Wuhan's Yangsi terminal to be vacated

According to the Wuhan Port Group, all the facilities at the city’s Yangsi container terminal will start to be transferred to the Yangluo terminal from 18 May – but the move is not without controversy.


David Lammie of Yangtze Business Services explains that until now, the Yangsi terminal has handled the bulk of the city’s container volumes. He adds that the terminal being phased out was actually well positioned for the national-level industrial zone at Wuhan, which has companies such as Citroen, Hyundai, General Motors located within it.


“Yes, there will be economies of scale, modern equipment and possibly better river conditions at Yangluo, but firstly, the new terminal is situated 25km downstream of central Wuhan in Xinzhou district – and much further than that from the big companies that have set up in the industrial zone near the Yangsi terminal. Secondly, the Yangsi facility provided much needed competition,” he says.


In other words, it seems the local government is making sure that companies can't vote with their feet.


Yangluo terminal has an advantage in that it has been the focus of local government development over recent years, and the provincial authority has already approved a plan to turn Yangluo into a bonded terminal. With all this pushing, container throughput at Yangluo during the first three months of 2011 increased by 27.6% year-on-year to 74,500 teu.


The relocation is scheduled to be completed by the end of August and the vacated site will be used for property development. “The companies at Yangsi will just have make the best of it: time only will tell whether it has been a positive development or not,” Mr Lammie concludes.
(Source:http://www.portstrategy.com)