Ore imports delay ships in Chinese ports

Ore imports delay ships in Chinese ports    Vessels waiting to unload iron ore at Beilun, China’s second-largest ore port, were delayed by an average of seven days in October compared with four days in September, Bloomberg News reported Tuesday from the World Shipping Summit in Shanghai.
   Delays averaged three days at Qingdao, the country’s largest ore harbor.
   Chinese economic growth has fueled demand for metals to construct bridges, buildings and cars, driving prices of iron ore and coal to records, while a dearth of investment in commodity terminals has caused bottlenecks at ports, forcing vessels to sit idle outside harbors, Bloomberg's report said.
   China plans to spend 400 billion yuan, or $49 billion, developing its container and commodities ports over the next five years, said Wei Jiafu, the chief executive of China Ocean Shipping Group, the nation’s largest shipping company, at the conference Tuesday.