Shanghai Port lowers annual container throughput target

Even mighty Shanghai port is feeling the ill effects of the global financial turmoil.

Yesterday state media reported the port has lowered its 2008 box throughput by 5% from 30m teu to 28.5m teu. Chen Xuyuan, president of Shanghai Port Group, said that the slowdown in the global economy is having a major impact on the container business. As evidence, the freight on the Shanghai - Europe shipping route that stood at US$1,000 per teu at the beginning of the year, has now slumped to nearly US$200 per teu. Shanghai will not overhaul Singapore as the world's largest container port this year. The ports container throughput rose 10.4 per cent from a year earlier to 13.82 million teu in the first half, sharply slower than the growth in 2007, when throughput jumped 20.4 per cent to 26.2 million teu. In the first nine months of 2008, container processing in Chinese ports rose 14.9 per cent to 94.5 million teu, 2.2 per cent lower than the first half, according to Ministry of Transport figures.
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