CHINA's ports are bogged down by a backlog of overseas imports awaiting delivery to the hinterland amid an acute shortage of railcars and trucks to distribute imported goods.

Container berths at many of China's biggest ports are said to be choking on piles of imported raw materials, including iron ore, steel and coal that are needed to fuel the country's energy hungry industries.

As a result, ships are being forced to wait at anchor for up to a month at China's ports, which is costing ship owners as much as US$100,000 each day per vessel in chartering fees, according to a recent report in The New York Times.

The article quoted an unnamed senior executive at a shipping company as saying that one of his company's vessels had to wait 33 days recently to unload at a Chinese port.

The backlog has grown acute since the Chinese Lunar New Year at the end of January and is reported to be most serious at the older and less efficient state-owned bulk commodity ports.

This combined with a lack of funding in railway lines as municipal governments have opted instead to invest heavily in developing road networks has led to the transport delays.

It's a different story however for Chinese exports because these goods pass through more modern ports which have received considerable investment in recent years.

The report also said the transport delays and rising prices of raw materials in world markets were driving up expenses for Chinese industry.