Qingdao port throughput up 5% in H1

By Ding Qi and Wang Bo (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-07-03 13:48

Qingdao port, the country's second largest port in terms of foreign trade volume, saw its throughput reach 157.57 million tons in the first half of this year, up 5 percent year-on-year, Chang Dechuan, president of the port, said on Friday.

Despite the sweeping effect of the global financial crisis, the port's profits grew 5 percent and total revenue rose 2 percent for the period, Chang said on the sideline of the Global Think Tank Summit in Beijing.

"The port's total throughput will keep growing at above 5 percent for the whole of 2009," he said, adding he expects profits will maintain the current growth momentum in the second half.

But as global trade continues to shrink, Chang believes the ongoing financial crisis has yet to bottom out.

"In the first six months, the port's iron ore and crude oil throughput grew a respective 5.9 percent and 12 percent, but the throughput of steel, chemical fertilizers [and] containers showed no sign of recovery," he said.

Chang noted the problem of overstocking iron ore at the port, which was quite severe at the end of last year, has been eased so far thanks to the government stimulus policy and the improved distribution management service at the port.

The port is expected to be built into the shipping center of northeast Asia in the next two to three years, Chang added.

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