Yantai port partners up

PostTime:2011-02-16 07:44:44 View:920

Yantai -Yantai is only 160 kilometers south of Dalian and 220 km south north of Qingdao, but living with prosperous neighbors is not necessarily a good thing. Yantai port finds it hard to compete with these strong and established coastal cities, although it also possesses deepwater wharfs and is close to international sea routes. "In a way, we are being 'attacked' by the two and it is really hard for us to deal with them," said Zhang Xingru, deputy director general of the Bureau of Commerce of Yantai. "Whatever industry we develop around the port, it might clash with the existing industries in Dalian and Qingdao, be it refinery, electronics or machinery." Yantai was among the first ports that opened to the world in the 1860s. Back then, its tariff revenue made up 80 percent of the province's. However, its status dropped significantly after the Jiao-ji Railway was built in 1904. The railway connected Qingdao and major western cities in Shandong province and stretched out to other inland provinces. Since then, Qingdao has gradually taken over Yantai port as the most important port in Shandong. Du Futang, director of the Yantai Port and Shipping Administration Bureau, said that the lack of a convenient railway connection between Yantai port and western Shandong cities forms the bottleneck for the port's development. Normally, Yantai port is able to berth ships of about 100,000 tons. The annual cargo-handling capacity is 200 million tons while Dalian and Qingdao ports can berth ships up to 500,000 tons, and their annual cargo-handling capacity is more than 300 million tons. During the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2010), Yantai developed another 26 berths for ships with 50,000 to 200,000 tonnages and another 86 capable of berthing ships more than 10,000 tons. However, it was still dwarfed by the performances of Qingdao and Dalian. "I have to admit, there is some competition among us because of the geographic proximity," Du said. "But we are trying to collaborate with our neighbors rather than compete, since we share a lot of common interests." Yantai and Qingdao have signed a strategic cooperation agreement to build a Shandong international shipping center. Under this agreement, ocean-going freighters with huge tonnage departing from Bohai Bay can load first in Yantai and then in Qingdao port, before they sail out to the open sea. "Outside of Shandong province, the cooperation between Yantai and other ports is initiated by companies which are searching for common interests," Du said. As the gateway connecting the Bohai Bay and international marine transportation routes, Yantai is a must-cross port for freighters coming around the bay. "This offers us a golden opportunity to become their transfer station and distribution center." Located in northeastern Asia, Yantai found that its port's international customers were limited. About 90 percent of its international business partners are from the Republic of Korea and Japan. "This year, we will open an international route together with Qingdao," Du said. It will also launch international routes to Europe, the US and Southeast Asia. "If a batch of goods needs to be processed and exported to Europe, it will be loaded in Yantai, processed in Qingdao and then be transported to Europe. "In a word, we combine domestic and international cargo transportation," Du said. The port is also trying to build its core competitiveness. "Qingdao has refinery and petrochemical industries, Dalian has its steel industry, while Tianjin has a high-end manufacturing industry backed by Beijing. We must build our own industry structure rather than copy theirs." During the last five years, Yantai has invested more than 13 billion yuan (1.5 billion euros) to transform the existing port and build a new one. The new port will be located west of the existing one, cover an area of 50 square kilometers and have a coastline of 19.6 km. Once completed, it will be equipped with a total handling capacity of 200 million tons of cargo and 15 million containers. A tariff-free zone is being planned for the port for industries with "strong Yantai characteristics". "Specialization is the key. The new port industries will focus on pollution-free agricultural products processing, wine products, and fertilizer manufacturing and distribution."Situated north of the Shandong peninsula, at about the same latitude of Athens, Yantai is rich in fruit and vegetable crops. Last year, fertilizer exports hit 3.6 million tons. As the existing port is surrounded by the city, there is no further land for expansion. It will be transformed into a port for luxury international cruises as well as liners to Dalian and the ROK. Wharfs for yachts will similarly be developed along the coastline but most of them will be operated by clubs, Du said. But Du said Yantai's vision is far beyond catching up with its neighbors. "By developing industries with local characteristics, we can form differentiated competition in this region and gain a say in international trade gradually. "Currently, China doesn't have the pricing power of mineral resources, agricultural products and many other strategic resources. If our tariff-free zone attracts enough manufacturers and distributors in these fields, we might have more bargaining power in international trade. "During the last five-year plan, we focused on the scale of expansion," he said. "In the next five years, we will pay attention to modern logistics, specialized and environmentally friendly industries, and comprehensive services."

