Taiwan's Kaohsiung port saw volumes slide 5.7% last year, hit hardest by biggest client Maersk shifting many boxes to Xiamen on the mainland. The Kaohsiung Harbor Bureau said on Friday it handled 9.67m teu in 2008 compared to 10.25m teu in 2007. This means Taiwan's premier port has fallen out of the global top ten. A decade ago it lay in third place worldwide.
It was the first annual decline since 2005, when volume dropped 2.5% to 9.47m teu.
"Faced with increasing choices and the growth of the Chinese economy, as well as the impact from port growth in neighbouring countries, some shippers ship goods directly to the US and Europe, bypassing Kaohsiung port," the bureau said in a statement.