Shanghai Port will create another world No. 1
Shanghai Port, which has ranked first in the world in container throughput for thirteen consecutive years, has not slowed down its pace of competing for other firsts. A few days ago, the second step of the public wharf project in the East Port Area of Shanghai, that is, the second step of the Nangang Wharf started construction. After the completion of the second phase of the wharf, the overall passing capacity of Shanghai Nangang can reach about 2.5 million vehicles per year, which will help Shanghai Port to build the world’s largest port. Shanghai Nangang is a national first-class open port. It is the only multi-purpose and comprehensive public port area in the southeast of Shanghai. It is also the only international port in the Lingang New Area close to the land and directly connected to the land of the Yangshan Special Comprehensive Protection Zone. Shanghai Nangang has a geographical advantage in transporting exports of vehicles. The Lingang New Area is close to the factories of Tesla, and SAIC Motor, which relatively saves transportation costs. The first phase of Nangang Wharf has 9 berths, and the second phase can be expanded to 18 berths for more than 10,000 tons. The total length of the first phase of the wharf is about 760 meters, the width of the wharf is 60 meters, and the designed water depth of the frontier wharf is -11.3 meters. The first-phase wharf that has been built cannot meet the overall requirements. It also needs the second step to satisfy the basic function of the wharf.
Recently, the second phase of the wharf project started construction. The second phase of the wharf is designed to be 740 meters long and 60 meters wide. A total of 9 10,000-ton berths will be built. It is designed to berth a 70,000-ton ship and a 50,000-ton comprehensive ship. The approach bridge is about 968 meters long and adopts a two-way 4-lane construction scale with a width of 18 meters. Through reasonable traffic organization, the newly built second-phase approach bridge and the existing first-phase approach bridge can be used in coordination. The total investment of the project is ¥740 million, and it is planned to be completed in 2024. After the completion of the second phase of the terminal, the overall throughput capacity of Shanghai Nangang can reach about 2.5 million vehicles per year.
At present, Shanghai Port is already the largest port in China. In recent years, the business volume has risen sharply due to the export of automobiles. Haitong Company, a subsidiary of SIPG, will have a throughput of 2.9 million vehicles in 2022, a substantial increase of 41.24%, ranking first in the world, but in fact, Haitong has integrated the resources of Waigaoqiao, Lingang, and Taicang ports. The largest automobile port in the world is the Port of Bruges in Antwerp, Belgium. This port is the main port for the import and export of automobiles in the European market and one of the main ports for the export of automobiles in China. It is formed by the merger of the Port of Antwerp and the Port of Zeebrugge. In 2021, the Port of Zeebrugge will handle 2.2 million new vehicles, with a total area of more than 400 hectares and a parking capacity of 210,000 vehicles. In April 2022, the Port of Antwerp merged with the Port of Zeebrugge, which consolidated its status as the world’s largest carport. The latest data shows that in 2022, the Antwerp-Bruges port’s business will increase by 6.5% overall, handling more than 3.26 million new vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 10.5%. At present, there is still a gap between Shanghai Port and Antwerp Bruges for the export of automobiles, but the construction of the second phase of Shanghai Nangang can fill the gap in hardware requirements. The gap in import and export volume depends to a certain extent on the automobile industry and market. There is no doubt that the competitiveness of Japanese, Korean and European traditional car companies is better than that of Chinese traditional car companies.
The focus of Shanghai’s shipping business is currently still in the Waigaoqiao Port Area of Shanghai Port, with an annual production capacity of 1.7 million vehicles. On January 1, 2022, Shanghai Port Group signed a contract with Lingang Group to promote the integration of Shanghai Nangang into the overall development plan of Shanghai Port. For example, during the resumption of work after the peak of Covid-19 in Shanghai in May 2022, the automotive business in the Waigaoqiao Port Area of Shanghai Port was gradually diverted to Shanghai Nangang. Shanghai Nangang focuses on the three major functions of “roll-on-roll-off, groceries, and fresh chain”, making up for the relative shortage of Shanghai Port except for containers and cargo to make Shanghai Port the largest port in the world with comprehensive development. Taking advantage of the increasing trend of the domestic auto market and the development of new energy vehicles in recent years, Shanghai Port may become the World’s No. 1.
