Chinese Cargo Port Volumes At Seven-Year Low

The growth in Chinese ports has hit its lowest level in seven years so far in 2016, according to a report from Alphaliner.

The 10 largest ports in China have grown at just 1.4 percent so far this year, as opposed to the same time last year when growth was 2.5 percent in major ports and 3.9 percent at smaller river ports (used primarily to ship goods to Chinese consumers). All in, traffic in China’s ports is at its lowest level sine 2009, when cargo volumes fell by 4.6 percent.

The falling port volumes go with a trend of declining speed in the Chinese economic engine. Exports from China were down 4.8 percent in May, while imports fell 8.4 percent, according to China’s General Administration of Customs. The consumer goods market — generally one of the faster-moving in the nation — grew by 5.4 percent in 2014, as opposed to the 11.8 percent seen in 2011, according to Bain’s China Shopper Report released last October. Hit particularly hard in the Chinese slowdown have been luxury retailers, who had been enjoying somewhat of a boom in the Chinese market. Last week, Burberry noted falling Chinese consumer interest as putting a weight on its earnings.

Which is not to say all the news is bad. Luxury retailers also were reporting slower spending by Chinese consumers last year. Profitero Vice President of Strategy and Insight Keith Anderson noted in an interview with Retail Dive that there are reasons to be hopeful about the Chinese marketplace.

“There definitely is a rising middle class, so there’s a definite growth story there,” Anderson said.

Anderson also noted that most retailers likely have not been caught totally off-guard by the slowdown in China, since the governmental estimates for growth always seemed a bit overoptimistic.