Tianjin port operators to merge: Xinhua

HONG KONG-LISTED company Tianjin Port Development plans to purchase a 40 per cent share of Tianjin Port Alliance International Container Terminal from Shanghai-listed Tianjin Port, reports Xinhua.

Tianjin Port is a subsidiary of state-owned Tianjin Port Group and Tianjin Port Development is under the control of the Tsinlien Group of Tianjin Commission of Commerce.

The report said the possible merger would not be difficult from a government perspective, given that the president of Tianjin Port, Yu Rumin, is also the president of Tianjin Port Development.

A possible merger is expected to be pursued in a bid to reduce internal competition, to enable Tianjin to compete better with the neighbouring ports of Qingdao and Dalian and become a container hub for north China.

Tianjin Port Development now operates two terminals in Tianjin, including a container terminal with a handling capacity of 2.49 million TEU, and a bulk cargo terminal with capacity of 16.6 million tons.

The port operator also intends to establish a new container terminal in Tianjin's Beigangchi port area through its joint venture Tianjin Port Euroasia International Container Terminal Co. The new terminal is designed to have an annual box capacity of 1.8 million TEU, and is expected to be completed by the end of 2008 or the beginning of 2009.