Chinese trio combine to create $2.6B Hebei Port Group
The three ports of Qinhuangdao, Caofeidian and Huangye in north China's Hebei province have combined to form the Hebei Port Group, the world's largest bulk cargo port company in terms of throughput.
The state-owned group has Yuan 18B ($2.6B) worth of assets with 17,000 employees.
According to Xu Zuyuan, vice minister of transport, the combined bulk cargo throughput of the three ports in 2008 was 281 mt, the largest volume in the world.
It is hoped that the creation of HPG will result in cooperation between the ports in the province, as well as diversifying the goods handled by the ports, which currently is mainly coal.
An official of the state-owned Asset Supervision and Administration Commission of Hebei province said that Qinhuangdao port would play a major role in HPG. Qinhuangdao has 49 berths and is capable of handling up to 256 mtpa of bulk cargo. The port handles 50% of all coal throughput in China’s coastal regions.
HPG is headed by the management of Qinhuangdao Port Group and its chairman, Huang Jianhua, has been appointed as a director of HPG.
