This photo shows a general view of a Hong Kong container port at the Kwai Chung Customhouse Cargo Examination Compound in Hong Kong, Sept 5, 2018. (ISAAC LAWRENCE / AFP)

Hong Kong’s exports plummeted the most in more than a decade in January, as the government warned of further weakness in the coming months with the full force of disruptions from the coronavirus outbreak still ahead.

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Exports sank 22.7 percent in January from year-ago levels to HK$269.4 billion (US$34.6 billion), the most since February 2009, according to a government release. Exports had increased in December to halt a 13-month streak of declines.

Hong Kong’s merchandise exports will face a very austere external trading environment in the coming few months

HKSAR government

Imports in January dropped 16.4 percent, to HK$300 billion, for a 14th straight retreat. The trade deficit narrowed to HK$30.6 billion.

The weakness was blamed in part on distortions resulting from the timing of the Lunar New Year holiday, which fell in January this year and February in 2019, the government said in the release.

Comparing the three-month period ending January 2020 with the preceding three months on a seasonally adjusted basis, the value of total exports of goods decreased by 4.4 percent. Meanwhile, the value of imports of goods decreased by 2.2 percent.

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“Looking ahead, despite some easing in US-mainland trade tensions lately, the global economic recovery is still fragile and fraught with uncertainties,” the government said in the statement. “Of particular concern is the threat of the novel coronavirus infection, which will heavily weigh on regional production and trading activities. Hong Kong’s merchandise exports will face a very austere external trading environment in the coming few months.”