China Merchants Holdings (International) and Chu Kong Shipping Development are teaming up to develop a Pearl River transshipment business to benefit from Guangdong's low-carbon policies over the next five years.
Deep-sea-terminal operator China Merchants has agreed to invest HK$131 million in the Chu Kong River Trade Terminal company, a subsidiary of Chu Kong, in exchange for a 20 per cent stake in the company that operates 10 feeder ports along the Pearl River.
China Merchants executive director Yu Liming said his firm's West Shenzhen terminals handled more than 10 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) a year, of which 2.5 million were transshipment cargo from feeder ports along the Pearl River Delta. Yu said the transshipment cargo market could grow by millions of TEUs due to cost advantages and environmental issues.
Factories in the western Pearl River Delta could save 20 per cent of transportation costs, up to 1,000 yuan (HK$1,170) per TEU, by using barges instead of trucks to transport cargo to the sea ports for export, he said.
Emission cuts are another advantage of barges over trucks.
'One barge can deliver about 100 TEUs and replace at least 50 trucks on the road,' Chu Kong Shipping chairman Hua Honglin said.
The Guangdong government is encouraging the use of barges along the river. It has put reducing emissions on the agenda for the province's 12th five-year plan, which begins next year.
