Qingdao Beihai scores kamsarmax

PostTime:2010-12-21 08:19:53 View:1828

Taiwan's First Steamship has firmed up an option for a bulker at Chinese shipyard just days before the contract was set to expire. The owner has signed up for its second 81,200-dwt unit at Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding Heavy Industries, it wrote in a statement to the Taipei bourse on Monday. The kamsarmax is costing $33.83m, a fraction under what the owner was rumoured to have paid for the firm order some months ago. The newbuilding, penned in conjunction with China Shipbuilding & Offshore Industry Corp, is being bought for subsidiary Grand Steamship. The second vessel would hit the water in the first quarter of 2013. The Taiwanese switched from Japanese yards to the Chinese facility for the first time when it signed up for the original kamsarmax due for delivery in September 2012. At the time of the original order a company source said the Chinese offered a price discount of around 30% on Japanese yards which could also not provide as early a delivery date.

Qingdao berths to open two years ahead of schedule

PostTime:2010-12-10 07:44:52 View:885

Reinforcing Qingdao's position as a national distribution centre, three large berths are expected to open at Dongjiakou Port by the end of 2010, two years ahead of schedule.One is an ultra-large ore berth, while the others are 50,000-tonne general-purpose facilities, reported China Daily.They are just a small fraction of the port's planned 112 berths capable of handling 10,000-tonne ships or much larger.At build out, Dongjiakou is projected to have the capacity to handle a yearly throughput of 370 million tonnes in bulk materials and cargo.The natural conditions in the south of Qingdao are well suited to the Dongjiakou deep-water port with year-round, ice-free shipping routes and an average water depth of 15m near the coast.Part of Qingdao Port, the Dongjiakou area aims to be a shipping and storage centre of bulk cargo and energy.Its development is expected to help Qingdao Port rank at the forefront globally in capacity for ore, crude oil and containers and make Shandong a shipping hub for northeast Asia, according to local authorities.Plans for the 70 sq km Dongjiakou Port were approved by the Ministry of Transport and Shandong provincial government in March 2009.By the end of October this year, investment in the port surpassed US$1.5 billion. Projects with up to $4.5 billion in total investment have now signed with the area.Among them is a liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility by China Petroleum and Chemical Corp - more widely known as Sinopec - that started construction in September after gaining approval of the National Development and Reform Commission.It will become the first LNG loading site in the province when complete.At the same time Qingdao Port Group has poured $600 million in building three ultra-large ore berths, the largest in the country.At least one is expected to begin operation in late December.China Huaneng Group, one of the largest power generation companies in the country, invested $165.25 million in coal and general-purpose berths, two of which will be open for trial operation at the end of this year.Another coal berth will be built by China Datang Corp, also a leading Chinese power generation company.With a price tag of $240.37 million, the project is scheduled to begin construction in the second half of next year.In addition to domestic giants, foreign companies are also interested in new facilities at the port.Switzerland's Mercuria Energy Group, one of the world's largest energy trading companies, is in negotiations to build a large crude oil berth and five-million-tonne capacity storage yard at the port.Plans by Singapore-headquartered IMC Group's plans for a $600 million ore berth are in the approval process.Local authorities have also signed preliminary agreements with Hong Kong's Modern Terminal Ltd and Hutchison Whampoa Ltd for container facilities.Vice-Minister of Transport Xu Zuyuan said at a port development meeting in May that developing a low-carbon port is key to sustainable growth in China's transport industry.The Dongjiakou Port under construction has used an environmentally friendly philosophy from planning to construction and development, local officials said.Authorities said they would make full use of the latest technologies and renewable energy while exploring innovative ways to reduce energy consumption and improve water treatment.Main roads in the area have solar-powered lights while green coverage has expanded.Authorities said they insist on stringent environmental requirements and pollution control when selecting projects.

