Xiamen and Taiwan to partner in offering cruises cross-strait and in Asia

PostTime:2012-12-10 08:48:00 View:612

Being optimistic about cross-strait cruise line business, Xiamen Port Holding Group Co. (XPGCO) is negotiating with Taiwan International Ports Corporation (TIPC) to partner in offering cruises cross-strait and in Asia, with TIPC chairman D.S. Xiao asking staffers to evaluate investment feasibility in such cooperation, Whats On Xiamen reports. Xiao indicated that as Kai Tak Airport (Hong Kong) will be transformed into a cruise liner port in June 2013, the development will help drive Taiwan’s tourism with cooperation in cruise line operation between Taiwan, China and Hong Kong. Xiao stated that U.S and Europe are the largest markets for cruise liners, but have suffered remarkable shrinkage in the recent two years due to economic downturn, hence forcing cruise operators to focus on Asia. With enormous market potential in China, Taiwan’s tourism may be further fueled by the cross-strait cooperation in cruise line operation. If cross-strait cruises are set up, ships will sail southward from Xiamen to Penghu, Tainan, Kaohsiung, Hong Kong, Sanya (Hainan Island), and Halong Bay (Vietnam), with northward liners to begin from Penghu to Taichung, Keelung, Shanghai, Okinawa, and Fukuoka. Xiao stated that the cruise-line home-port business in Taiwan has been in existence for many years, especially in Keelung Harbor. With a ship normally taking 1,500~2,000 passengers from each country, Taiwan’s port and tourism development can expect to benefit from the collaboration.

Xiamen Xiangyu Bonded Zone trade value up 27.6pc to US$4.47 billion

PostTime:2012-12-06 08:25:51 View:577

XIAMEN Xiangyu Bonded Zone in southeastern Fujian province, posted a 27.6 per cent year-on-year increase in trade value to US$4.47 billion in the first 10 months of 2012, with a 30 per cent increase in export value to $2.9 billion, reports Xinhua. In the same period, the value of all industries in the zone increased 18.2 per cent to CNY4.31 billion (US$690 million) while revenue grew 13.1 per cent to CNY5.34 billion. The bonded zone continues to attract investment due to its special preferential policy and business-friendly environment, said the zone's management committee director Shuxi Lin. As of October, the zone attracted 2,800 major domestic and foreigh companies such as CSCL, Sinotrans, Kerry EAS and Nippon Express, and has won investment totalling US$2.15 billion, generating a bonded area-wide trade value of US$38 billion. Cargo value alone stood at US$94.7 billion with logistics operating revenue CNY33.44 billion, fiscal and other tax revenue at CNY10.51 (excluding Dongdu Customs). Its GDP and trade value took the lead for many years in the same kind domestic zone. It now includes five major areas, namely Xiangyu Bonded Zone Phase 1, Bonded Logistics Park Zone, Bonded Zone Phase 2, Airport Industry and Logistics Park and Dongdu Port Area, covering nine square kilometres.

Fuzhou, Xiamen customs cooperate to provide faster cargo clearance

PostTime:2012-11-26 08:23:21 View:1816

FUZHOU and Xiamen customs in Fujian province will cooperate to accelerate customs clearance for local shippers and foreign-owned enterprises, reports Xinhua. The two customs offices recently signed the Fuzhou Customs and Xiamen Customs Law Enforcement Cooperation Mechanism Memorandum, under which they will establish a system of coordination, improving enterprise classification, thus resulting in a non-discriminatory approach to the same kind of enterprises. In addition, they will build cross-strait customs cooperation mechanism, and issue the specific measures to simplify the cross-strait customs' procedures for carrying out the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) effectively.

Xiamen port splashes out $18m on new tugboats

PostTime:2012-11-20 08:23:46 View:591

Xiamen: China's Xiamen International Port penned a purchase contract to acquire four newbuilding tugboats from Jiangsu Zhenjiang for a price of RMB110m ($17.6m).The four new tugboats, scheduled for delivery by 18 January 2014, will be operated and managed by Xiamen Port Shipping, an indirect non wholly-owned subsidiary of Xiamen International Port.Xiamen International Port said the vessel acquisition will enable the group to “expand its existing tugboat fleet at an attractive price to meet growing customer demand in a more cost-effective manner and enhance the group's revenue as a result.”  

Xiamen port sees box volumes rise 10.7% in first nine months

PostTime:2012-11-19 08:02:00 View:634

Xiamen: The Port of Xiamen saw container volume rise 10.7% in the first nine months of the year to 5.1m teu, while overall cargo went up 7.4% to 126m tonnes.Xiamen, a major port in Fujian province just across the straits from Taiwan, was part of a port of origin tax rebate pilot scheme. This gives rebates shippers who choose to export their cargo through ports that are part of this scheme and has apparently benefitted the port.  

