Dalian Port plans to kick off pre-marketing for its initial public offering in Shanghai next week after it reduced the size of the offer amid volatile market conditions.

Dalian Port, North China's biggest port operator, said last month it would issue a total of up to 1.5 billion yuan-denominated A shares, down from the 2.4 billion shares earlier planned. It had previously said half of the new shares will be issued to its controlling shareholder Dalian Port Corp.

Pre-marketing for the stock offer will start from Nov 15, the port operator said on Friday in a statement filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

It expects to announce the indicative price range for the IPO by Nov 19 and the final pricing is expected by Nov 24.

Dalian Port will seek to list on the Shanghai Stock Exchange as soon as possible after the final pricing, it said.

Citic Securities is the main underwriter for the IPO.