Analysts say $1.4b share issue will underwrite cost of two new facilities
China Merchants Holdings (International), China's largest port operator, could build two more container berths in Shekou handling 1.2 million teu (20-foot equivalent units) by 2008, analysts say.
The berths would be built on two plots the firm has bought from parent China Merchants Group (CMG) for a total of $2.07 billion.
Part of the land is at Jetty III, where Shekou Container Terminal is located in western Shenzhen. It is the last remaining useable land at the site, according to a Morgan Stanley report released yesterday.
The report said that China Merchants would spend $800 million building the new berths, No8 and No9, on the 180,000 sq m plot, for which it paid $396 million.
The other purchase is 2.3km of shoreline at Qianhaiwan Port, opposite Dachan Bay, in which Modern Terminal's joint venture would invest at least 14 billion yuan.
