Hutchison steps back from owning ports as Trump vows to slap tariffs on ‘friends and foes’.
CK Hutchison Holdings (CKH) is stepping back from the business of seafaring commerce, as rising US-China tension and an unfolding worldwide trade war signal choppy times ahead for the port operator.
Billionaire Li Ka-shing’s company announced overnight that it would sell 80 per cent of Hutchison Port Group, which owns 43 container ports in 23 countries, for US$23 billion . The assets include a 90 per cent stake in two Panama ports that have been the target of US President Donald Trump’s ire. A Singaporean state-owned port authority, PSA International, owns the remaining 20 per cent of the port group.
The surprise sale came amid an unfolding trade war that Trump seems to be fuelling, as he vowed to slap reciprocal tariffs on America’s “friends and foes” alike, from China to South Korea. An estimated 80 per cent of global commerce is shipped by sea, and CKH has been one of its biggest beneficiaries for several decades, operating 53 ports in 24 countries.
The disposal of most of CKH’s port business is “a surprise, given [that] most of the other ports are not in regions directly exposed to current geopolitical tensions”, JPMorgan’s analyst Karl Chan said.
Source: SCMP
