The throughput volume of Shanghai’s Yangshan terminal will grow by at least 40 per cent, said Wang Xuan, general manager of Yangshan Tongsheng Port Construction, the company in charge of the terminal’s design and construction.

Situated at the estuary of Hangzhou Bay, Yangshan started operations in late 2005. Since then, the annual growth rate of its container throughput volume has averaged 32.5 per cent.

More than Rmb10bn will be spent on building new deep-water berths in the terminal, said Mr Wang. This will increase handling capacity by at least 40 per cent and facilitate Shanghai's efforts to become an international shipping hub, he said.

The fourth phase is expected to be finished in 2015, which will add 4m TEU to its current designed capacity of 9.3m TEU. Throughput at Yangshan is planned to grow to 12.3m TEU in 2011, up 22 per cent from 10.1m TEU in 2010, said Wang. Yangshan’s target is to have a throughput volume of 15m TEU by 2020.