Modern Terminals boosts port investment in Suzhou
Modern Terminals will make another move to expand its operations in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, by investing about 1.4 billion yuan in Taicang port to capture surging export and import volume in Jiangsu province.
The four-berth project, Taicang Phase IIB, with annual handling capacity of about two million teu (20-foot equivalent units), would be constructed in the first quarter of next year, said Danny Wong, general manager of China Strategic Development.
'Our position is in line with those of the central government. Taicang is included in the planning of Shanghai international maritime hub. It will be complementary to the Yangshan and Waigaoqiao facilities,' Mr Wong told the delegates of the Hong Kong Shippers' Council in Suzhou yesterday.
'The economy in the region is growing rapidly. The export volume in Suzhou is bigger than many provinces on the mainland.'
Suzhou is the No3 export city in China after Shenzhen and Shanghai. It saw export value surge 76 per cent to US$32.62 billion last year, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
The export value of Jiangsu reached $59.12 billion last year, up a comparative 53.7 per cent.
Mr Wong said total investment of Phase IIB would be about two billion yuan and Modern Terminals would take about 70 per cent interest.
The project is the third move for the port operator to expand in Taicang. In November, it signed a deal with the Suzhou municipal government to invest about one billion yuan in four berths in Phase IIA, which will be completed by year-end and put into service before the second half of next year.
At the turn of the year, it also agreed to take 51 per cent of the one billion yuan Phase I - four multi-purpose berths which are now in service - in which the Cosco Group holds 44 per cent and the municipal government the remainder.
Limited by the water depth of its accessing channel - 8.5 metres - only vessels less than 4,000 teu or 50,000 tonnes can berth in Taicang.
Marketing manager Duncan Lam said Taicang would position itself as a terminal for intra-Asia trade while handling bulk such as steel, coal, mine and timber for the manufacturing base in the delta.
The authorities are in the process of dredging the accessing channel to 12.5 metres to improve the operation environment of Taicang.