Calm waters ahead for Qingdao Port expansion

PostTime:2010-11-12 08:10:23 View:881

Group plans massive investment to expand oil and coal docking facilities GUANGZHOU - The Port of Qingdao, the world's ninth-largest, will triple its annual investment from more than 3 billion yuan ($452.17 million) to 10 billion yuan in 2011, said Chang Dechuan, president of Qingdao Port (Group) Co Ltd, on Tuesday. He added that Qingdao will also construct a 300,000 ton oil dock and a 250,000 ton coal dock. "Next year will be crucial for the port's extension," he told reporters during the World Shipping (China) Summit. The port will realize a container throughput of more than 12 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) and total throughput of more than 350 million tons in 2010, Chang said. He expected a year-on-year increase of 8 percent for total throughput and 10 percent for container throughput in 2011. "The port capacity is less than the actual throughput, that's why we are accelerating investment to expand the docks to accommodate larger ships," he said. It is also considering preparing further dock construction for Chinamax, a domestically manufactured ship of 400,000 tons, which will be delivered in the first quarter of next year. In 2010, the port invested more than 3 billion yuan to construct an iron ore dock of 300,000 tons. Chang said the increased investment will be raised by the port itself. Apart from dock construction, the money will also be used to introduce new technologies and restructure work processes. Annually, Qingdao Port will spend about 30 million yuan on clean and green operations to reduce energy consumption and environmental pollution. Since 2009, the port has been tweaking its business strategy to focus more on the import side by reducing the momentum on its more export-oriented container business and focusing on more profitable iron ore and oil imports. As the nation's largest iron ore and crude oil port, it has focused on the container sector in recent years, and is expected to surpass South Korea's Busan Port to become Northeast Asia's market leader in one or two years. In 2009, the port finalized a total throughput of 315 million tons. The revenue was more than 12 billion yuan, and profit rose 6 percent year-on-year to 2.8 billion yuan. Chang said revenue will further increase this year, and profits will rise by more than 10 percent year-on-year to more than 3 billion yuan. He added that he is confident that profit growth for 2011 will maintain a strong momentum by exceeding 10 percent. The port now has gross capital of more than 37 billion yuan, and has already cleared all debts this year. It is gearing up to become the international freight center of Northeast Asia, constructing a series of new docks and developing a newly approved bonded area. "Actually, we are building another Qingdao Port," said Tian Guangwen, vice-president of the group, in an earlier interview, referring to the new construction project in Dongjiakou, south of the port's 117-year-old base in Jiaozhou Bay. "How huge a ship can be depends on how huge a dock we have," said Wang Baosheng, vice-chairman of the group's business department. Wang said the new dock at Dongjiakou will be the first in China to accommodate ships big enough to carry 400,000 tons. The port will build four docks for ships with a 400,000 ton capacity, two for ships with a 200,000 ton capacity and five docks for ships with a 100,000 ton capacity. According to the construction plan, 112 berths will be constructed at Dongjiakou, 21 more than at the existing port. Tian said the capacity of the new docks will be about 40 million tons in three to five years, exceeding the traffic of the existing Qingdao Port. As part of its expansion project, Qingdao is also developing a bonded port area to attract more domestic and international resources. Approved on Sept 1, 2009, the first phase of a 9.7-square-kilometer bonded area in Qianwan consists of eight container berths, two multifunctional berths, and dock operations for comprehensive logistics, international logistics and export machinery. The port expects to take advantage of the convenient customs procedures and favorable tax policies within the area, and to increase container quantity first, then attract cargo from Busan Port with better service.

Qingdao Beihai wins Taiwanese order

PostTime:2010-11-01 08:10:06 View:1851

Taiwan's First Steamship has opted to order new ships in China for the first time ever, saying Japanese yards are too costly. The owner confirms it has ordered an 82,000-dwt kamsarmax bulker at Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding Heavy Industry under the umbrella of China Shipbuilding Industry Corp (CSIC), and has until the end of the year to exercise an option for a second. It is the first vessel the company has booked in more than a decade. First Steamship previously built its vessels in Japan. "We turned to China because Japanese ships are too expensive now," said an executive at First Steamship. "On top of that, Japanese shipyards are not able to offer us early delivery dates." First Steamship does not disclose the cost of the newbuildings but says the Chinese price is at least 30% less than what the Japanese are seeking. Newbuilding players believe First Steamship is paying around $34.5m each for the kamsarmaxes. The owner says it chose Qingdao Beihai as it has a long relationship with the yard. "We are familiar with Qingdao Beihai as it has been repairing our vessels for some time," said the executive. A state-owned shipbuilder Qingdao Beihai is slated to deliver First Steamship's firm newbuilding in September 2012 and the optional vessel in the first quarter of 2013.

Qingdao port expands

PostTime:2010-10-12 07:57:24 View:735

To boost the development of the domestic economy and tourist industry, 1 billion yuan will be invested in Qingdao port, Shandong province will build the largest international cruise terminal in North China. The money will be spent on dock construction, passenger stations, ship channels and other projects.According to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the Chinese tourist industry is welcoming a new era of steady growth in the domestic tourism market.Diamond Princess, one of the world's most luxurious cruise liners, docked at the port for the third time during the National Day holiday, proving that the port can accommodate large international cruise lines.

