Broken down by cargo types, while container throughput grew strongly by 15.3% to 663,838 teu from 575,634 teu previously, this was offset by falls in the group’s staple products oil and liquefied chemicals and some segments of dry bulk cargoes.

The former fell 22.8% to 1.2m tonnes while 9.8% less metal ore was handled, with throughput falling to 54.4m tonnes. Coal throughput however continued to grow, rising 5.8% to 122.4m tonnes and making up almost 70% of total dry bulk throughput.

In terms of tonnage however, containerized cargo rose by almost a third to 9.4m tonnes from 7.1m tonnes previously. This however still comprises less than 4% of total throughput by tonnage. In contrast the 176.7m tonnes of dry bulk throughput while only seeing 0.5% growth still comprised 93% of total throughput.

The group’s eponymous Qinhuangdao Port, while the biggest at 117.4m tonnes, saw a slight fall from the 117.5m tonnes moved in the first half of 2017. Among the other two ports, Caofeidian Port saw throughput rise 9.4% to 43.2m tonnes while Huanghua Port’s throughput fell 3.2% to 30.8m tonnes.

These two ports handle mainly commodities-based imports with the former being part of the domestic coal trade and the latter is a major ore port in the Bohai Rim, serving large-scale steel producers transiting imported ore cargo.

The figures would seem to correlate with the sectoral numbers by cargo type and suggest changes in China’s northern industrial economies. For full-year 2017 the group saw overall throughput rise 22% and coal throughput rose 32%. However the trend of falling liquid bulk and metal ore throughput was already in place last year, with the former sliding 5% and the latter slowing to a 6% growth pace.