Sluggish demands eased ports' business

Sluggish overseas markets and weak domestic demand slowed the growth rate of ports across China in the first half of the year.

Ports registered 3.94 billion tons of cargo throughput in the first half, up 7.4 percent year-on-year, but lower than the 13 percent increase in the first half of last year, according to data from the Ministry of Transport.

As investments in the manufacturing and real estate sectors slowed, China's imports of raw material, including steel and coal, slowed accordingly. Also, weak demand from domestic steel companies and the pile-up of import and export goods led to record port stocks of raw material products in the first half of the year, the Economic Information Daily reported.

Economists said that the government is not expected to roll out powerful economic-stimulus packages like it did three years ago and that the current economic-stabilizing measures will bring about limit demand for bulk commodities. However, cargo throughout in the fourth quarter is expected to see a rebound as the nation's economy rebounds.

The Port of Shanghai reported 15.86 million TEU of cargo throughout, up 3.6 percent year-on-year in the first half of this year, while the increase was 9.2 percent last year. Estimated cargo throughout for the full year is 32.5 million TEU, up 2 to 3 percent from last year.