Qingdao City to build "Tungjiakou Port"

PostTime:2010-08-13 08:40:44 View:704

Qingdao City, Shandong Province, will build a new "Tungjiakou Port" off Liangye Bay in the southwest of Jiaonan City, adding competitive edge to its port economy, reported NewsTrak Daily.Tungjiakou Port, a peninsula in the southwest of Shandong, has a natural coastline of 29km and water depth of 15 to 20m. It is one of the deep-sea ports that are naturally wide enough for the navigation of big vessels.The existing Qingdao Port in Inner Jiaozhou Bay is near saturation, plagued many times by the problem of overloading.Tungjiakou comes handy as the area has natural conditions for the development of a coastal or even ocean economy.The "Qingdao Tungjiakou Port Overall Development Plan" was first approved by the State Council in March 2009. Construction followed immediately in May. The port has total planned areas of 70 sq km, near-port industrial areas of 55 sq km and terminal shore lines of 35.7km, according to the plan.A total of 112 berths of annual handling capacity of 370 million tonnes will be established, of which three are 400,000-tonne terminals for mineral ores and two 450,000-tonne terminals for fuel oil.Tungjiakou clusters port-use in four major directions. The north port will focus on handling dry bulk cargoes, general goods and container cargoes; the central port crude oil, fuel oil, LPG and LNG; the south port container and general goods transport. The east port is left for future development.Tungjiakou Port covers an economic areas of 873,000 sq km. The completion of Jiaozhou Bay Underwater Tunnel and the south section of Qingdao Binhai Highway will give it sea, road and railway connections.Shandong's four core ports – Qingdao, Tungjiakou, Rizhao and Yantai – are expecting total handling throughput of 1.5 billion tonnes a year in 2020.International investors, including Hutchison Whampao and Modern Terminals of Hong Kong, are said to be interested in port development. Sinopec's LNG project has already settled in.

Qingdao leading new wave of development

PostTime:2010-08-06 12:53:24 View:622

With the rapid development of advanced equipment manufacturing, high-tech industries and modern services, Qingdao, a coastal city in Shandong, is becoming an industrial leader. "Qingdao will take advantage of its high technologies, talent pool and innovative strength to pilot Shandong's plan to foster high-end industry clusters in the Jiaodong Peninsula," Xia Geng, mayor of Qingdao, told China Daily. At present, Qingdao's equipment manufacturing industry accounts for 31.3 percent of the city's industrial sales revenues. High-tech industries account for 46.5 percent of Qingdao's total industrial output value. In 2009, the output value of high-tech industries in the city was more than 445 billion yuan, up 15.7 percent from the year before. According to a plan unveiled last December, Qingdao will accelerate development of high-end industries. Among the key industries listed in the plan are marine research and development, biological engineering and new materials; and advanced equipment manufacturing. Planners estimate the output value of the city's advanced equipment manufacturing industry will reach 540 billion yuan by 2012. Other predictions place future high-tech industrial output value at an excess of 650 billion yuan. Finance, logistics and similar high value-added services are also expected to grow, with output value hitting 190 billion yuan. Attracting investors Qingdao has already attracted many domestic and foreign investments. According to the Qingdao Bureau of Commerce, 42 well-known domestic companies - including Datang Power, China Railway Logistics, China Resources, Poly, and Shenzhen Huaqiang - invested in 65 projects in the city last year, contributing a total of 106.8 billion yuan. In addition, 83 of the world's top 500 enterprises have invested in 175 projects within Qingdao. The projects involve high-end industries such as new energy, new materials, bio-medicine, shipbuilding, marine science and technology, and modern services. As a result, a number of cutting-edge products have been produced. For example, CSR Qingdao Sifang Rolling Stock Co Ltd has developed trains that reach speeds up to 350 km/h. Qingdao is also an important manufacturing base for ships, household electrical appliances and light helicopters. And a number of high-end industrial parks have developed rapidly in Qingdao. Its high-tech industrial zone saw the establishment of 21 large projects last year with a total investment of 6.3 billion yuan. Large projects Qingdao North Ship Heavy Industry Group invested 7.4 billion yuan in a huge shipbuilding and repair facility last year in Qingdao Economic and Technological Development Zone. The facility was immediately followed by several large part manufacturing projects, each with an investment of more than 2 billion yuan. The zone is now the largest shipbuilding and repair base in China, with an annual shipbuilding capacity of 2 million dead weight tons. In March, construction began on a new semiconductor lighting and display production base in Jiaozhou Bay New Area, with a total investment of 18 billion yuan. It is expected to lead to the formation of an industrial chain with an annual output value of more than 80 billion yuan in five to eight years. Just a month later, China's first large-scale sapphire LED chip production project became operational in Qingdao high-tech zone, helping efforts to minimize reliance on imported products. Now, construction of Eastern Everbright Co's communication plastic optical fiber project is underway. It is expected to occupy 40 percent of the global plastic optical fiber market share. Admiral Oversea Corporation, a global display manufacturing giant, will build its 10th largest global production base in Qingdao. The project will be completed in 2011 and have an annual production capacity of 2 million units. Qingdao is home to 27 well-known Chinese trademarks and 68 famous Chinese brands.