Yantai to focus on emerging industries

PostTime:2010-10-29 08:03:18 View:995

Yantai officials are eyeing emerging industries to improve the coastal city's competitiveness, according to a local senior leader. "Emerging industries are the key to Yantai's future development," said Sun Yongchun, Party chief of the city. He added that the industries, including new energy, new materials, biology and marine engineering, are essential to achieving an annual gross domestic product of 400 billion yuan this year, double that of five years ago. During the first eight months of 2010, the output value of emerging industries' reached 323.98 billion yuan, rising 21.85 percent from the same period of last year and accounting for 43.5 percent of Yantai's total output value. According to a new development plan announced by the city government in May, annual output value of emerging industries is expected to reach 500 billion yuan by 2015. Officials hope that within the next five years, Yantai will become Shandong's flagship base for new energies, biomedicines and marine technologies. To achieve this vision, authorities are developing a marine economic zone. As part of the initiative, construction of China's biggest man-made island group is underway in the city's Longkou Port. The project will create seven islands covering 35.2 square kilometers. Scheduled for completion in 2015, the area will become a manufacturing zone for marine equipment, green energy, new materials, marine biology and pharmaceuticals. "Yantai is on its way to hosting a new generation of internationally competitive corporations," said Wang Shiliang, director of Yantai Development and Reform Commission. Yantai Wanhua Group is Asia's largest maker of MDI, a chemical used in synthetic fibers and leather. The company is expected to become one of the world's top three MDI producers following a 13.2 billion yuan integration project. Construction began in January of this year. Upon completion, the group's annual capacity will reach 1.4 million tons. Current annual MDI production is around 500,000 tons. Luye Pharma, based in Yantai, boasts 40 patented products - all with self-owned intellectual property rights. Around 80 percent of the company's sales income comes from patented products and technologies. The enterprise recently began construction on a 500 million yuan Luye international pharmaceutical industrial park. It is projected to garner an annual sales revenue of 2 billion yuan when complete.

Norway leaders visit Yantai Raffles

PostTime:2010-06-02 08:14:38 View:795

On May 30th, the Norwegian Minister of Petroleum & Energy, Mr. Terje Riis-Johansen, has led a delegation to visit Yantai CIMC Raffles Offshore Limited ("CIMC Raffles") located in northeastern Shandong province, People's Republic of China. The delegation included the Norwegian ambassador Mr. Svein Ole Saether and other Norwegian senior officials. The entourage included 40 members from the Norwegian oil industry organized by INTSOK. The delegation was accompanied also by Mr. Fu Chengyu, President, China National Offshore Oil Corporation. The Norwegian delegation learned about CIMC Raffles' engineering construction and commissioning capabilities in offshore-related projects. The minister visited the semi-submersible drilling platform COSL Pioneer, built for China Offshore Service Ltd. and will serve in the Norwegian North Sea once delivered. An official from CIMC Raffles said the delegation was impressed by CIMC Raffles project progress, the pre-audit approval of Norway Petroleum Safety Authority and by the detailed preparation for thrusters installation. "After visiting the 20,000t crane "Taisun" and learning about our construction process and the commissioning of equipments supplied by Norway companies, the delegation also praised our world-class facilities and construction capability for deep-water platforms as per the strict Norway AOC compliance for North Sea. During the visit, the delegation met Norwegian specialists and engineers stationed in our shipyard and encouraged them to strengthen the relationship with their Chinese colleagues in the construction and commissioning work," he added.

Yantai wants containership handling at first world levels in two years

PostTime:2007-12-13 08:22:35 View:1075

THE north eastern port of Yantai plans to build a containership handling system in two years which links maritime administrative departments, port authorities and carriers to standards expected of developed countries, Xinhua reported.The report said Yantai Maritime Administration will set up a ship quality management system, which will allow standards-compliant ships to enjoy priority in inspection and simplified customs clearance procedures, to encourage self-discipline.In addition, the Yantai Maritime Department will also establish a joint meeting system which government departments and carriers create a blacklist of low-quality shippers and freight forwarders.The Port of Yantai has the ninth largest container throughput in China and is also one of 13 Chinese ports with a throughput of more than 100 million tons.