October 07, 2008

Shanghai Port partners Chongqing for Yangzte project

The Shanghai International Port Co Ltd has announced a partnership with Chongqing's municipal government to build 13 new ship berths along the Yangzte River.

SIPG in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange said an agreement has been signed with the municipality to jointly develop 13 berths that can each handle 3,000 tonnes of cargo along a 2,300 meter stretch of the Yangzte.

The CNY 2.4 billion projects to build 12 multi purpose berths and one RO RO terminal is currently awaiting government approval and the two sides will seek other investors. This latest agreement with SIPG forms part of Chongqing's on going five year development plan which could see the municipality spend up to USD 930 million on port expansion projects.

City officials say extra capacity of about 80.16 million tonnes would be added to the port of Chongqing by 2010. Reports estimate that upon successful completion of all the proposed expansion projects, the port's handling capacity could be raised to a total of 146 million tonnes by 2010.