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Port of Shanghai defers plan to buy 40pc of Zeebrugge terminal
2009/4/14
THE Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG) has decided to delay its purchase of a 40 per cent stake in a Zeebrugge terminal from AP Moeller-Maersk as global downturn hits world trade, said an SIPG executive.
"We have decided to put the project on hold as the outlook in global container traffic is very different from two years ago," SIPG secretary Jiang Haitao told Reuters.
Shanghai port, China''s biggest port operator, signed an agreement in September 2006 to buy a substantial minority interest in the Belgian container terminal, which was built by APM Terminals, part of AP Moeller-Maersk of Copenhagen.
Mr Jiang denied an earlier report in the China Securities Journal that said SIPG had already purchased the stake in 2006 but was only putting off its involvement in the operation of the terminal.
In 2009, Shanghai port volume is expected to grow to 3.9 per cent to 29 million TEU year on year, slowing from a seven per cent increase in 2008, said Mr Jiang. SIPG net profit increased 26.9 per cent to CNY4.62 billion (US$676 million) from a 13.8 per cent rise in revenue in 2008.
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2009/4/15