Kaohsiung Container Port Plans Upgrades

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Friday, September 7, 2012
CNA
Taiwan poised to expand shipping industry: VP Wu

TAIPEI -- Taiwan is well-positioned to expand its maritime and logistics industries to work with its international trade partners as it seeks to become a shipping hub in East Asia, Vice President Wu Den-yih said yesterday.

Such development is crucial amid stronger economic ties between Taiwan and its major trade partners like China and the United States, Wu said.

Wu highlighted the work being done to improve Taiwan's investment environment, citing as examples the recent signing of an investment protection pact and a customs cooperation agreement with China and efforts to seal a free trade agreement with the U.S. as early as possible.

“Such actions will help Taiwan to achieve and maintain a better competitive position in East Asia and will benefit Taiwanese companies,” he said.

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Fri, Dec 07, 2012
Port could become metals hub
ALL THAT GLITTERS:While uncertainty remains over the future of the recently acquired London Metal Exchange, opportunities still exist for Kaohsiung Port’s development
Taipei Times

Taiwan could develop a futures market in Greater Kaohsiung after Kaohsiung Port becomes a hub for the London Metal Exchange (LME), the world’s largest non-ferrous metals exchange market, Minister of Transportation and Communications Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) said yesterday.

LME-certified ports in Asia also include those in South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia.

Mao made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee for a review of amendments to the Act for the Establishment and Management of Free Trade Zones (自由貿易港區設置管理條例).

The main for reason the amendments was to enable Kaohsiung to become a storage and shipping warehouse for the LME in Asia.

Mao said that the ministry had been trying to turn Kaohsiung Port into an LME-certified port since 2010 and that the consulting firm representing the LME has inspected the infrastructure at the port, listing several requirements that the port must fulfill.

Mao said the only requirement left unfulfilled is the amendment to the nation’s regulations.

Mao added that the nation has free-trade zones at the Greater Kaohsiung, Greater Taichung, Keelung and Taipei ports, as well as at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.

Some of them have developed their own specific characteristics. For example, Taipei Port has become a logistics center for the automobile industry and Taichung Port is now a value-added center for oil products.

“Kaohsiung Port will be an international non-ferrous metal trading hub, and it will attract other relevant industries and professionals to Kaohsiung,” Mao said.

Mao said that the ministry plans to expand the hinterland of Kaohsiung Port by building Freeway No. 7, which would connect the port to land created by the South Star Plan, a massive land reclamation project.

The amendment secured bipartisan support, particularly from legislators representing districts in Greater Kaohsiung.

They said the amendment could revitalize Kaohsiung Port and greatly benefit manufacturers of metal screws in Kaohsiung’s Gangshan District (岡山).

However, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Kuo-cheng (林國正) questioned if Taiwan could still secure LME certification after the metals exchange was acquired by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEx).

The legislators said all the efforts made to have the amendment passed could be in vain if the LME decides to base itself in China instead. Lin said that HKEx was able to buy LME with loans from Chinese banks.

He quoted HKEx chairman Chow Chung Kong (周松崗) as saying it would establish warehouses in China after the transaction is complete.

Ports such as Ningbo, Dalien and Shanghai have also applied for LME membership, and Kaohsiung may have lost out on a golden opportunity, Lin said.

In response, Mao said that the LME had informed the minsitry that it did not consider Shanghai or other Chinese ports suitable because they lacked transparent regulations.

“Even if it [LME] is bought by HKEx, it is unlikely to change its standards in its selection of LME-certified ports,” Mao said, adding that South Korea spent five years securing LME membership.

The approval of the amendment could attract other, similar organizations to Taiwan even if the port fails in its application for LME membership, Mao said.

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image hosted on flickr

20121125-23 by kevin chou, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

20121125-11 by kevin chou, on Flickr

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Chinese mainland consortium invests big in Taiwan port

BEIJING, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- Three shipping heavyweights from the Chinese mainland have agreed to invest 135 million U.S. dollars in a key port in Taiwan, a senior official said Monday.

The China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company, China Shipping (Group) Company and China Merchants Group jointly purchased 30 percent equity in the Kao Ming Container Terminal Corp. of Kaohsiung Port, Taiwan's largest port.

Kaohsiung Port is controlled by the Yang Ming Line, Taiwan's second biggest container shipping line.

The four companies held a delivery ceremony on Jan. 4, marking the start of the joint management of the terminal, Li Shenglin, honorary director of the Cross-Strait Shipping Exchange Association and the Chinese mainland's former minister of transport, told Xinhua.

The investment marks the largest investment in Taiwan by Chinese mainland companies as well as the first time that any Chinese mainland companies have invested in infrastructure in Taiwan.

Li said the alignment is of crucial significance in deepening cross-Strait shipping and economic ties and promoting bilateral investment.

It will also enhance shipping companies' competitiveness and strengthen Kaohsiung Port's position as a transportation hub, he added.

Four 100,000-tonne-container-berths are planned for the Kao Ming Container Terminal. Upon completion, the annual cargo capacity could reach 2.8 million TEU. The plan has been approved relevant authorities.

Shipping and logistics between the two sides have boomed, as cross-Strait relations have witnessed a peaceful, stable situation in recent years.

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Container throughput at Kaohsiung port sees 1.5-percent growth in 2012
CNA
January 10, 2013

TAIPEI -- The Port of Kaohsiung handled 9.78 million 20-foot equivalent unit (TEU) containers in 2012, an increase of 1.5 percent from the previous year, Taiwan International Ports Corp. said yesterday.

The growth was comparable to that of Shanghai and Ningbo and better than Hong Kong and Shenzhen, which recorded a decline last year, said Hsiao Ding-hsun, chairman of the company.

In particular, transshipments handled by Kaohsiung rose 8.5 percent, Hsiao said.

During the first 10 months of 2012, containers with goods exported to or imported from China through Kaohsiung totaled 813,935 TEUs, up 7 percent from the year-earlier level, according to statistics compiled by the company.

Based on data released in November 2012, Kaohsiung was ranked as the world's 12th busiest container port.