Xiamen, Zhangzhou and Quanzhou to integrate by 2020

PostTime:2012-11-02 08:27:47 View:2123

Three cities in Fujian province Xiamen, Zhangzhou and Quanzhou, recently have put forward an overall plan to integrate into a metropolitan area by 2015. The plan seeks to establish a united market and share resources, infrastructure, public service information platforms, and basic social public services by 2015 and achieve fundamental integration of industries, space and society through improved sharing mechanisms by 2020, SinoShipNews reports. The metropolitan area will be divided into several districts based on functions, including a port industry district on the south shore of Xiamen Bay and an airport industry district at the junction of Xiang’an in Xiamen and Weitou Bay in Quanzhou, and it is positioned as an important international gateway and an advanced manufacturing center on the west coast of the Taiwan Straits, and a national pilot area of ocean economy and cross-straits economy.

Xiamen port readies for 150,000-ton vessels

PostTime:2012-10-17 08:18:11 View:571

The expansion project of the main channel of Xiamen Port is at its final stages, and it is expected to be completed by the end of this year, Ship & Bunker reports.  The expanded channel will be 34.8 kilometres long upon completion of the project, and will allow two-way navigation for 100,000-ton vessels, and 150,000-ton vessels will be able to navigate through rising tide. For the first eight months of this year, Xiamen port achieved a cargo volume of 110m tons, a year-on-year growth of 6.9%.

Xiamen port receives RMB 1.1bn compensation

PostTime:2012-10-16 08:23:52 View:566

The Xiamen municipal government has agreed to give Xiamen International Port Company RMB 1.1bn for two plots of land as compensation for the costs of relocating some of its assets, SinoShipNews reports. Xiamen Port said it had reached an agreement with Xiamen Land Development Center to give up the land which has an aggregate area of 378,232 square meters. "The government has preliminarily consented to giving Xiamen Port Development a new site to relocate the operation," the port company said. According to Xiamen Port, 11 percent of the total compensation will be used to replenish working capital and repay bank loans, and the rest will be allocated to businesses that are being impacted by the sale to the local government.

Xiamen to become China's fourth shipping centre

PostTime:2012-09-18 09:32:55 View:648

Haicang Port in Xiamen City, Fujian province, is going to get a major facelift as the administration has been given the go-ahead by Beijing to build an international shipping centre with Haicang as its epicentre. Only three other ports have been given the green light for such a project - Shanghai, Tianjin and Dalian. Xiamen vice-mayor Kang Tao said the city would launch 18 projects as part of the Southeast International Shipping Centre. At the heart of the 18 projects would be the building of fully-automatic container handling wharfs and a logistic service centre at an investment of US$2.63 billion at Haicang Port. Xiamen will also inject $362.79 million for building a biomedicine industrial park in neighbouring Haicang New City. The headquarters building, a multifunctional landmark for the shipping centre, will become operational by 2016, and the centre will take shape by 2020, said Xiamen city officials. The shipping centre will see the "rise of an international hub for the transport of containers and a zone for the distribution of industrial resources,'' said Tao. "Xiamen's Southeast International Shipping Centre has drawn support from the central government in Beijing, the provincial authorities in Fujian and the city leadership of Xiamen," said a senior official with the Xiamen Communications Department. To show its support for the shipping centre, the central government has set aside $15.76 million yuan from the state budget this year for the expansion of shipping channels in the area. According to the Fujian provincial communications department, the state fund will be used to upgrade the main container channel at Xiamen, the third phase of expansion at Haicang, and the deepening of the container channel at Liuwudian port area. When completed, the main container channel will be able to accommodate vessels of 150,000-dwt. By the end of 2011, Xiamen had more than 50 deep-water berths, including more than 20 that are capable of accommodating 100,000-dwt vessels while the container berths at Haicang Port can handle the world's latest and largest container vessels. The shipping centre will comprise a container hub for ocean shipping, incuding transhipments, Taiwan-related transport and cruise shipping. It will also provide services such as ship finance, maritime arbitration, shipping agencies, crew supply and ship maintenance, according to Fujian officials. The officials believe the centre when completed would also boost traffic at Meizhouwan and Fuzhou port in the city. Despite a general slowdown in China's economy, Xiamen recorded 11.4 percent GDP growth in the January-June period. Taiwan-related industries grew 19.8 percent in industrial value. Many Taiwanese factories are located in Haicang because it is on the eastern coastline in the Taiwan Straits. In the first half of 2012, Xiamen's ports handled 3.21 million TEUs, a year-on-year rise of 12 percent. This year Fujian province injected $740.71 million in 13 local projects, building berths at Fuzhou, Quanzhou and Xiamen ports. Although Dongdu is currently the main port in Xiamen, Haicang Port, as the flagship site of the shipping centre, is expected to be the top port of the city in the near future. More than 30 deep-water berths with a container handling capacity of about 10 million TEUs and 220 million tonnes of general cargo will be built or expanded in the next few years at Haicang, creating a new Xiamen port, said a city official. Haicang Port will be linked to the bonded trade area nearby. The second phase of the bonded zone was put into operation in March, drawing a total investment of $1.09 billion, which included the building of four deep-water berths within the zone for the convenience of cargo handling and storage. The Haicang bonded zone has dozens of top-tier companies as tenants, including Maersk, Cosco and Hutchison Whampoa. Cosco's Xiamen Ocean Gate Container Terminal, set up in 2008, currently operates four berths that can handle 100,000-dwt vessels, at the port. "We're planning to convert our No 14 berth into a fully automated container berth in the coming two years," said Chen Hong, a spokeswoman from the company. It will also partly convert to automated operations its No 15 berth. When the first phase of the No 14 berth is completed, it will become the first automated terminal in China, claimed Hong. The terminal will be able to handle up to 880,000 TEUs a year. Cosco is also expanding its overseas routes. In July, Prince Rupert, a 8,500 TEU Cosco vessel, anchored at Huchison-run Xiamen International Container Terminals (XICT) at Haicang Port, marking the opening of the company's fourth ocean route to the US West Coast port Long Beach. However, to capitalise on the shipping centre, Xiamen Port knows it has to extend its services both northward to other parts of Fujian Province and southward to Guangdong Province, enter inland areas in Jiangxi and Hunan provinces, and upgrade Taiwan-related services. Haicang Port has already merged with Zhangzhou Port nearby and has started feeder services linking Quanzhou, another port in southern Fujian, and Shantou and Chaozhou in Guangdong Province. Chaozhou, a manufacturing hub for clothing, sanitary porcelain utensils, stainless steel products and metal parts, used to send its containers southward to Shenzhen for ocean shipping, but now it plans to divert the containers to Haicang once the shipping centre takes form. In Chaozhou, Xiamen's feeder port, a new port area at Sanbaimen will be built; in Zhangzhou, its satellite port, facilities in Zhaoyin, Beigang and Gulei port areas will be upgraded. The port is expected to open new ocean shipping routes in the coming years, some of which have been delayed by the slow economic recovery in Europe and the US. To facilitate the shipping centre, the city has launched the Xiamen Shipping Exchange and the Southeast International Shipping Arbitration Institute. Since the Xiamen Shipping Exchange was opened in early June, two dozens enterprises have joined as members and operate services such as vessel chartering, trading and crew exchanges. The exchange will offer one-stop electronic documentary services for port operators, carriers, agencies and shippers, said Jiang Kongque, general manager of the Xiamen Information Group. "A public information platform will link Fujian Province with both inland regions and Taiwan."

