The decline in trade accelerated from a 19 per cent year-on-year drop in November, according to the latest data from Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Ltd (Hactl).
“The global economic performance remains bleak. With the toxic combination of falling trading demand and the possible modal shift from air to ocean taking place, the whole air cargo industry is undergoing an extremely challenging ice age,” said Ms Lilian Chan, Hactl’s general manager of Marketing and Customer Service.
A total of 88,222 and 334,159 tonnes of export cargo were handled in December and in the fourth quarter, down 34 per cent and 21.5 per cent respectively against the same periods in 2007.
HACTL noted that unlike in most countries where double-digit decreases of export volume were recorded in the fourth quarter, export trading to the Middle East from October to December recorded a 19.3 per cent year-on-year rise. The total export volume for the whole year was 1,394,146 tonnes, down 6 per cent year-on-year.
HACTL data showed that air cargo volumes through Hong Kong for 2008 as a whole fell 3.8 per cent from 2007 to total 2,534 million tonnes.