Page 15 - Sphere No.29 (Jun 2011)

HIT has gradually shifted to handling
international transshipment and more intra-Asia trade.
Japan – providing impetus for further investment in Pearl River
Delta port facilities, among other opportunities.
“The Pearl River Delta will continue to be the leading export
manufacturing zone in China,” said HPH Executive Director,
Eric Ip. “It will take some years before other regions in China
can catch up.”
Underscoring this fact, HPH continues to service export
growth each year, particularly into new markets in the Middle
East and South America. In addition, said Mr Ip, greater
wealth in southern China means higher domestic demand for
imported goods. “We expect to see an increase in import
volume, not just from the US and Europe, but from all over the
world.” The beginnings of substantial growth are likely to be
seen in intra-Asian imports, added Mr Ip, now that China has
scrapped tariffs on most products exported by Association of
Southeast Asian Nations countries.
Changes are emerging also from the rapid upgrading of
the region’s manufacturing base. “Pearl River Delta factories
are becoming more effective because they bring in automation
to increase productivity,” said Mr Ip. “They are also turning
out higher value items. More traditional export processing,
meanwhile, is gaining momentum on the less developed west
bank of the Pearl River Delta, where HPH’s river ports are
concentrated, as well as other parts of Guangdong Province and
southwest China.
As the Pearl River Delta aims for super connectivity, the new
railways and highways extending further into southwest China
will open the way for a more efficient, reliable “southern” route
for goods leaving the Mainland’s interior which, in turn, will
maximise the combined advantages of HPH’s network of river
and coastal ports.
For example, although the “move west” programme is
centred around the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, its most
direct route to the sea is via the Pearl River Delta. “Once all the
new infrastructure and systems are in place, HPH Trust’s ports,
due to their good connectivity especially our dedicated Pingyan
Railway line, are ideally positioned to provide service for time
and price sensitive cargo and become an important window to
the outside world for these hinterland areas”, affirmed Ms Hai
Chi-yuet, CEO of Hutchison Port Holdings Management Pte
Limited, the Trustee-Manager of HPH Trust.
Division of roles
Ports in Hong Kong and Shenzhen combined moved 39.2
million TEUs in 2009, making the region the world’s largest
trading hub by throughput. This compares with 25.9 million
for Singapore and 25.2 million for Shanghai.
Yantian (Shenzhen) gateway is the only other natural deep
sea port in the region besides Hong Kong and Yantian Interna-
tional Container Terminals’ (YICT) primarily deep-sea service is
focused on exports to major markets in the US and Europe. With
several new berths under construction, YICT is particularly well
placed to capitalise on growing demand for port services created
by the Pearl River Delta’s next stage of development.
Whereas Hongkong International Terminals (HIT), the
largest container terminal operator in Kwai Tsing Port, has
gradually shifted towards handling international transshipment
and in particular more intra-Asia trade. In catering to increased
regional demand from shipping lines, it is also able to leverage
barge traffic from HPH river ports at Jiangmen, Nanhai and
Zhuhai (Jiuzhou). HIT no longer just handles shipping from
China to elsewhere. Much like Hong Kong’s international air-
port, HIT now handles cargo from everywhere to everywhere,
overseeing the efficient and reliable transfer of just about every
product imaginable from vessel to vessel. An added benefit
derives from HIT’s market leadership in Hong Kong. The
world’s top 30 global shipping lines call at HIT’s facilities,
enabling it to offer a unique and flexible platform for its
customers to interact under one roof.
With the innovation and diversity of strengths on offer, the
new Pearl River Delta can continue to rely on HPH to deliver
world-class port services fit for a world-class region.
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