HONG KONG: Hong Kong is poised to lose its ranking as the world’s fifth-busiest container port if cargo-handling trends continue. Sea freight processed in the city dropped for a second straight month in November, making Hong Kong the only container port among the world’s top five to report weaker traffic, based on statistics compiled by port authorities. South Korea’s Busan, ranked sixth, has narrowed the gap and is set to overtake Hong Kong on an annual basis in 2018, said Rahul Kapoor, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.
“The hollowing of manufacturing activities in Hong Kong has been the main driver,” Corrine Png, chief executive officer of Crucial Perspective, a specialist in Asian transportation equity research. “Hong Kong faces stiff competition, mainly from the Chinese ports, especially as the Chinese have been investing heavily in port infrastructure in recent years and working on improving their operating efficiency.”
