Shanghai's Yangshan Phase 4 will create a 'fully automated' terminal
SHANGHAI International Port Group (SIPG) is preparing to launch Phase 4 of the Yangshan container terminal - to make it fully automated - and is awaiting the expected approval of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), reports Xinhua.
Once approved, construction will start and be completed in three years to further enhance the terminal's capacity and to fully automate the terminal, said SIPG chairman Chen Xuyuan to a press conference.
With its ship channel dredged to accommodate vessel movement in two directions, volume at Shanghai port as a whole increased 3.5 per cent to September and is expected to reach 33.5 million TEU this year, said Mr Chen.
Shanghai's river-sea transshipments are increasing. Its international transshipments have increased 35 per cent, the fastest in many years, he said. Imports and exports are also becoming more balanced, he said.
Now that the Shanghai Free Trade Zone has been established, the container throughput and transshipments of the port of Shanghai, especially Yangshan, will keep growing, said Mr Chen.
Being the major container terminal in Shanghai where most Shanghai boxes are handled, Yangshan, equipped with 62 quay cranes, has a 5,600 metre long quay and 16 berths in operation.
Its navigational channel has a depth of 16.5 metres. There are currently 89 international trade lanes calling at the terminal. From commencement of operation in 2005 to the end of 2012, Yangshan lifted a total of 62.95 million TEU.
But Mr Chen noted that the Free Trade Zone's significance to Shanghai does not lie in the increase of container throughput but the restructuring of the port and SIPG.
Shanghai is shifting its focus from simply container handling to multi-aspects on the supply chain. The SIPG are working on three aspects, he said. The first is making use of Shanghai Free Trade Zone's favourable conditions to develop shipping finance service, the second is to speed up the restructure of its business to cover many areas on the supply chain and the third is to set up a number of spots for consolidation service to enhance convenience.
