Hong Kong’s container throughput global ranking in 2023 to fall one spot to 10th place, city’s logistics minister says

This was lower than 16.68 million teus the city handled in 2022, and 14.45 million teus handled by Rotterdam, which ranked No 10 in 2022 according to Marine Department data.

TEU refers to the size of a standard shipping container, which measures 20 feet (6 metres) long.

Using the calculation method used by leading shipping publication Lloyd’s List, Lam estimated that the city’s container throughput rankings would slip to No 10 in 2023, one place lower than in 2022.

“While some may focus on the declining trend, I believe it is crucial for us to seize the opportunity to consolidate and develop the advantages of Hong Kong’s port and this has also been the ongoing direction of the Transport and Logistics Bureau’s efforts,” Lam wrote.

The 2023 world’s rankings of container ports was expected to be revealed in the middle of this year, he said.

Since overtaking Singapore in 2010, the world’s top port in terms of container throughput has been Shanghai, according to data from the department.

Lam noted in his blog that the government had been enhancing the competitiveness of Hong Kong’s port, aiming to make it “green” and “smart”.

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Citing the government’s Maritime and Port Development Strategy Action Plan, he noted that measures included developing Hong Kong into “a quality green maritime fuel bunkering centre”, as well as promoting the development of a “smart port” through the use of a digitalised port community system.

Simon Lee Siu-po, an honorary fellow at the Asia-Pacific Institute of Business at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said that the main cause for Hong Kong’s decline in its container throughput is due to competition from ports in mainland China in terms of cost and convenience.

“Factories there can use Shanghai, Shenzhen, Ningbo … instead of Hong Kong. It is hard to change the situation as, again, costs are high in Hong Kong,” he said.

Lee noted that the government could only raise its rankings by one or two spots through reducing costs and increasing the convenience for its users, but it would be extremely difficult as competition among ports is very keen.

Of the world’s top 10 ports in terms of throughput ranked by the Marine Department in 2022, six are located in China: Shanghai, Ningbo-Zhoushan, Shenzhen, Qingdao, Guangzhou and Tianjin.

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Professor Terence Chong Tai-leung, executive director of the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Lau Chor Tak Institute of Global Economics and Finance, agreed that costs presented an issue for the city when compared with the mainland.

He added that the mainland also had more land available for expansion.

“It would not be possible for our rankings to go back up, as we are constricted in terms of size, unless we decide to build a new port and several more berths,” Chong said. “As China and other countries will continuously build ports … there is not much point for us to compete in terms of throughput.”

He suggested that authorities instead focus their targets on the value of the cargo coming to the city instead of quantity, as well as the use of green and innovative technology to help Hong Kong stay competitive.