Business News
Kaohsiung Harbour's world ranking expected to drop to 8
By DPA
Jun 18, 2007, 8:19 GMT

Taipei - In the fierce competition among world's leading container ports, the world ranking of Taiwan's Kaohsiung Harbour is expected to drop from No 6 to No 8 in 2007, a newspaper said Monday, quoting a harbour official.

The warning was made by Hsieh Ming-hui, director of the Kaohsiung Harbour, currently the world's No 6 busiest container port, the Commercial Times said. But Kaohsiung is likely to be overtaken by Rotterdam Port and Dubai Port in 2007, he added.

Between January-April, Kaohsiung Harbour's container volume grew 4.59 per cent year-on-year, compared to the 10 per cent and 23 per cent growth of Rotterdam Port and Dubai Port respectively, Hsieh said.

Some industry analysts have blamed Taiwan's five-decade ban on direct sea links with China for the fallen container volume at the Kaohsiung Harbour and other Taiwan ports, but the Taiwan government said it cannot drop the ban for national security reasons.