Shenzhen terminal investment underscores Chinese port development

Shenzhen terminal investment underscores Chinese port development Chinese terminal operator China Merchants Holdings said Tuesday that it, along with unnamed partners, were investing $516 million to build a terminal in the second phase of the Dachan Bay container port in western Shenzhen.
   The announcement, by China Merchants Chairman Fu Yuning, came at the Terminal Operators Conference Asia in Hong Kong, where much of the discussion has understandably focused on capacity and demand issues in southern China and Hong Kong terminals.
   'China ports are working at 25 percent overcapacity,' Fu said during the conference.
   Container volume at China's six biggest ports grew by more than 10 million TEUs from 2005 to 2006, a staggering statistic considering that all the ports in India handled less than 6 million TEUs in total. For further perspective, the growth of those six ports last year represents more volume than the Port of Los Angeles, North America's biggest container terminal, has ever handled.
   While growth at Shanghai was faster than at Shenzhen (boosted by the spectacularly successful opening of Shanghai's Yangshan deepwater port), Fu said domestic demand within China will drive TEU growth in both regions.