Gains come despite U.S., European economic uncertainties

    Box throughput at leading Asian gateways grew in October despite the economic uncertainties that plague key European and U.S. markets.

    Throughput at Hong Kong’s container terminals rose 8.1 percent year-over-year to 2 million 20-foot equivalent units last month. Traffic at the terminals rose 5.7 percent from September.

    Container throughput at the transshipment port in the first 10 months of the year was 20.3 TEUs, up 3.6 percent on the same period of 2010, according to figures from the Hong Kong Marine Department.

    Regional transshipment rival Singapore saw October container throughput rise by more than 7 percent year-over-year to 2.6 millions TEUs. Traffic last month was 8.3 percent higher than in September this year, said Singapore Maritime and Port Authority.

    The port of Chongqing, located in China’s booming interior, saw volume at its river piers rise by 13.8 percent in the first three quarters of the year to 188,000 TEUs. The port of Haikou, in China’s southern island province of Hainan, reported that in the first ten months it had handled 610,000 TEU, almost equal to the annual total recorded in 2010.

    The port of Lianyungang in Jiangsu also saw volumes climb in the first 10 months of this year, up 26 percent over the same period of 2010 to 4 million TEUs.

(Source:joc.com)