Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG) is to invest in one of the most westerly ports on the Yangtze trunkline, Yibing, according to the city’s government.

Yibing is located in Sichuan, further west than Luzhou, at the intersection of the Yangtze River and its tributaries the Ming and Jinsha. Four terminals containing 11 quays are planned. Container throughput is expected to reach 4m teu by 2030. In December 2008, construction started on the largest terminal in Yibing, Zhicheng, involving an estimated investment of Rmb1.3bn.

SIPG is by far the largest investor in the Yangtze. Its strategy is to secure a lion’s share of container volumes to feed its deepwater Yangshan bonded terminal.

The group posted a 30 per cent fall in first-half profit to US$252m due to reduced cargo throughput as a result of the global downturn, Shanghai Daily reported.
Revenue declined 13.6 per cent to US$1.2bn during the period. The group handled 11.67m teu, a decline of 15.5 per cent year-on-year, while cargo throughput fell 10.8 per cent to 169.5m tonnes.

On a more positive note, container throughput rose 7.9 per cent between the first and second quarters, and cargo throughput increased 24.32 per cent.