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China Merchants inks Qingdao JV with investors

China Merchants inks Qingdao JV with investors

Shanghai: China Merchants Holdings (International) sealed an agreement on Friday to establish a $910.8 million joint venture to merge its port facilities in China's Qingdao port with those of its partners, including A.P. Moller-Maersk and COSCO Pacific, reports Portworld.

The joint venture would be equally-owned by China Merchants and Qingdao New Qianwan Container Terminal, and investors include Qingdao Port Group, Maersk's APM Terminals, DP World, COSCO Pacific and Pan Asia Shipping, Qingdao Port said in a statement.

China Merchants and Qingdao New Qianwan will each contribute 300 million yuan ($43.9 million) in cash and 700 million yuan ($102.5 million) worth of assets to Qingdao Qianwan United Container Terminal Co Ltd as registered capital.
China Merchants said this ''represents an important step for the group to seek value-enhancement out of the Bohai Rim area while ensuring a harmonious operating environment,'' the company said in a statement.

Total investment amounted to about 6.22 billion yuan ($910.8 million), comprising the operation and management of nine berths with a shoreline of 3,163 metres in Qingdao's Qianwan.

Four of the nine berths are currently operated by Qingdao New Qianwan and the remaining belong to China Merchants.

Qingdao port, the world's number seven in terms of trade volume and number 10 in terms of container throughput, moved more than 300 million tonnes of goods in the year to December 13, up 5% year-on-year. Box throughput increased 2.3% in the first 11 months to 9.4 million teu.  [22/12/09]