Shanghai’s Yangshan Deepwater Port may handle 12.3 million TEU of containers this year, up 21.7% year on year, as trade volume rebounds. The port will have an additional capacity of 4 million TEU annually once construction of the fourth phase is completed, said Wang Xuan, General Manager of Yangshan Tongsheng Port Construction Co. When fully operational by 2015, the port will have 10 kilometers of coastline with nearly 30 berths for container vessels. Capacity would be expanded by 40% in the fourth phase at a cost of more than CNY10 billion. The port accounts for about a third of the total throughput handled by Shanghai, which also includes terminals in the Waigaoqiao area and Baoshan district. Last year, Shanghai’s container throughput totaled 29.05 million TEU, while the Yangshan port handled 10.1 million TEU, exceeding its designed capacity of 9.3 million based on its three completed phases.  Shanghai may handle 30 million TEU this year, Chen Xuyuan, President of Shanghai International Port (Group) Co, said. Despite leapfrogging Singapore to become the world’s No1 container port last year, Shanghai has yet to transform itself into an international shipping hub because of the small volume of international transshipments via the city. “Shanghai Port has to fine-tune services and operations before it can really compete with foreign rivals to vie for transshipments,” said Shao Xiaoping, Director of the Yangshan Customs House. “We still have a long way to go.”

Shanghai is facing competition from neighboring ports such as Ningbo at home and Busan in South Korea to consolidate its role as a key shipping center in East Asia. Transshipments account for only 5% of the total container throughput in Shanghai. Shao said Shanghai would not be universally recognized as an international shipping hub unless 40% of the cargos were transported to other countries via the city. Throughput at Yangshan Port is planned to grow to 12.3 million TEU in 2011, up 21.78% from 10.1 million TEU in 2010. Yangshan’s target is to have a throughput volume of 15 million TEU by 2020. Chen Xuyuan, President of Shanghai International Port (Group) Co, said the container throughput of Shanghai Port will exceed 30 million TEU in 2011. About 1,425 international lines operated in the port of Shanghai in April, handling more than 90,000 TEU of containers. “Equipped with the latest technology and facilities, customs procedures have been greatly simplified”, Shao Xiaoping, Director of the Yangshan Customs said. “Customs clearance time has shortened to one or two hours from a full working day, and the cost of logistics has also been reduced by 30%.”