Wuhan Port Container taps boom through 1.4b yuan dock expansion

Wuhan Port Container, 55 per cent owned by Shanghai-listed Shanghai International Port Group, will invest 1.4 billion yuan to build seven berths and port-related facilities in the next four years to capitalise on the booming car, electronic appliances and information technology industries in Wuhan and its catchment areas.

Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, has served as a transport hub for highways and railways as well as for trade on the Yangtze River for years.

Container throughput had increased 45 per cent annually for the past four years because of a surge in shipments from Sichuan province upriver and Hubei and Hunan provinces to the south, said Wuhan Port general manager Gu Qiangsheng on the sidelines of the Yangtze Business Network conference in Shanghai.

As multinational and joint-venture firms such as Nokia, Behr Group of Germany, Dongfeng Honda and Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen expand their presence in the area, throughput could rise to 900,000 20-foot equivalent units in 2010 from 350,000 teu last year, Mr Gu said.

Four berths might be built at Yangluo terminal and three at Yangsi terminal, he said. Investment in berth construction, cranes and related infrastructure would be 1.42 billion yuan. 'We are in talks with several shipping companies and port operators about taking some stakes in the expansion,' Mr Gu said. No agreement has been signed.

The importance of the Yangtze has been overlooked by investors for years but that is starting to change.