Hong Kong's sea container traffic fell for a third consecutive month in May amid growing competition from the nearby ports in Southern China. Hong Kong moved 2.08 million 20-foot-equivalent units (TEU) of goods in May, down 3.5 percent from a year earlier, initial statistics from Hong Kong Port Development Council showed.
That brought total throughput for the first five months to 9.45 million TEU, down 1 percent from a year earlier. Container traffic in Kwai Tsing container terminals rose 13.5 percent in May to 1.52 million TEU, but container terminals other than Kwai Tsing moved only 0.56 million TEU, down 31.5 percent from the same month last year.
Hong Kong has lost its title as the world's second busiest container port after Singapore earlier this year to Shanghai, which opened its new container terminals at Yangshan.
Analysts say Hong Kong faces stiff competition from its neighbouring ports in Southern China, especially the southern boomtown of Shenzhen, which is closer to the factories in the Pearl River Delta making it cheaper to move containers.