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HONG
KONG—Hong Kong may favor shipping companies over port
operators when awarding the rights for a planned
container terminal to help secure traffic as competition
from cheaper mainland harbors mounts.
“This
idea allows us to tie up with shipping lines, who will
bring more containers,” Permanent Secretary for
Transport and Housing Francis Ho said in an interview.
China Shipping Container Lines Co., the nation’s
second-largest sea-cargo box carrier, may consider
bidding, spokesman Ye Yumang said Thursday by phone.
The
tenth terminal, a bridge to Macau and a new airport
runway are part of government plans to boost links with
China and spur Hong Kong’s transport and trade sector,
which accounts for about a quarter of the economy. The
city lost its spot as the world’s second-busiest
container port to Shanghai in 2007 after traffic grew at
the slowest pace in six years.
“Whether
Hong Kong will be able to increase container traffic
depends on the neighboring economic developments,” said
Edward Wong, a Quam Ltd. analyst based in the city. “The
terminal operator isn’t able to change the demand on its
own.”
Hong Kong will need the new terminal by as early as 2015 because
existing facilities in Kwun Chung, its main port area,
are already working at 90 percent of capacity, Ho said.
Growth in the Pearl River Delta, China’s manufacturing
center, will also continue to boost sea-cargo traffic,
he added.
“The
region, as a whole, is growing, therefore, you would
expect different parts of the region to benefit from the
economic development,” he said on June 19. China’s
export growth accelerated to 28 percent in May. About 90
percent of world trade moves by sea.
Li Ka-Shing,
Hong Kong’s richest man, has said the terminal isn’t
necessary as fast-growing mainland ports such as the
neighboring city of Shenzhen will lure business away. Li
controls Hutchison Port Holdings Ltd., the world’s
largest container-terminal operator, which runs
facilities in Hong Kong, southern China and worldwide.
Hong Kong’s government may seek traffic guarantees for new terminal
rather than just auctioning off the concession to the
highest bidder, Ho said. China Shipping Container will
consider applying for the facility once more details are
available, Ye said.
Stanley
Shen, spokesman for Orient Overseas (International)
Ltd., Hong Kong’s biggest container line, was
unavailable because he was traveling.
Hong Kong boosted its container traffic 2 percent last year to 24
million twenty-foot equivalent units. Traffic in
Shanghai surged 20 percent to 26.2 million. Singapore,
the world’s busiest container port, increased its volume
13 percent to 27.9 million.
Hutchison Port, a unit of Hutchison Whampoa Ltd., Cosco Pacific
Ltd. and PSA International Pte are among companies
currently operating Hong Kong terminals, either directly
or through ventures.
Hong
Kong is also planning a 29.6-kilometer bridge to Macau
and Guangdong province to boost links with Western China
and the Pearl River Delta. The bridge will help secure
cargo traffic and tourism visitors, Ho said.
“If we
don’t have the bridge, we are done for,” Ho added. “Hong
Kong has no connectivity to the western parts of China.”
Hong
Kong, Macau and Guangdong will share the cost of
subsidizing the HK$60-billion ($7.7 billion) bridge. The
right to build and operate it out will be put out to
tender, with the winning bidder earning money from toll
fees. (Bloomberg) |
