually no change at 2.3 million TEUs.
On a seasonally adjusted quarter-to-quarter comparison, laden container throughput decreased by 2% in the first quarter of 2011. Within this total, inward and outward laden containers decreased by 4% and 1% respectively.
Vessel arrivals
In the first quarter of 2011, the number of ocean vessel arrivals recorded virtually no change over a year earlier at 8,030, with the total capacity increasing by 10% to 102.2 million net registered tons. Over the same period, the number of river vessel arrivals also recorded virtually no change at 43,170, with the total capacity increasing by 2% to 26.0 million net registered tons.
