Hactl shows strong recovery

MAJOR air cargo handler Hactl sees strong recovery in both exports and transhipment traffic in the first quarter of 2012.
Exports rose 0.4 per cent to 137,598 metric tonnes – the best monthly figure in 16 months, the company reveals.
Meanwhile, transhipments climbed 7.7 per cent to 58,543 tonnes, its the best showing ever.
Although imports were down 10 per cent on 2011 to 57,630, Hactl’s March total of 253,771 tonnes was also the best in a year.
The company operates the world’s biggest freight terminal – Super Terminal 1– at Hong Kong International Airport.
Lilian Chan, Hactl’s executive director, said: “We have progressively closed the gap, which opened up during 2011, when we experienced a fall to as much as 12 per cent below the previous year’s strong performance, in May 2011.
"The anomaly created by the different dates of the Chinese New Year in 2011 and 2012 has now worked its way through, so comparisons are more meaningful again.
"But what is not yet clear is whether the rest of 2012 will track the trends of 2011 again, or whether our first quarter recovery is a sign that we are now gradually returning to 2010 traffic levels, and underlying growth.”
Chan adds: "We remain hopeful but cautious. Important markets in Europe and the US are still unsettled."