Sea container traffic through Hong Kong, the busiest container port, rose 7.8 percent in January from a year earlier, and throughput at its main facilities in Kwai Chung surged about 16.7 percent after price cuts. Hong Kong moved a total of 1.86 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of goods last month, and terminals at Kwai Chung, which accounted for more than 60 percent of the city's total throughput, handled 1.17 million TEUs in January, data from the Port Development Council showed on Wednesday.

But goods handled by river trade terminal and mid-stream dropped 4.7 percent to 641,000 TEUs in January, the data showed.

Analysts said port operators at Kwai Chung lowered prices late last year to attract business, so some customers turned from river trade and mid-steam to the more effective facilities at Kwai Chung.

Hong Kong port operators would not disclose the price levels.

In recent years, Hong Kong has continued to lose market share to the neighbouring Chinese city of Shenzhen, where exporters can ship their goods at prices of about one-third less than they are charged in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong could lose its title as world's busiest container port to Singapore this year. Hong Kong moved 22 million 20-foot equivalent units of goods last year, up 7.7 percent, but Singapore handled 21.3 million TEUs, up 16 percent.

Copyright Reuters, 2005