Aggressive building programmes for Yangtze

- The first-ever port survey of the Yangtze region shows aggressive building programmes are in place across the entire length of the river, according to the Yangtze River Administration, within the Ministry of Transport.

The survey, just completed, identifies all expansion and renovation projects across the 2,838km navigable length of the Yangtze river. These projects, under construction, planned and likely to be approved, involve investments of Rmb27bn, equivalent to US$4bn.

Out of the 73 ports that responded to the survey, 46 submitted details of their projects, including the size, current status and purchasing list of required handling equipment and technology.

These included handling equipment for bulk, break-bulk, containers, ro-ro and oversize cargo, as well as operations management software, vessel-to-shore communications systems and other technology.

The Administration is currently working with Yangtze Business Services to organise a summit in Wuhan, planned for May, to bring together western suppliers and the Yangtze ports, a large number of which have also expressed interest in joining an overseas fact-finding and procurement trip later this year.

All Yangtze ports have been encouraged to upgrade their handling equipment and technology as part of a central government-driven programme to modernise the Yangtze by 2020, with tax rebates being made available among other incentives.

The Yangtze ports are also one of the major beneficiaries of the government’s Rmb4,000bn (US$585bn) stimulus package announced in November 2008.

(Source: Container Management)