HONG KONG PORT'S COMPETITIVENESS AS A SEA-TRADE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 HONG KONG 002600

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

USDOC FOR 4420/ITA/MAC/MCQUEEN, CELICO, DAS LEVINE
STATE FOR EB/TRA AND EAP/CM
DHS/CPP FOR PIZZECK

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EWWT ETRD ENRG HK
SUBJECT: HONG KONG PORT'S COMPETITIVENESS AS A SEA-TRADE
LOGISTICS HUB


1. (U) Summary. In 2005, Hong Kong's port shipped more goods
to the U.S. than any other, while Singapore overtook Hong
Kong's position as the world's busiest container port. Pearl
River Delta (PRD) ports collectively are much more
significant than Singapore, but Hong Kong's share of the
Pearl River Delta shipping market has been declining. This
loss of market share is due to higher costs and longer
distances from PRD's exporting factories to Hong Kong. Since
they are also the major operators of PRD ports in the PRC,
Hong Kong port operators have been indifferent to this market
share loss. End summary.

Hong Kong Port's Competitive Difficulties
--------------


2. (U) In 2005, Hong Kong's port shipped more cargo to the
U.S. than any other port in the world. It is an impressive
facility, with some 80 international shipping lines providing
over 400 container liner services per week, connecting to
over 500 destinations worldwide.


3. (U) The logistics industry, the backbone of Hong Kong,s
role as the "gateway to China," has always been expected to
suffer as China opened up to the rest of the world. For the
past several years, Hong Kong's logistics industry has been
migrating across the border, just as the manufacturing
industry has been doing over the past two decades. Dozens of
Hong Kong-based logistics companies are also setting up on
the mainland under the auspices of the Hong Kong-PRC free
trade agreement, the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement
(CEPA). While Hong Kong firms are maintaining their control
over the PRD logistics business, their move across the border
has led to the replacement of Hong Kong jobs with mainland
ones.


4. (U) In 2005, Hong Kong handled a record 22.43 million
twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of cargo, a 2.02 percent
increase from 2004. Growth in Hong Kong's port industry is
slowing, while that in other PRD ports is rapidly growing.
In 2004, the number of containers Hong Kong handled increased
by a faster 7.3 percent. Neighboring Shenzhen handled 16.2
million TEUs in 2005, 18.6 percent more than 2004. Shanghai
grew by 24.3 percent, totaling 18.08 million TEUs. Hong
Kong's share was slightly less than 60 percent of all goods
shipped out of the Pearl River Delta last year, but this
market share is shrinking rapidly. In 2000, Hong Kong
shipped 18 million TEUs, while Shenzhen handled 4 million,
which gave Hong Kong an 82 percent share. Hong Kong had been
specializing in the higher end of the market, owing to the
territory's much more intensive use of technology and
efficient handling of shipments. Shenzhen focused more on
low-cost bulk exports. As exporters have grown used to
shipping from mainland ports, however, they have begun using
Shenzhen for more long-distance shipments to Europe and the
United States, while using Hong Kong for more intra-Asia
shipments.


5. (U) In addition to Shenzhen's three main ports at Yantian,
Chiwan, and Shekou, Hong Kong also faces increasing
competition from other PRD ports.
Guangzhou is upgrading its terminal facilities, while Hong
Kong investors are developing new ports in Zhuhai (next to
Macau) and Shenzhen. The HKG has responded by completing a
feasibility study for a tenth container terminal on Lantau
Island, for which it is now assessing the potential
environmental impact. The HKG stresses that South China's
trade will continue to grow, ensuring that Hong Kong Port's
business will expand, albeit as a smaller share of a larger
pie.

HONG KONG 00002600 002 OF 004




6. (U) Due in part to Hong Kong's need to share business with
the rest of the PRD, Singapore overtook Hong Kong as the
busiest port in the world last year. In 2006, Singapore
processed 3.5 percent more containers than Hong Kong,
totaling 23.2 million TEUs. Hong Kong had been the world's
busiest container port in 13 of the 14 years prior to 2006.
Singapore's large growth in container traffic reflects its
importance as a transshipment hub, particularly in the
growing Australian-European trade. By consolidating
containers in Singapore, firms save on such shipments.


7. (SBU) While mainland Chinese ports are adding capacity and
growing rapidly, they will not be able to absorb all the
capacity that currently goes through HK for another decade.
In the meantime, however, higher costs in Hong Kong are
driving the Hong Kong port operators to shift more business
to the mainland. HIT, Hong Kong's biggest port operator,
which operates half of Kwai Chung's berths directly, sold 20
percent of its Hong Kong port operations to the Port of
Singapore Authority (PSA) in June 2005. Five months later,
it announced that it was taking a 65 percent stake in the
third phase of Shenzhen's Yantian Port in exchange for an
amount close to what it gained in the Kwai Chung sale. Hong
Kong's second largest terminal operator, Modern Terminals, is
investing USD 568 million to develop Shenzhen's new Dachan
Bay Container Terminal, envisioned eventually to have 24
berths. In addition, Hong Kong's terminal operators are
arguing against the HKG's plan to build Hong Kong's tenth
container terminal in northern Lantau Island, claiming that
demand does not exist for this facility. In contrast, port
operators supported the construction of Hong Kong's ninth
container terminal on Tsingyi Island, which broke ground in

2000.


