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New investment to boost capacity at Myanmar city terminal

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Asia World Port Terminal (AWPT), one of Yangon’s main city terminals is looking to boost capacity by a third as it purchases new equipment that will enable containers to be stacked seven high from five high currently.

The terminal, which is developed, managed and operated by Asia World Port Management Company (AWPM), claimed to handle about 40% of Myanmar’s throughput last year and is optimistic that container traffic will continue to grow in the next few years. AWPM has been running the port business since 1996-1997.

The company is gearing up for this by investing in mobile container handling equipment, it said in a press release. These include nine new SANY Rubber Tyred Gantry (RTG) cranes and one Mobile Harbour Crane (MHC) from Konecranes Gottwald, as well as two Reach Stackers (RS) and two Empty Container Handlers (ECH) from SANY.

AWPT’s investments are a sign of its strong confidence in the future of Myanmar’s economy, the overall macro-economic development of the country as well as the strong policies of the government.

Read More: Myanmar welcomes foreign investments to develop sea ports

This is the company’s single largest recent investment in technology as it strives to evolve into a technology-led port player, aiming for higher productivity levels and faster turnaround times. Investment amounts were not disclosed.

The inland terminals near the city centre are still preferred by Myanmar’s shippers as they are near to Yangon’s main industrial area. However the country’s creaking infrastructure has not been upgraded in years and city-wide congestion puts a physical limit on capacity. Myanmar is also susceptible to cyclones so there are limits to stack heights.

Hutchion Ports’ Myanmar International Terminals Thilawa has a higher capacity but is located some distance away from the city.

TAGS: Ports Regions