Jiangsu to merge port assets
Two listed port companies in China’s Jiangsu province, Nanjing Port and Lianyungang Port, have announced that they have received a notice from their controlling shareholders regarding the establishment of Jiangsu Port Group.
The new port group will merge all the major port companies in the province including Nanjing Port, Lianyungang Port, Dafeng Port, Nantong Port, Taizhou Port, Suzhou Port, Wuxi Port, Taicang Port and Jiangyin Port, and will have a total asset scale of over RMB100bn ($14.5bn).
According to the notice, the move is to optimize the port assets and enhance operational efficiency in province amid the downturn in the shipping industry.
The merger is part of a series of port assets mergers led by the central government. Zhejiang province completed the merger of Ningbo Port and Zhoushan Port in 2016. Tianjin Port is currently working on a potential asset integration with Hebei Port Group, and Liaoning province is also making a plan to merge the major ports in the region.
The ports in Jiangsu completed a cargo throughput of 2.41bn tons in 2016, up 3.3% year-on-year.