JOC Staff | Oct 27, 2011 10:51AM EDT
Dandong Port in Northern China will spend nearly $7.1 billion over the next five years to increase throughput some 67 percent at facilities with strong connections in North Asia.
The expansion will take throughput at China’s northernmost port, which borders North Korea on the Yellow Sea, from 60 million metric tons to 100 metric tons, according to the Xinhau China state news agency.
The port’s container throughput of 117,000 20-foot-equivalent units in the first quarter this year, the most recent period for which statistics were available, was up 84.4 percent over the same period a year ago.
Officials in China’s Liaoning Province said the investment would cement the port’s role as a transport hub connecting the Korean peninsula with the Eurasia region, including Russia and Mongolia.
Connected to North Korea by a bridge across the Yalu River, the port also is a major transit point for the growing trade between North Korea and China.
According to Xinhau, the port has 26 berths and connections by sea to 70 ports. Dandong has spent about $1.75 billion this year on upgrades.
