Cargo Business News - Current Issue


Home The Magazine Current Issue Archives Blog About CBN Subscribe Reprints Conferences Overview Southwest Intermodal Port Productivity Conference Southeast Freight Conference Northwest Intermodal Port Handbooks Overview Pacific Northwest Ports Handbook Golden Gates Ports Handbook Southern California Ports Handbook Buy Handbook Newswire Subscribe Archives Calendar Classifieds Advertise General Information Upload Files

Gateway at a Glance: CHINA By Joe Zelasney China is pumping hundreds of billions of dollars into infrastructure. Plentiful cash reserves and cheap labor are enabling China to undertake what is likely the greatest infrastructure development spree in history. China’s economy is managed according to five-year development plans. During the eleventh five-year plan, from 2005-2010, China will spend an estimated US$800 billion on infrastructure. The massive expenditure has allowed China to construct seaports, highways, bridges and railroads at a mind-numbing pace. China’s largest and most advanced port and infrastructure networks are concentrated in three economic development regions: in Northeast China, near the capital Beijing, around the Bohai Sea; on the central coast, around Shanghai, in the Yangtze River Delta; and in Southern China, near Hong Kong, in the Pearl River Delta. Port development has focused on construction of specialized coal, petroleum, ore and container-handling facilities. In addition to the three existing development regions, China now has plans to develop two new port clusters: the first will be centered around the Port of Xiamen, in the Straits of Taiwan; the second will be located on the Leizhou Peninsula, north of Hainan Island. China is also making substantial investments along the Yangtze River Corridor and steadily expanding rail and road networks into the Western provinces. Currently, China has more than 2,000 ports; however, only 130 of these are open to foreign ships. In 2007, 12 Chinese ports boasted throughputs exceeding 100 million metric tons and nine of China’s container ports ranked among the world’s 25 largest. By 2010, annual handling capacity of Chinese ports is expected to reach 6 billion tons, while container-handling capacity will reach 130 million TEUs. Despite rapid expansion and improvement of transport infrastructure, China has a long way to go, especially outside of the three major economic development regions. Highways are often choked with traffic, especially in and around major cities. Rail congestion is chronic due to a lack of capacity and on-dock rail at port terminals is virtually non-existent. Bohai Sea The Bohai Sea is a semi-enclosed body of water located in Northeastern China. At present, over 100 seaports have been completed or proposed in the region. Cities surrounding the Bohai Sea have an estimated population of 300 million. Much of China’s heavy industry as well as large oil and coal reserves are located in Northeastern China. Investments that are underway will bring Bohai Sea ports’ total handling capacity to 24 million TEUs by the end of 2010. Major ports in the area include: The Port of Tianjin, located in the estuary of the Haihe River, just 100 miles east of Beijing. In 2007, the port moved over 300 million metric tons and was China’s seventh largest container port, handling 7.1 million TEUs. The Port of Qingdao, lying on the south coast of the Shandong Peninsula. The port’s primary cargos include grain, coal, iron ore, crude oil, and containers. In 2007, the port handled 9.4 million TEUs. The Port of Dalian, located near the tip of the Liaoning Peninsula, at the mouth of the Bohai Sea. The Port of Dalian boasts China’s largest crude oil and ore terminals. In 2007, the port handled 3.8 million TEUs. Yangtze River Delta The Yangtze River Delta development zone encompasses the municipality of Shanghai, Southern Jiangsu province and Northern Zhejiang province; the area is home to approximately 90 million people. Ports in the delta provide access to China’s vast hinterland, along the Yangtze River Corridor. At the region’s heart is Shanghai, the most important economic center in mainland China; other major cities include Hangzhou, Suzhou, Ningbo and Nanjing. The region leads China in the production of value-added and technologically advanced products. By 2010, the YRD is expected to have an annual handling capacity of 30 million TEUs. Major ports include: The Port of Shanghai, China’s largest port, both in terms of container throughput and total cargo movement. In 2007, the port handled 561 million metric tons of cargo and more than 26 million TEUs. Yangshan deepwater port, the port’s newest facility, is located in Hangzhou Bay, south of Shanghai. It was built on reclaimed land around the Yangshan Islands, to circumvent depth limitations in the mouth of the Yangtze River. The 20-mile long Donghai Bridge connects the deep-water terminal to the mainland. When fully operational in 2012, the facility will have 30 berths capable of handling 15 million TEUs annually. The Port of Ningbo-Zhoushan, at the mouth of