Free trade harbor to lift Tianjin as shipping center

PostTime:2008-01-15 08:22:32 View:1092

The recent operational kick-off of the Tianjin Dongjiang Bonded Harbor Area, China's largest free trade harbor, has boosted the city's drive to become North China's shipping center.On December 11, the first phase of the bonded harbor area, which covers an area of 4 sq km, came into commercial operation. It includes warehouses, container terminals and processing and logistics zones, and involves an investment of 6.6 billion yuan ($906.59 million).The rest of the 6-sq-km area is under development and is due to be operational by 2010."The harbor area is sort of an engine that could drive up the regional economy and business in Tianjin, especially the Tianjin Binhai New Area," says Xu Fu, a professor at the Tianjin-based Nankai University.In 1994, the Tianjin government proposed the idea of the Tianjin Binhai New Area, and the central government eventually approved it as the nation's third regional economy facilitator, after the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone and Pudong New District in Shanghai.China has pinned high hopes on the Binhai new area, expecting it to help Tianjin grow into an economic powerhouse as well as North China's shipping hub."This cannot be realized without free commodity exchange. Dongjiang harbor area provides easier access," says Yu Rumin, chairman of Tianjin Port (Group) Co Ltd, who is also in charge of the construction of Tianjin harbor area.The Tianjin Port is also aiming high. It is now China's fourth-largest and the sixth-largest worldwide. In 2006, it handled 258 million tons in cargo. It plans to increase its cargo and container handling capacity up to 400 million tons and 12 million standard containers by 2010.Tianjin Dongjiang Bonded Harbor Area enjoys preferential treatment for taxes, land, foreign exchange and financing, and provides convenient Customs clearance, compared with the other three harbor areas around China - including Shanghai-based Yangshan Bonded Harbor Area, Dayaowan Bonded Harbor Area in Dalian and Yangpu Bonded Harbor Area in Hainan.The Tianjin harbor area is involved in five major businesses: international transfer, distribution, purchase, transit trade and export processing.On the horizonDongjiang Bonded Harbor Area is located in Dongjiang harbor of Tianjin Port, which includes another three harbors: Beijiang, Nanjiang and Haihe.In December 2005, the Tianjin municipal government submitted the harbor area's proposal to the State Council and received approval in August 2006.Tianjin harbor area is China's third approved area, after Yangshan and Dayaowan, and to be followed by Yangpu. The four areas are located in China's north, east, northeast and south."In China, the idea of bonded harbor areas comes at an opportune time," Xu says.The idea of bonded harbor areas is still new in China. It did not come into the spotlight until June 2005, when the Chinese government gave a nod to Yangshan bonded harbor area, the first of its kind in China, covering 8.14 sq kms.The bonded harbor area plan comes at a time when the tariff-free zones, which China introduced in 1990 to stimulate exports and imports by lowering tariffs and improving efficiencies in distribution, storage and processing, are losing their advantages as a result of accelerated globalization and China's entry into the WTO.Experts believe that compared to tariff-free zones, bonded harbor areas provide higher quality and more cost-effective services to exporters and importers because harbor areas, as their name suggests, are built much closer to ports. They are also equipped with tariff-free logistics parks, export processing bases and commodity showrooms."We are following the practices of internationally well-known ports such as Germany's Port Hamburg and Port Rotterdam in the Netherlands," Yu says.The government has other ambitions for the bonded harbor areas - improving economic performance in the respective regions.The Yangshan harbor area aims to help Shanghai grow into an international shipping hub and give a boost to businesses in Yangtze River Delta; the Dayaowan harbor area shoulders the responsibility of bolstering the economy of Northeast China; and the Yangpu harbor area is positioned as the most dynamic shipping hub around Beibu Gulf.So is the Tianjian harbor area. "The Tianjin Dongjiang Bonded Harbor Area should act as a growth facilitator in the Bohai Rim Economic Region," says Yu.

Tianjin Port to set up coke terminal company

PostTime:2008-01-11 08:26:47 View:1721

Tianjin Port plans to set up a coke terminal with partial tangible assets and cash.The new company will have registered capital of US$81.4 million consisting $57 million worth of berths for coke and non-metallic ores in the Nanjiang Port Area and $24.4 million in cash.The coke terminal company, which specialises in storage, loading and unloading, container transfer as well as stuffing and destuffing, has two over-50,000-tonnage deep-water berths, one for handling coke and the other for non-ferrous metal ores. It has a 704m long coastline and a 124,000 sq m yard with annual designed throughput of 14.5 million tonnes and annual operating revenue of $39.3 million as planned.

Port of Tianjin 2007 box volume exceeds 7 million TEU

PostTime:2008-01-11 08:16:41 View:1065

BY the end of December, port of Tianjin's container throughput in 2007 had already surpassed 7 million TEU, Xinhua reported.The report said as northern China's largest port, Tianjin has an average annual box volume growth of over 20 per cent. Its box volume for the first time exceeded 2 million TEU in 2001 and surpassed three million TEU in 2003, and later reached 4.8 million in 2005.Tianjin has an average crane productivity of 35 containers an hour and a highest vessel productivity of 305 containers per hour. The port launched more than 10 container lines in 2007.

Tianjin, Rizhao to hike cargo handling fee

PostTime:2007-12-25 16:24:08 View:1370

Tianjin Port will increase the container loading and unloading fee by 10 percent on average on the basis of the current average price of US$34 per TEU starting on January 1, according to the latest report released by the company.

Tianjin container volume up 20pc in first eleven months

PostTime:2007-12-17 08:11:58 View:1069

THE Port of Tianjin's cumulative container throughput rose 20.4 per cent year on year to a record-breaking volume of 6.5 million TEU during the period from January to November.The port's overall tonnage throughput also set a new high by rising 22.5 per cent to 291 million tons, Xinhua reported.Port of Tianjin is aiming to achieve a throughput of 7 million TEU or 300 million tons by the end of the year.

Tianjin's Bonded Port Area phase I to open on December 8

PostTime:2007-12-06 08:30:49 View:1516

Tianjin's Dongjiang Bonded Port Area, one of the four Chinese Bonded Port Areas, is scheduled to commence operation on December 8. The four-kilometre long facility includes six berths costing US$891 million with an aggregate capacity of 4 million TEU, and covering a quay length of 2,300 metres. Quay cranes and gantries have been installed and test runs are scheduled for the end of November. The Dongjiang Bonded Port Area is the largest of its kind in China, covering a space of 10 square kilometres and will operate like a free port or a free trade zone. The bonded port area will be completed by 2010, when Tianjin's seaport throughput is expected to surpass 10 million TEU or 400 million tonnes, and airport throughput is supposed to reach 500,000 tonnes, with a trade value of US$200 billion.