HONG KONG—Hong Kong port operators including Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. and PSA International Pte handled 8.8 percent fewer boxes in March, the biggest drop in nine months, as China’s trade growth slowed and shippers opted for cheaper mainland harbors.

Cargo volume in Hong Kong, the world’s second-busiest container port, fell to 1.87 million 20-foot boxes last month, according to preliminary figures posted on the Port Development Council’s web site. That would be the biggest fall since an 11 percent drop in June. Traffic in the first three months of the year climbed 2.3 percent to 5.5 million containers.

Hong Kong’s growth has slowed because of competition from mainland ports including its neighbor Shenzhen and Shanghai. China’s exports also grew at the slowest pace in five years in March after companies rushed to sell products earlier in the year in anticipation of government measures to reduce the country’s surging trade surplus.

“Container traffic may continue to shift to mainland ports because of the lower costs,” said Kitty Cheung, a Hong Kong-based Sun Hung Kai Securities Ltd. analyst.

Hong Kong port mainly handles goods made in China and elsewhere that are sent to the city for redistribution. China’s exports rose 6.9 percent to $83.4 billion in March, while imports climbed 14.5 percent to $76.6 billion.

Hong Kong’s container traffic grew 4.1 percent last year, compared with a rise of 20 percent in Shanghai and of 14 percent in Shenzhen, the world’s third and fourth-busiest container ports.

Trucking a 20-foot container from a factory in southern China and shipping it from Hong Kong costs $333 more on average than moving it out of Shenzhen, according to a study commissioned by the Hong Kong government.

Singapore, the world’s busiest container port, handled 2.29 million standard 20-foot containers in March, 12 percent more than a year earlier, according to the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore. Its traffic grew 14 percent in the first three months of the year and 6.9 percent to a record last year.

Volumes at Hong Kong’s Kwai Tsing terminals, where more than 60 percent of the city’s sea cargo is processed, rose 4.2 percent last month. Hutchison Whampoa and PSA International, the world’s two largest port operators, have a venture that manages 11 berths at the terminals. They also have a separate venture with Cosco Pacific Ltd. that manages two other berths.

China Merchants Holdings (International) Co., Modern Terminals Ltd. and Dubai, United Arab Emirates-owned DP World are the other operators at Kwai Tsing. (Bloomberg)

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HONG KONG—Hong Kong port operators including Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. and PSA International Pte handled 8.8 percent fewer boxes in March, the biggest drop in nine months, as China’s trade growth slowed and shippers opted for cheaper mainland harbors.