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The month of January 2025 saw Hong Kong record the largest number of Chilean cherry containers handled in a single month after the pandemic. Some 6,500 containers arrived from Chile with cherries for the Mainland China markets. Most of the containers were handled at Modern Terminals, primarily from the ‘Cherry Express’ service operated by Hapag-Lloyd, MSC, ONE and HMM. Modern Terminals is a member of the Hong Kong Seaport Alliance operating 23 berths with a reefer plug capacity of over 7,800 plugs.

Every year, Chilean cherries are shipped to Mainland China in large quantities. The tasty red cherry from Chile symbolises joy, blessings and good fortune, making it a popular gift in the weeks leading up to the celebration of the Chinese New Year.

With this year’s first day of the Chinese New Year falling on Wednesday 29 January, large quantities of Chilean cherry containers arrived in the last 3-4 weeks of January, making it a record month.

Hong Kong handles about 40% of the Chilean cherries shipped into Mainland China and remains the largest gateway port for this seasonal business that is said to have produced record export volumes from Chile to China in the 2024/2025 season.

The reliability of the services provided by the Hong Kong terminals is invaluable for the exporters in Chile and the importers in South China when efficient and speedy delivery to consumers all over China is important.

Nearly 50% of cherry containers discharged in Hong Kong are dispatched from the terminals within one hour of discharge.  A few hours later the products are available in the large wholesale markets in South China. 

Group Managing Director of Modern Terminals, Horace Lo said: “While we still have a few more ships arriving in Hong Kong over the next few weeks, we expect a growth of 40-50% in the Chilean cherry container volumes handled through Hong Kong in the 2024/2025 season. We are sincerely grateful to all stakeholders in the Chilean cherry business, the exporters in Chile, the importers here in South China, the shipping lines and the logistics providers, for their support to the Port of Hong Kong and we are proud of our status as the main gateway port for the Chilean cherry exports to China. We will never stop working with stakeholders to explore where we can still improve and remain committed to deliver world-class service to all stakeholders in the Chilean cherry business to retain their trust and confidence in the Port of Hong Kong.”