Qingdao plans to build world largest iron ore wharf

PostTime:2010-07-30 09:51:11 View:603

It is reported that recently, Qingdao plans to construct six large sized opening wharfs in Dongjiakou Port. World largest 0.4 million tonnes per year iron ore wharf and 0.45 million tonnes per year oil wharf one of the most important projects in Dongjiakou Port and is one the course of construction. The project was divided into three stages for construction, with its annual throughout capacity expected to hit at 192 million tons by 2030. The first-stage task aims to primarily to build a direct-and-transit ocean shipping system for iron ore, crude oil and coal etc bulk cargo transportationTo establish the pivotal position for Dongjiakou Port during 2016-2020The last stage is to form the national bulk cargo distributing center and import energy-reserve center by the end of 2030.As per report, Dongjiakou Port construction plan has been fully confirmed by Ministry of Transport and Communications which is provided with strong operation and driving forces.

Qingdao volume up 11.5pc

PostTime:2010-07-28 10:00:02 View:568

Qingdao, China's second largest foreign trading port, saw an 8.7 per cent increase year on year in throughput to 170.48 million tonnes in the first half year, reports Xinhua. Foreign trade cargo throughput grew 21 per cent to hit 128.87 million tonnes in the first half of the year, while container throughput increased 11.5 per cent to 5.66 million TEU. The port's authority said it attributed the increased cargo throughput to a series of technological innovations and a low-carbon drive.

Qingdao volume up 11.5pc to 5.6 million TEU in first half

PostTime:2010-07-27 08:40:23 View:525

QINGDAO, China's second largest foreign trading port, saw an 8.7 per cent increase year on year in throughput to 170.48 million tonnes in the first half year, reports Xinhua.Foreign trade cargo throughput grew 21 per cent to hit 128.87 million tonnes in the first half of the year, while container throughput increased 11.5 per cent to 5.66 million TEU.The port's authority said it attributed the increased cargo throughput to a series of technological innovations and a low-carbon drive.

Lisbon of Portugal and Qingdao of China become sister cities

PostTime:2010-06-23 07:45:57 View:610

Lisbon of Portugal and Qingdao of China have become sister cities. The signing ceremony was held in Lisbon City Hall on June 17, where Xia Geng, mayor of Qingdao, and Antonio Costa, mayor of Lisbon signed the agreement.According to Xia Geng, Qingdao and Lisbon are both coastal port cities and have common goals in tourism and city development. The establishment of friendly relations between the two cities will enhance their cooperation with each other, Xia added.Costa said that the sister cities of Lisbon and the Qingdao will bring opportunities for development and cooperation between the two cities.A meeting between the two sides was held before the signing ceremony, with topics covering enhancing exchange, cooperation, and urban development in the future.

Qingdao's venture

PostTime:2009-12-29 08:01:36 View:745

Ambitious Qingdao Port Group has unveiled plans for a new container terminal, which will be funded by a CNY 6.22bn ($900m) joint venture (JV). The Shangdong port group has created the JV with China Merchants, an established port operator. Financial backing for Qingdao New Qianwan Container Terminal is also being given by Cosco Pacific, DP World, AP Møller-Maersk and Pan Asia Shipping. The new joint venture, called Qingdao Qianwan United Container Terminal, will oversee the operation of nine berths at Qingdao, with a shoreline of 3.16km. Qingdao Port Group said the project aimed to help the port benefit from an expected upturn in the world economy. Container throughput at Qingdao, the world's seventh largest port in terms of trade volume, rose 2.3% in the first 11 months of 2009 to 9.4m TEU. Qingdao Port Group will also focus on developing its dry cargo and wet facilities. It plans to construct four 400,000-dwt, two 200,000-dwt and five 100,000-dwt terminals in Dongjiakou Port Area, which are designed to load and unload iron ore, crude oil, coal and bulk cargoes. The investment in the terminals, which was announced last year, will cost CNY 3bn, vice-president Tian Guangwen said.