PORT OF YANTIAN TO ADD 2 MILLION TEUS IN HANDLING CAPACITY

PORT OF YANTIAN TO ADD 2 MILLION TEUS IN HANDLING CAPACITY    Hong Kong-based port group Hutchison Port Holdings has signed official agreements with the Shenzhen government and Yantian Port Group to jointly develop phase III of Yantian International Container Terminals, a development that will add two million TEUs in handling capacity at the mainland Chinese port.
   A total of HK$6.6 billion (U.S.$850 million) will be invested in the project, which is scheduled to commence construction in early 2002. Phase III will be developed on 90 hectares of land and will comprise four deep-water container berths, coming in addition to the current five berths. The development calls for the construction of 1,400 meters of berth with a water depth of 16 meters.
   The Hutchison group said that the additional capacity provided by phase III will help facilitate South China’s cargo movements.
   On completion in 2006, phase III will have an annual handling capacity of two million TEUs, bringing the Yantian port facility’s total capacity to five million TEUs.
   Yantian International Container Terminals was opened in 1994 and has seen a meteoric growth in cargo volumes, from 13,000 TEUs in 1994 to over 2 million TEUs in 2000.