Major port development under way in Vietnam

Funding for the Cai Mep and Thi Vai ports, located on 75 hectares of land in the Tan Thanh district of Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, will come from both the Vietnamese and Japanese governments.

The projects are scheduled for completion in 2012. Cai Mep Container Terminal will have an annual throughput capacity of 70,000 teu, while Thi Vai General Cargo Terminal will be able to handle up to 2m tonnes per year.

Meanwhile, the World Bank is to offer a loan of $171.5m towards the $201.5m cost of upgrades to Vietnam’s inland waterway transport in the Northern Delta. Work, which is scheduled to commence in 2009, will take approximately six years.

Bunge Asia, for its part, has purchased a 50% stake in Phu My Port, situated on the Thi Vai River 70 km from Ho Chi Minh City. This is a specialist dry bulk port and the only one in Vietnam that can accommodate panamax bulk carriers.

Elsewhere, China Merchants Holdings is to participate in a joint-venture to build a new port at Ben Dinh. It will hold 55% of the capital. This is the company’s second venture in Vietnam.

Finally, relocation of port facilities at Ho Chi Minh City, which handles more than 50m tons annually, is proceeding extremely slowly.

With traffic exceeding all expectations, ports were expecting to handle 26m tonnes by 2010 and 35m tonnes by 2020, but box traffic is currently surging by 25% a year.