the Yong River, on Hangzhou Bay. The port has dedicated liquid chemical, crude oil, ore and container terminals. In terms of total cargo throughput, it is China’s second largest port. In 2007, the port handled over 471 million tons of cargo and 9.3 million TEUs. Pearl River Delta The Pearl River Delta is located in southern Guangdong Province; the economic development region encompasses nine prefectures, including Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Hong Kong and Macau. It is one of China’s leading economic regions and the largest manufacturing center for low-margin, labor-intensive products. The area is home to approximately 60 million people. Ports in the region will have a handling capacity of 31 million TEUs by 2010. Major ports include: The Port of Hong Kong, located in the South China Sea. It was once the largest container port in the world, but has fallen behind Singapore and Shanghai in recent years. In 2007, the port handled almost 24 million TEUs. The Port of Shenzhen, a few miles north of Hong Kong. It has grown to become China’s third-largest container port, with a throughput of 21 million TEUs in 2007. Yangtze River Corridor The Yangtze is the world’s third-longest river (3,915 miles). The Yangtze River corridor, between Shanghai and Chongqing, is home to more than 470 million people. Each year, more than 800 million tons of cargo moves along the river, making it the largest cargo-bearing river in the world. The Yangtze accounts for 80 percent of China’s total inland shipping capacity. The Chinese government is working to improve navigation conditions on the river, which is playing an increasingly crucial role in economic growth along the river. In the next decade, the government will invest more than US$2 billion to dredge and improve the navigation course of the Yangtze. The river’s mouth has been dredged to a depth of 35 feet between the Pacific Ocean and Nanjing, allowing for passage of vessels up to 50,000 DWT. Ships up to 10,000 DWT can navigate more than 600 miles up the Yangtze to the city of Wuhan and the recently completed Three Gorges Dam has improved transportation on the upper Yantgze, allowing larger ships to reach as far as Chongqing, 1,600 miles inland. Bridges China is now home to several of the world’s largest cross-sea and cross-river bridges. Some notable projects include: The Hangzhou Bay Bridge, connecting the municipalities of Shanghai and Ningbo in Zhejiang province. At 22 miles long, it is the world’s longest trans-oceanic bridge. Construction of the bridge started in June 2003 and was completed in May 2008 at a cost of US$1.4 billion. The Donghai Bridge, connecting Shanghai’s new Yangshan Deepwater port with the mainland. It was completed in December 2005 and has a total length of 20.2 miles. Most of the bridge is a low-level viaduct; however, there are also several cable-stayed sections to allow for the passage of large ships. The Hong Kong ZhuhaiMacau Bridge is a proposed series of bridges and tunnels that would connect Hong Kong with Macau and mainland China across the mouth of the Pearl River. The proposed 18-mile bridge is expected to cost US$5.7 billion, with construction beginning by the end of 2009 and completion by 2016. The bridge is seen as vital to the success of port development projects on the west side of the PRD, such as Zhuhai. Several additional cross-sea bridges are being planned to connect offshore island groups and span large bays in the Bohai Sea and near the Yangtze River Delta. There seems to be no limit to what Chinese engineers and financiers are willing to attempt. Currently, 54 bridges span the Yangtze. To better facilitate transportation across the river, China is determined to build another 60 bridges by 2020, bringing the total to 104 bridges. An extremely grandiose undertaking, considering the highly variable terrain and immense size of the Yangtze! The recently completed Sutong Bridge spans the mouth of the Yangtze River and connects Shanghai with Suzhou, in Jiangsu province. Construction began in June 2003 and was completed in June 2008, at a cost of US$1.7 billion. It is seen as critical to the continued economic development of the Yangtze River Delta economic zone.	In This Issue Up Front News, Trends & Analysis New Items The risks of delayed action Supply Chain Is your service provider compliant? Does that belong in my port? Features Grading the carriers: How are your service providers doing? Gateway at a glance: China Ports & infrastructure Port Productivity Tools: Six success stories U.S. ports downsize staffs in new economy Port Products RTGs and reach stackers Commentary What’s on the horizon? On the Horizon Fleets of the future: The Chameleon Casualties
Home \| Subscribe \| Our Conferences \| Ports Handbooks \| Advertising Info \| Publishing Services \| About Us Contact \| Calendar \| Past Issues \| Upload Files All contents of this site are copyright 2010 by Northwest Publishing Center and Cargo Business News and may not be reproduced in any way without express written consent of the author.

Gateway at a Glance: CHINA