Shenzhen Set to Beat Kaohsiung as World's Fifth Largest
Port
Shenzhen's Port Authority is projecting throughput of
9.5 million TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) for 2003,
putting it ahead of Kaohsiung in Taiwan as the world's
fifth largest container port.
In spite of the SARS outbreak, Shenzhen terminals have
handled 3.73 million TEUs in the first five months of
this year. This represents year-on-year growth of 43 percent.
Kaohsiung handled 3.64 million TEUs in the same period.
In 2002, Shenzhen ranked No. 6 with throughput of 7.61
million TEUs, representing a rise of 51 percent over 2001.
The pace of growth has slowed considerably from 60 percent
in January to 43 percent in May. It is not yet known if
this will carry over to the months of July and August.
Until recently, most exports from southern China went
from Hong Kong, and because Shenzhen lacked modern freight
terminals, feeder barges and trucks carried containers
to the Hong Kong terminals for export. For this reason,
Hong Kong freight statistics continue to include freight
transport from Shenzhen, even though many direct freight
links operate directly out of Shenzhen without going through
Hong Kong.
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