Top China terminal operator China Merchants Holdings (CMH) saw container throughput rise 13% year-on-year in 2014 to 80m teu, its third consecutive year of double digit growth.

CMH's ports in the Yangtze River Delta region made up most most of the volume with terminals of the Shanghai International Port Group handling 35.2m of the 37.8m teu total volume, rising 5% year-on-year. The Ningbo Daxie terminal did particularly well, although from a low base, rising 21% to 2.5m teu.

Mirroring the pattern of other terminal operators in China, mature regions such as the terminals in the Pearl River Delta only grew 3.2% to 24m teu, as the Shekou and Chiwan terminals suffered from the weak container shipping market which led to a decline in volumes.

CMH's overseas terminals performed extremely well, growing 75% year-on-year with 15.1m teu handled at its facilities in Taiwan, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, Djibouti, Togo and through its new subsidiary Terminal Link, which it bought a 49% share of from CMA CGM in 2013.Terminal Link's 15 terminals saw a volume increase of nearly 90% to 11.8m teu, according to preliminary figures, CMH said..