Hong Kong to lose out as world’s third largest port to Shenzhen

Shenzhen will take over this year.

Container throughput at Shenzhen reached some 15.3 million TEUs from January to August of this year compared to 14.5 million TEUs for Hong Kong. Shenzhen’s total for the first three quarters of this year came to 17.3 million TEUs compared to Hong Kong’s 16.3 million TEUs.

From January to August, Shenzhen’s throughput rose by 1.2% on-year while Hong Kong’s throughput fell 6.8% on-year in these eight months.

Analysts said that if Shenzhen continues to perform well in the fourth quarter, the mainland port city will overtake Hong Kong to become the world’s third biggest.

A report released by the Shanghai International Shipping Center said Shenzhen’s growth potential is better than that of Hong Kong.

Shenzhen’s container throughput stood at 3.99 million TEUs in 2000, making Shenzhen No.11 in the world. In that same year, Hong Kong’s container throughout was 18.1 million TEUs, ranking Hong Kong No.1 globally.