New Japan service for Taicang Terminals

This is a new weekly service between the southwestern Japanese port of Shimonoseki and the Yangtze River delta area of China. The 184.5 m Utopia 2 will arrive at Taicang every Tuesday and will leave the next day, carrying reefers, garment hanger containers, cars, outsize cargo and bulk cargo.

Taicang Terminals is a joint venture majority controlled and managed by Modern Terminals of Hong Kong, with a 51% stake. Its partners are Cosco and the Suzhou Port Development Group, with 46% and 3% respectively. Located in Jiangsu province, it is a deepwater port strategically well placed for the booming Yangtze delta area around Suzhou.

In the first eight months of 2006, Taicang Terminals handled 1.9 million tonnes of bulk cargo and over 400,000 teu – an increase of 110% over the same period of 2005. Volume growth at Taicang has exceeded 100% over the past two years, making it one of the five fastest-growing container ports in China.