Shanghai selects investor short-list
Shanghai Port Authority has drawn up a shortlist of companies interested in investing in its Yangshan Port development. Those selected from the original list of more than 20 companies include Hutchison Port Holdings, Cosco Pacific, P& O Ports, APM Terminals and Modern Terminals/China Shipping.
Around US$604.85m in investment will be required.
The new facilities are desperately needed given that existing berths have seen a 30% annual increase in container throughput since 1996. Nevertheless, concerns continue to be raised regarding the possibility of creating too much new capacity at Shanghai, given that other Chinese ports are also adding new container berths.
Significantly, Shanghai has emphasised it would like to bring in a consortium of international investors and that a negotiation, rather than a straight bidding process, is the preferred option. This bundling together of investors is thought preferable given that the number of berths requiring construction is insufficient for the number of investors willing to put money into the project.
This would be the only way of satisfying everybody.
The initial phase of this expansion of Shanghai port involves purely Chinese investment and encompasses just five berths, which are scheduled to commence limited operations by the end of the current year.
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