15 February 2023 (Lloyd's List) - COSCO Shipping Ports has launched two new container berths to strengthen the position of Quanzhou Pacific Container Terminal, which it operates in Fujian province, southeast China.
The fifth and sixth berths, when they become fully operational once supporting facilities are ready, would boost the terminal’s annual handling capacity to 3m teu from the current level of 1.8m teu, said the Chinese port giant. Cosco Shipping Lines and Orient Overseas Container Line had also started two new services to Southeast Asia to drive volumes at the terminal, according to the statement. One connects to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam via Singapore, while the other links to Klang, Malaysia and then Surabaya, Indonesia.
These routes could pave the way for Quanzhou to further extend its reach to other countries in China’s “Belt and Road” infrastructure project, including Europe, Middle East and Africa, said CSP.
Located in between Fuzhou and Xiamen, two other large port cities in the province, Quanzhou is a major exporter of agriculture products, such as tea. Other important industries include textiles, footwear, fashion and apparel, ceramics and machinery. Domestic trade accounts for most of the port’s throughput volume, which stood at about 2m for 2022.
The Cosco terminal, a joint venture with state-owned Quanzhou Habour Group, is the largest container handling facility there, and saw handlings increase 6.8% to 1.3m teu last year. It has joined the growing number of Chinese box terminals to have deployed autonomous tractors using 5G-backed high-precision positioning technologies in order to enhance efficiency and shore power to reduce emissions at quay.
