CS Terminal acquires 40pc share of Nansha Port Phase 1

CHINA Shipping Terminal Development Co. (CS Terminal) has recently purchased a 40 per cent interest in the container terminal operator at Nansha Port Phase One from Guangzhou Nansha Asset Operation Company (GNAOC).

As a result of investing in Guangzhou Nansha Port Co. (GNPC), CS Terminal has become one of the first three companies to invest in phase one of the rapidly developing mainland China port.

The move means that GNPC is now a joint venture between CS Terminal, GNAOC and Guangzhou Port Container Development Co., after the three companies signed an agreement to this affect back in September 2004 when the container terminal was first put into trial operation.

Nansha Port Phase One currently boasts four 50,000 tonne container berths along a 1,400 metre coastline, three supporting feeder berths with a coastline of 520 metres, a container depot that covers an area measuring 620,000 square metres, 14 shore cranes and 46 gantry cranes. Nansha is able to accommodate 10,000 TEU containerships.

State media reported that since Nansha port opened for business, CSCL, the sister company of CS Terminal, has started operating six international liner services and four domestic routes that call at phase one. This helped terminal container volumes at phase one to reach 1.08 million TEU in 2005.

CS Terminal expects container throughput of Nansha Port Phase One to roughly double and breach two million TEU this year, Xinhua News Agency reported.

March 24, 2006