Hong Kong Drops Off World’s Top 10 Container Ports List for 1st Time

A Star ferry (C) is seen among cargo ships sailing near the Kwai Tsing Container Terminals port facility in Hong Kong on Aug. 20, 2019. Philip Fong/AFP via Getty Images

Hong Kong has dropped off the list of the world’s top 10 container ports last year for the first time, according to recent data from Alphaliner, a French maritime consulting firm.

Hong Kong’s port throughput dropped by 14.1 percent to 14.3 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) in 2023, indicating a long-term decline in the once-thriving container port, which ranked among the world’s busiest for over 40 years.

Dubai’s port surpassed Hong Kong to become the world’s tenth largest. Shanghai remains at the top, followed by Singapore, Ningbo-Zhoushan, and Qingdao.  Shenzhen, which is about 30 miles from Hong Kong, ranks fifth.

Rounding out the top 10 list are Guangzhou, Busan, Tianjin, and Los Angeles/Long Beach.

“Dubai overtook two of its nearest competitors in 2023 to make the top 10, a position it previously occupied in 2018. As earlier predicted by Alphaliner, it moved ahead of Hong Kong, which posted its seventh year of consecutive volume declines and has now lost a third of its container traffic over the past decade,” Alphaliner wrote on April 17.

The only other major port to see a greater decline in volume was the Port of New York and New Jersey, which had seen a striking increase in volume during the COVID-19 pandemic as cargo owners diverted shipments from West to East Coast ports in the United States to mitigate pandemic-related congestion.

Stephen Ng Tin-hoi, the chairman and managing director of Wharf Holdings, a real estate and logistics company, noted in March that Hong Kong had dropped in global rankings, and warned that it could be further weakened by intensifying competition, supply chain disruptions, and geopolitical tensions.

Mr. Ng said that with the rise of ports such as Shenzhen and Nansha in China’s southern Guangzhou Province, Hong Kong’s container throughput has been significantly affected. Pressure from competition is coupled with various problems in the approaches to Panama and the Suez Canal.

The global container shipping industry is already in a state of semi-monopoly, with some container shipping companies announcing alliance restructuring plans to rearrange routes, a wave of changes that will again buffet Hong Kong.

In addition, earlier adjustments to shipping routes by the world’s three major shipping alliances may affect Hong Kong’s transit port status.

According to Orient Overseas (International) Limited, the Ocean Alliance cooperative to which it belongs has made significant adjustments to route layout and port sequences, with improving punctuality as the goal. Some routes no longer call at certain ports including Hong Kong. Meanwhile, some shipping lines of the Ocean Alliance will suspend sailings through Hong Kong due to the Red Sea crisis.

However, the company said that it has been closely monitoring market changes and adjusting its operational strategies. Earlier this year, it launched a new intra-Asia route, which includes Hong Kong as a port of call.

Meanwhile, THE Alliance, another of the major ocean alliances, is cutting its direct port calls to Hong Kong from 11 to six, according to data services provider Sea-Intelligence.

HK Authorities Push Back After Media Coverage

On April. 4, Radio Free Asia (RFA) published a story in its Chinese language edition titled “International Shipping Industry Restructures Global Routes, Industry: Hong Kong’s Transit Port Status May Be Dropped.”

“Affected by the political situation in Hong Kong, not only the Western political circles but also the international business community are reevaluating Hong Kong’s economic status. Data shows that Hong Kong, which has always considered itself a shipping center, is deteriorating rapidly,” RFA reported.

Hong Kong’s Transportation and Logistics Bureau responded the next day, stating on its Facebook page that Hong Kong’s status as an international shipping center is recognized internationally and alleging RFA’s report as “completely groundless and fabricated.”

“We absolutely cannot accept such reckless criticisms and attacks based on fabricated facts,” the Chinese language post said.

The RFA responded on April 8 by publishing an opinion piece entitled “Who is fabricating facts? The removal of Hong Kong’s transit port status is not ‘fabrication.'” The article reviewed shipping data that showed the port’s decline.

“To cover up the deteriorating economy, Hong Kong’s finance officials have become so despicable that they distorted economic data to absolve themselves from responsibilities,” reads the article.

The RFA editorial further pointed out that while other media—including pro-Beijing and even Chinese state media—covered the sinking fortunes of Hong Kong’s port, authorities chose to single out RFA for criticism.

“It’s not hard to associate it with the RFA’s recent withdrawal of staff from Hong Kong for security concerns, in response to the Article 23 legislation, which has led to the Hong Kong authorities’ smearing and criticism through political means,” the article said.

“It can be seen that officials’ claim that press freedom will be protected is simply not trustworthy,” it added.

In late March, the U.S.-funded news agency announced it was closing its Hong Kong office due to security concerns surrounding the passage of Article 23, the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance. The law was passed on March 19.

An English-language RFA article on April 21 said “political factors including the international reaction to the city’s ongoing crackdown on dissent” have played a role in the port’s decline. Hong Kong officials are “choosing to deny the problem in favor of issuing positive propaganda about the city’s outlook instead,” RFA said.