CHINA's top eight ports combined handled 13.65 million TEU in August, representing a year-on-year increase of seven per cent.
August volume through China's 8 big ports up 7pc to 13.6 million TEU CHINA's top eight ports combined handled 13.65 million TEU in August, representing a year-on-year increase of seven per cent. The growth follows four per cent year-on-year growth in July, and takes year-to-date growth to 2.4 per cent after a weak performance in the first half. Imports in August rose for the first time in two years in value terms, while exports declined by 2.8 per cent, as demand for shipments to Europe, Japan, and the United States showed signs of improvement, reported Fairplay-IHS Media. Hong Kong fared better in August with preliminary figures from the Hong Kong Maritime and Port Board indicating volumes declined just 2.9 per cent year on year to 1.66 million TEU. It marks the smallest monthly year-on-year throughput decline in 17 months. However, year-to-date container volumes through Hong Kong are down 9.4 per cent. Of the top eight ports, only Shenzhen recorded a drop in volumes at 2.2 million TEU, down 2.2 per cent on the same month last year, while throughput was up 7.5 per cent in Guangzhou. Ports in the northeastern Bohai Rim region performed best with Dalian, Qingdao and Tianjin handling a combined 3.7 million TEU, up 12.9 per year, according Shanghai Shipping Exchange (SSE) data. The Port of Tianjin, which was hit by massive explosions last August, saw volumes increase by over a third year on year to 1.2 million TEU. Throughput grew by 5.6 per cent and 3.4 per cent at the other main Bohai Rim ports of Dalian and Qingdao, respectively. Shanghai and Ningbo-Zhoushan, the two main ports in the Yangtze River Delta, handled a combined 5.3 million TEU, up 7.9 per cent against August 2015. Shanghai's throughput rose five per cent to 3.3 million TEU, while Ningbo-Zhoushan saw volumes expand by 12 per cent in August to two million TEU.