Nansha terminals drives Guangzhou Port growth in July

Throughput at the Port of Guangzhou's deepwater Nansha terminals continued to grow substantially in July, the Guangzhou Port Group said Tuesday.

Volume at the older of Nansha's two terminals grew 18.6 percent, to 360,000 TEUs compared with July 2007. That compares unfavorably to the 72 percent growth in June and the 29 percent growth for the year at the Nansha Container Terminal, but port officials said factory slowdowns associated with the Olympics were partly to blame. NCT has handled 2.93 million TEUs so far this year.

The newer Nansha terminal, Guangzhou Oceangate Container Terminal, saw growth 278 percent, to 196,000 TEUs in July. That's also down from the 594 percent growth in volume for the year, with the newer terminal having handled 1.27 million TEUs from January through July.

There are now 16 services calling at Nansha, with 13 lines calling at Nansha either directly or through slot arrangements.

In July, local cargo volumes to the West Coast of America increased compared with last month, GPG said in a statement. European services (kept) steady. Cargo volumes to Africa, Southeast Asia and the Red Sea (grew) stably.

GPG has a stake in both Nansha terminals as well as river barge terminals along the Pearl River Delta. GPG's throughput for the year has grown 40 percent, to 5.5 million TEUs, driven largely by growth at Nansha. In July, GPG's volume rose 28 percent over the same month in 2007. 

Source: American Shipper