Tangshan Port Group's $890 Million Coal Port Expansion Project Receives Approval

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources China (Beijing, China)--Tangshan Port Group Company Limited's (Tangshan, Hebei) (601000.SH) Jingtang Harbor Zone Nos. 36-to-40 coal berths project received approval from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) on January 8, 2013, according to a recent announcement from Tangshan Port Group.

According to the announcement, total investment in the project will be $890 million, of which 30% will be capital investments and the rest will be paid by loans from domestic banks. The project mainly involves the construction of two 150,000-tonnage coal unloading berths, with hydraulic structure to be built for the docking of a 200,000-tonnage bulk carrier; three 100,000-tonnage coal-loading berths; and associated facilities. The total length of the newly added port will be 1,712 meters, and the designed annual turnover capacity will be 56 million metric tons, including 19.5 million metric tons of unloading capacity and 36.5 million metric tons of loading capacity.

As reported, Tangshan Port Group currently has a total coal turnover capacity of 37.9 million metric tons, including two fully owned, 35,000-tonnage coal berths; three 15,000-tonnage coal berths owned via its controllable subsidiaries; and one 100,000-tonnage, one 35,000-tonnage and one 50,000-tonnage coal berth owned through a partnership with China National Coal Corporation (Beijing) and Datong Coal Mining Group (Datong, Shanxi). In 2011, the company's coal turnover reached 31.49 million tons. The volume of import coke reached 13.23 million metric tons, ranking the top among coastal ports in China.

The construction of these new coal berths will boost the coal turnover capacity of Tangshan Port Group by about 50%, which will alleviate the shortage in coal handling capacity, and promote the optimization and integration of functional layout in the port zone.

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