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In
the first quarter of 2003 port cargo throughput increased 16% over a year
earlier, to 49.3 million tonnes. Within this total, inward and outward port
cargo was up 18% and 14%, respectively. Seaborne and river cargo went up 17%
and 14%, respectively. Ocean vessel arrivals fell 6% to 8,770, with total
capacity decreasing 9%.
On a seasonally adjusted quarter-to-quarter comparison, laden container
throughput increased 3%. Within this total, inward laden containers rose 5%,
while outward laden containers remained virtually unchanged.
Overall Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures fell by 1.8% in April 2003 from a year earlier, less than the 2.1% decrease in March 2003. The narrower decline was mainly due to the low base effect arising from Government’s special relief measures, including the rates concession and the waiver of water and sewage charges, over the past year up to March 2003.
Amongst the various CPI components, durable goods registered the largest year-on-year decline in prices in April 2003 (-7.4% in both the Composite CPI and CPI (A)). This was followed by clothing and footwear (-3.8% in the Composite CPI and -2.7% in the
CPI(A)).
In March 2003, the volume
of Hong Kong’s re-exports of goods increased by 18.7% over a year earlier,
while that of domestic exports decreased by 11.2%. Taken together, the
volume of total exports of goods grew by 16.1%. Concurrently, the volume of
imports of goods rose by 15.3%.
Comparing the first quarters of 2002 and 2003, the volume of Hong Kong’s
re-exports of goods rose by 22.3%, while domestic export volume fell by 12%.
Comparing the first quarter of 2003 with the fourth quarter of 2002 on a
seasonally adjusted basis, the volume of total exports of goods recorded an
increase of 3.2%. Within this total, the volume of re-exports rose by 4%,
while that of domestic exports decreased by 6.3%. Over the same period of
comparison, the volume of imports of goods increased by 3.6%.
The prices of re-exports of goods decreased by 1.1% in the first quarter of
2003 over a year earlier, while those of domestic exports increased by 0.8%.
The prices of total exports of goods were down by 0.9%.
The
Hong Kong Monetary Authority announced June 9 that Hong Kong’s official
foreign currency reserve assets amounted to US$116.1 billion at the end of
May 2003. This represents over 7 times the currency in circulation, or about
45% of Hong Kong dollar M3.
Including unsettled forward contracts, the foreign currency reserve assets
of Hong Kong at the end of May 2003 also stood at US$116.1 billion.
Hong Kong is the world’s fifth largest holder of foreign currency
reserves, after Japan, Mainland China, Taiwan and Korea.
In
the first quarter of 2003, total port cargo throughput increased by 16% over
a year earlier to 49.3 million tonnes. Inward and outward port cargo rose by
18% and 14% to 31.2 million tonnes and 18.2 million tonnes, respectively.
Within the category of port cargo, seaborne and river cargo went up by 17%
and 14%, respectively. Within inward port cargo, imports and inward
transhipment surged by 16% and 22%, respectively, over a year earlier.
Meanwhile, outward port cargo exports rose by 3% over a year earlier, while
outward transhipment soared by 22%.
Comparing the first quarter of this year with the same period last year,
significant increases were recorded in the tonnage of inward port cargo
loaded in Indonesia (+113%), Singapore (+27%), Japan (+24%), Australia
(+22%), the Mainland (+19%) and Thailand (+17%).
During the first quarter of 2003, the port of Hong Kong handled 4.7 million
TEUs of container, representing an increase of 15% over a year earlier.
Within this total, laden containers rose by 15% and empty containers by 18%.
In the same period, the number of ocean vessel arrivals decreased by 6% over
a year earlier, with the total capacity decreasing by 9% to 71.9 million net
registered tons. River vessel arrivals, however, increased by 4% in number
and by 21% in capacity.
The
value of total exports of services rose by 2.6% to $325.9 billion in 2001
when compared with 2000. The value of total imports of services grew
marginally by 0.5% to $192.5 billion in 2001. Combining exports and imports
of services, an invisible trade surplus of $133.4 billion, equivalent to
69.3% of the total value of imports of services, was recorded for that year.
Analyzed by major service group, merchanting and other trade-related
services was the largest group of exports of services, accounting for 32.7%
of the total value in 2001. This was followed by transportation services
(28.7%), travel (19.8%), financial services (6.7%) and insurance services
(1.1%).
In the area of imports of services, travel accounted for 49.9% of the total
value in 2001, followed by transportation services (26.5%), merchanting and
other trade-related services (6.1%), financial services (2.7%) and insurance
services (2.1%).
The mainland of China and the US were the 2 largest destinations for exports
of services, accounting for 25.2% and 21.8%, respectively. The same
countries were also the largest sources of imports of services, at 31% and
15.7%, respectively.
For exports of merchanting and other trade-related services, Asia was the
most important destination, accounting for 47.3% of the total value in 2001,
followed by North America (29.5%), Western Europe (17.5%), Central and South
America (2%), and Australasia and Oceania (1.4%).
The
values of Hong Kong’s total exports and imports of goods both continued to
register distinct increases in April 2003 over a year earlier, though
moderated from the marked growth seen in March.
In April 2003, the value of total exports of goods increased by 9% over a
year earlier to $134.1 billion, after a year-on-year increase of 15.4% in
March. Within this total, the value of re-exports increased by 11.3% to
$125.7 billion in April, but the value of domestic exports fell by 16.9% to
$8.4 billion. Concurrently, the value of imports of goods rose by 8.4% over
a year earlier to $141.3 billion in April 2003, after a year-on-year
increase of 14.6% in March.
A visible trade deficit of $7.2 billion, equivalent to 5.1% of the value of
imports of goods, was recorded in April 2003. This was broadly similar to
the corresponding deficit of $7.3 billion, equivalent to 5.6% of the value
of imports of goods, recorded in the same month in 2002.
For the first quarter of 2003, the value of total exports of goods rose
markedly, by 15.2% over the same period in 2002. Within this total, the
value of re-exports surged by 17.8%, while the value of domestic exports
shrank by 12.1%.
The slowdown in growth of merchandise exports in April 2003 was most visible
in exports of goods to the US and has been linked to the earlier cutback in
orders when pre-Iraq war tension was high. Exports to the European Union,
while still robust, also moderated in growth. Exports to Singapore, Thailand
and Malaysia slackened further, but exports to other major East Asian
markets still held up well.
Detailed
statistics on Hong Kong’s exports of services relating to offshore trade
for 2001 have been released. Offshore trading refers to forms of trading
where the goods involved do not cross Hong Kong’s customs boundary. It
covers both the services of merchanting and merchandising for offshore
transactions.
In 2001, the earnings from offshore trade, in terms of gross margin or
commission thus earned, grew by 8.7% over 2000 to $92 billion. Within this
total, the gross margin from merchanting rose by 12.4% to $79.4 billion,
while the commission from merchandising services for offshore transactions
fell by 9.9% to $12.5 billion.
In terms of the sales value of goods involved in merchanting, this totalled
$885.5 billion in 2001. By comparison, the value of re-exports totalled
$1,327.5 billion in the same year. The sales value of goods involved in
merchanting rose by 7.2% in 2001, whereas re-exports fell by 4.6% over the
same period.
The Mainland was the largest destination for goods sold under merchanting
arrangement, accounting for 40.3% of the total value of goods sold under
such arrangement in 2001. Next was the US (18.6%), Japan (7%), the Republic
of Korea (4.5%) and the UK (3.3%). As to the gross margin earned from
merchanting, the mainland of China also contributed the most, accounting for
37.8% of the total gross margin earned in 2001, followed by the US (34.7%)
and Japan (7.2%).
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