The port of Hong Kong saw slightly better performance in February, with throughput rising 6.4% overall to 1.47m teu from 1.38m teu in February 2013.

This was better than the 2.7% fall in total volumes it posted in the first month of the year.

Throughput at the main Kwai Tsing terminals rose 7.5% to 1.22m teu while at the non-Kwai Tsing terminals growth was almost flat at 250,000 teu.

Month-on-month however February saw a slowdown from the month before as the traditional Chinese New Year slowdown kicked in. Overall, throughput in February was 26.5% lower than the 2.00m boxes moved in January this year.

Last year the port reported a 3.3% decline in total container throughput compared to 2012, the steepest decline among the world's top 20 ports, according to Alphaliner.