Hong Kong's Hactl Q3 air cargo traffic rose 2.1 pct y/y, up 6.3 pct in Sept

HONG KONG, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals
Ltd (Hactl) said on Wednesday its cargo traffic rose 2.1 percent
in the third quarter from the same period a year ago and it
forecast that 2012 should end better than expected.
It handled a total of 697,791 tonnes of cargo in the July to
September period, with exports decreasing 2.3 percent while
imports and transshipments rose 3.9 percent and 10.6 percent,
respectively, from a year earlier.
Hactl is a major air cargo player in Hong Kong, which is a
re-export centre for trade between Asia and the rest of the
world. It handles about 70 percent of the cargo traffic of Hong
Kong's international airport.
A breakdown of air cargo handled by Hactl in September and
the third quarter of 2012:

September 2012 Jul-Sep 2012
Tonnage Yr/Yr Tonnage Yr/Yr
(tonnes) growth (pct) (tonnes) growth (pct)
Export 123,343 +2.0 356,699 -2.3
Import 58,264 +9.3 173,581 +3.9
Transhipment 56,154 +13.6 167,511 +10.6
--------------------------------------------------------------
Total 237,761 +6.3 697,791 +2.1

"Barring unforeseeable events, 2012 should end better than
expected. The slow but steady recovery in our figures gives us
reason to believe that 2013 trends should continue positively,
and that we are back to sustained - if modest - overall industry
growth again," Hactl's executive director Lilian Chan said in a
statement.
Hactl's shareholders are Jardine, Matheson & Co Ltd,
Hutchison Whampoa Ltd's unit Hutchison Port Holdings
Ltd, the Wharf (Holdings) Ltd and China National
Aviation Corporation (Group) Ltd.

(Reporting by Christina Lo; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree)