Ningbo-Zhoushan Port has become the largest shareholder of Jiangyin Sunan International Container Terminal as it targets throughput growth.
China’s busiest port and the second busiest container port after Shanghai, Ningbo-Zhoushan Port said in a filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange that it had acquired the Hong Kong-incorporated Paul Y. Corporation, which owns a 40% stake in Jiangyin Sunan, paying around CNY286.25 million (US$41 million) for the acquisition.
Jiangyin Sunan operates the No.3 terminal in Jiangyin, Jiangsu province, along the Yangtze River. The terminal has one 10,000gt berth, one 20,000gt berth and one 30,000gt berth. In 2019, Jiangyin Sunan processed 539,000TEU containers, down 6% from 2018; throughput reached 230,000TEU in H1 2020.
Ningbo-Zhoushan, which is also on the Yangtze River Delta, stated that the acquisition will achieve synergies in upriver feedering and ocean-going transportation.
Information from the China’s company registry shows that Shanghai International Port Group, which operates most of the container terminals in Shanghai port, owns a 30% stake in Jiangyin Sunan. Jiangsu Jiangyin New City Development and Jiangsu Jiangyin Port Group hold the remaining shares.
In H1 2020, Ningbo-Zhoushan’s container throughput totalled 14 million TEU, down around 6% year-on-year, a result attributed to the Covid-19 pandemic. As manufacturing activities normalised, July volumes reached 2.83 million TEU, up by around 5%. During the month, Ningbo-Zhoushan activated another berth, located in the Chuanshan port area, that can process 620,000TEU annually.
Ningbo-Zhoushan handled 27.53 million TEU in 2019 and the port is expanding capacity in six terminals, increasing annual capacity by 5.6 million TEU to over 32 million TEU by 2020.
Martina Li
Asia Correspondent
