Wuhan’s vice mayor Yue Yong was quoted in the local media on 16 June as saying that construction of a major chemicals terminal would start in the second half of this year at the chemical industrial zone in the east of the city.

The first phase is scheduled to be ready for operation by the end of 2010. Upon completion, the terminal will be capable of handling an annual throughput of 3.2m tons of solid and liquid chemicals.

The new Beihu terminal will have a shoreline of 1,200 metres, and will cover 33 hectares. It will have six berths, including an area for liquid chemicals storage tanks. Singapore-incorporated Hengyang Petrochemical Logistics was reported as saying that it plans to invest Rmb1bn in the project.