8. (U) Hong Kong is losing market share primarily because it
is cheaper to ship from the mainland. McKinsey estimates
that it costs about USD 300 more to ship a forty foot
container from Hong Kong than through Shenzhen ports. This
cost differential is due to two factors: higher cross-border
trucking costs and higher terminal handling charges (THC),
which are fees charged by the shipping lines to shippers to
compensate them for costs entailed in their use of port
facilities. Higher cross-border trucking costs represent
two-thirds of the cost differential, or USD 200.

Terminal Handling Charges (THC) - A Private Sector Matter
-------------- --------------


9. (SBU) The HKG cannot easily solve the THC differential.
It has consistently said that THC is a private sector
arrangement in which it will not interfere. Shipping lines
charge shippers a uniform THC for the same port, the level of
which is set at global shipping conferences. Although port
operators in Hong Kong have lowered the fees they charge
shipping lines for using their berths, the shipping lines
have not passed on all these savings to the shippers. In
addition, the Hong Kong port operators (most of whom also
operate ports in Shenzhen) still charge more for the use of
their Hong Kong facilities. A representative from one of the
port operators told us that the higher charges stemmed from
higher labor costs and "supply and demand."

Higher Trucking Charges Solvable
--------------


10. (U) Most of the debate in Hong Kong, however, has focused
on higher trucking charges, since they account for most of
the cost differential and policy solutions are clearer.

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Mainlandtruckers are not allowed to operate in Hong Kong.
All trucks and containers into which goods are loded
originate from Hong Kong. Trucking is therefore expensive
because of the higher operating costs in Hong Kong. Not only
are wages higher, but also parking, insurance, maintenance,
and other costs are more expensive. Hong Kong's 8,500
truckers have seen their salaries slashed by over 20 percent
since 2001, and trucking companies have replaced fixed
salaries with compensation on a per-trip basis. The
logistics industry is calling for mainland trucking companies
to participate in cross-boundary trucking. While this will
accelerate the decline of Hong Kong's trucking industry, it
could help maintain business at the port by lowering costs.
This strategy could help save the 183,000 jobs both at the
port and in ancillary businesses.


11. (U) Cross-boundary regulations add to Hong Kong's costs.
Currently a trucker has to pay HKD 6,000 (USD 774) per month
for a cross-boundary license, ten times more than their
counterparts in Guangdong Province. The Guangdong Provincial
Government grants these licenses to joint-venture firms
between Hong Kong and Chinese companies, which lease them out
to truckers. McKinsey estimates license costs represent
about HKD 300 (USD 39) per trip.


12. (U) A variety of mainland restrictions also prevent Hong
Kong,s truckers from usually making more than one trip
daily. Until recently, mainland Chinese regulations required
that the same trucker, truck, trailer, and empty container
stay together for the duration of a journey. Since truckers
could not drop off an empty container at a factory and pick
up a full one, they had to spend several hours waiting while
the factory workers loaded up the empty container. Trucking
companies could make two trips a day if they were permitted
to drop off empty containers and immediately pick up full
ones. If more than one driver could drive the same truck,
that truck would also be able to make a second trip on the
same day. In January, the mainland lifted its requirement
tying containers and trailers to specific trucks, but has not
yet issued new regulations. Truckers are afraid to change
their practices because of the opacity of the new rules. The
mainland also announced that two drivers would be able to
drive one truck, but this also has not been implemented.


13. (U) Hong Kong truckers face delays not only at the Hong
Kong-Shenzhen border, but also at the border between the
Shenzhen Special Economic Zone and other mainland
jurisdictions further inland. This "inland Customs" delay
often exceeds that at the Hong Kong-Shenzhen border.
McKinsey noted that the average trip from Dongguan to Hong
Kong is 13 to 15 hours, and truckers spend an average of five
to six hours waiting at Customs at the Dongguan-Shenzhen and
Shenzhen-Hong Kong border crossings. The HKG is striving to
minimize time necessary to cross from Shenzhen into Hong Kong
by improving infrastructure, such as constructing the
"Western Corridor" bridge from Shekou to Hong Kong, and
enhancing efficiency.


14. (U) Despite the cost advantage of southern China's ports,
Hong Kong retains appeal among shippers, who say that they
value the port's easier customs clearance, which involves
fewer inspections and more consistent requests for
documentation. With 4 to 20 times as many trips to other
places in Asia and three times as many to Europe and the
United States, Hong Kong also serves more destinations more
frequently than do the ports of southern China. Moreover,
Hong Kong's status as a duty-free port makes it attractive as
a regional warehouse for high-value goods, while its
sophisticated legal and financial systems facilitate trade.

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Unfortunately for Hong Kong's longer term prospects, the
mainland's improving hardware and software are eroding these
advantages.

Cunningham