Taiwan plans $320 mln road upgrade at Port of Kaohsiung

Taiwan announced plans on Monday for a T$10 billion ($320 million) upgrade of the road system around its largest seaport as the facility slips in global rankings.
Taiwan's cabinet said in a statement it would build two new roads and improve existing land links to bypass urban congestion between the world No.12 ranked Port of Kaohsiung and the island's two major international airports.

"When you want to send cargo to an airport, it's slow today," a Government Information Office official said. "New roads will be a big help. The competitive environment is changing and ports have to focus on service."

The government also planned a deep-water port for container ships carrying as many as 12,500 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of freight, the information office said.
Kaohsiung, the world's third-busiest port in the late 1990s with an annual capacity of 10 million TEUs, saw its ranking slip with China's economic rise and the quick growth of massive ports in major Chinese cities.

Shares of Taiwan's top container shipper Evergreen Marine  were up 2.04 percent on Monday, while Taiwan's No. 2 Yang Ming Marine , which is planning its own expansion at the Kaohsiung port, was up 3.14 percent, both outpacing the broader market .

Source: http://www.sharenet.co.za