Falling water levels and cutthroat competition are among the five main challenges facing port operators along the Yangtze River, just as manufacturers increasingly shift production to central and western regions.
Outlining the problems, Gu Qiangsheng, general manager of the Wuhan Port Group, said the other difficulties were terminal overcapacity, obsolete port equipment and inadequate support facilities, including container repair and data processing.
'We have yet to fundamentally improve the water supply during a drought upstream to Wuhan,' he told a shipping conference organised by the Journal of Commerce in Shanghai yesterday.
He said the water depth during drought conditions was down to 2.8 metres and cargo-carrying vessels were unable to reach Wuhan.
Gu said that although there were moves under the 12th five-year plan to increase the navigable water depth to 4.5 metres during the dry season, proposals to dredge the river bed by 2015 were still being prepared.
He added that local and provincial authorities had encouraged the development of terminals and docks, causing overcapacity. This meant port operators offered 'low-quality services and price-cutting competition to attract customers', Gu said.
Hutchison Port Holdings, in a joint venture with Sinotrans and Shanghai International Port (Group), has invested in terminals in Wuhan, while SIPG has stakes in seven ports along the Yangtze River.