APM Terminals, Xiamen Port Group to build deepwater terminal

APM Terminals, Xiamen Port Group to build deepwater terminal    APM Terminals, an affiliate of A.P. Moller-Maersk, and Xiamen Port Group will form a 50-50 joint venture to build a deepwater container terminal in the port of Xiamen, Fujian province.
   Construction of the Xiamen Songyu Container Terminal will begin immediately, and operations are scheduled to begin in December 2006. APM Terminals said the terminal will occupy an area of 70 hectares (173 acres) and will have three berths providing a total of 1,240 meters (4,070 feet) of quay and a 17-meter (56-feet) water depth alongside the quay.
   APM Terminals did not disclose the amount to be invested in the venture.
   “The investment secures APM Terminals a 50-percent stake in this key terminal in Xiamen, one of China’s fastest growing markets,” the Danish-owned global terminal operator said in a statement.
   “We were interested in APM Terminals joining this project and to help us in transforming Xiamen port into an international shipping center,” a spokesman for Xiamen Port Group said.
   The port of Xiamen handled 2.3 million TEUs last year and has been growing at annual rates of more than 30 percent.
   APM Terminals, based in The Hague, has an annual throughput of more than 22 million TEUs.