Jiujiang Port Authorities have announced a plan to build 18 major berths of 1,000dwt or more, adding an annual handling capacity of 25m tons of cargo by 2012. This is part of the city’s efforts to serve and support the increasing number of industrial investors settling in the city, according to a story published in the local Jiangxi Daily on 23 June.

Currently, 102 berths out of the 116 across the city can accommodate 1,000dwt vessels. Between 2001 and 2008, the average annual throughput of general cargo increased by 22 per cent to 23.15m tons, while the average annual throughput of containers increased from 6,600 teu to 80,900 teu.

In a separate report, Jiujiang reported the start of a recovery in container throughput on the back of strong domestic traffic. The improvement in throughput started in March. In April, it rose again to 7,237 teu before increasing again to 7,885 teu in May, the single largest monthly figure since 2008.