Ningbo Zhoushan Port Sets Record Annual Cargo Volume

January 4, 2017

China’s Ningbo Zhoushan Port (NZP) handled a total of 900 million tons of freight in 2016, claiming to have become the first port in the world with such a high annual cargo throughput.

Positive results come sixteen months after Ningbo Port Group merged with Zhoushan Port Group, creating the world’s busiest port in terms of cargo tonnage with a combined annual throughput of 843.7 million tons in 2014.

In 2015, NZP’s annual cargo volume amounted to 889 million tons and ranked first in the world, according to the port.

From January to November 2016, NZP ranked first among major six container ports in the world in terms of the growing rate of container throughput, the port said. According to latest estimation by the business department of NZP, the container throughput of the port was expected to exceed 21.5 million TEUs, a year-on-year increase of 4.5%.

In the first half of 2016, the port signed an agreement with Danish shipping conglomerate A.P. Møller Mærsk to expand cooperation and accelerate joint development projects.

Additionally, NZP and Brazil-based mining company Vale decided to further extend their cooperation in iron ore logistics as the company started using the port’s Beilum ore terminal for its ore blending operations from March 2016.

The port also said it “strengthened communication and contact” with Sinopec, PetroChina and CNOOC to accelerate backflow of crude oil supply.

In respect of roll on/roll off (RoRo) shipment operation, NZP united with domestic RoRo shipping firms to open the shipping routes from Meishan to Xiamen, Guangzhou, Yantai and Dalian and expected to handle 17,000 cars in 2016, an increase of over 8 percent year-on-year.

By 2020, NZP expects to complete the construction of the modern hub port with annual cargo handling of 1 billion tons and further improve its position among the major ports in the world.

NZP aims at achieving annual container throughput of over 26 million TEUs and ranking one of the top three major container ports in the world.