Thanks to strong domestic container traffic, Guangzhou enjoyed a double-digit increase in 2008 throughput and expects to see growth continue this year.
Contributing 70% of the port’s box volume, domestic cargo has made Guangzhou more resilient than its peers amid the global downturn.
The port has developed a comprehensive feeder service network covering most of the manufacturing towns in the Pearl River Delta, helping shippers to transport boxes from around the region at very low cost.
Last year, the port gained approval from the state council to establish a 370ha bonded port area in Nansha. It also plans to spend RmB27bn (US$4bn) to develop phase III of Nansha, which will add six container berths to the port, bringing its total quay length to 5.6km and the number of 100,000 tonne berths to 16 by 2010.
In February 2009, Guangzhou Port Group began construction of grain and general cargo terminals in Nansha on top of the existing box, ro-ro and chemical handling facilities. They consist of a 100,000 tonne and a 70,000 tonne grain unloading berth; two 5,000 tonne grain loading berths plus four 70,000 tonne general terminals occupying a total of 2,205 metres of coastline.
There will also be a railway linking Nansha port with the Guangzhou-Zhuhai railway in 2011 and the sea channel at the estuary of the Pearl River will be deepened to 17m in 2010.
This year started badly for Guangzhou, which saw its throughput plunge 30.9% to 675,000teu in January, but institutional investors remain optimistic, forecasting single-digit growth for the whole year due to its stable coastal volumes.