OOCL launches Japan-Taiwan-Xiamen-Hong Kong KTX5 service this week

PostTime:2012-09-17 08:11:27 View:663

HONG KONG's Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) has launched new service to the intra-Asia network, the KTX5, as part of our existing KTX suite. The new service will be operated by OOCL with two 1,500 TEU vessels and with the first sailing on September 16 from Xiamen. The KTX5 provides a comprehensive supplement to our service network in the KTX Suite by covering Taiwan, Hong Kong, Xiamen and Japan. Together with the KTX1, KTX2 and KTX3, they will provide a competitive service network in meeting the needs of our customers trading between south east Asia, north Asia and Japan.

Xiamen builds 'dry port' near road, rail and river in Jiangxi's Ji'an city

PostTime:2012-09-13 08:26:26 View:693

XIAMEN Port Group's new "dry port" in hinterland province Jiangxi's Ji'an city recently held a ground breaking ceremony, Xinhua reports. The facility is located in the centre of Jiangxi province and has convenient access to road, railway and waterway transportation network. It is planned to cover a land area of 175,000 square metres, entailing an investment of CNY200 million (US$31.56 million). It has a container yard that can handle up to 155,000 TEU per year and a warehouse with an annual capacity of 370,000 tonnes. Xiamen expects to earn more cargo from hinterland regions with the project as solution to its stagnant throughput growth. During recent year, ports in southeastern China's Fujian province, where Xiamen is located, have been busy building dry ports in hinterland regions and offer sea-rail or water-water intermodal service. From January to July this year, Fujian's transshipments from other provinces surged 53 per cent year to 9.76 million tonnes.

Xiamen boxport volumes keep rising

PostTime:2012-08-29 08:04:53 View:555

Xiamen: The port of Xiamen, managed to defy the general container market slowdown as it boosted efforts to attract domestic trade volumes to counter the gloomy foreign trade {非本站网址}ntainer throughput rose 10.5% year-on-year to 630,000 teu in July. Domestic cargo grew 21.5% to 140,000 teu, according to local news reports. Meanwhile major terminal operator Xiamen International Port saw first half profit fall 16.2% to RMB125.2m, despite a 13.4% rise in revenue to RMB1.49bn. The increase in revenues was mainly due to the increase in revenues from trading business of merchandise, manufacturing and selling of building materials, ancillary value-added port services and bulk/general cargo loading and unloading. The container handling and storage business however was a drag on earnings, Xiamen Port said. The group saw first half container throughput riseof 1,967,829 teu, up 8.2% from 1.82m teus previously. The decrease in profit was largely blamed on the downturn in the container business exacerbated by fierce competition at the port. Increased corporate income tax expenses from the cessation tax breaks also weighed on profits. For the group, domestic volumes rose 18.9% in the first half to 374,000 teu, accounting for nearly one fifth of the group's total container throughput.