The general-purpose terminal at Yangkou Port in Rudong county, Nantong, Jiangsu province. [Photo/Nantong Daily]

A foreign vessel, SPM Bangkok, laden with 11,000 tons of raw materials for Gold Hongye Paper (Nantong) Co Ltd, docked at the general-purpose terminal of Yangkou Port in Rudong on March 1. This marks the first international bulk cargo vessel to arrive at the terminal since it obtained its qualification for opening on Jan 25, indicating a comprehensive enhancement of the port's service capabilities for industries.

Gold Hongye's production base in Yangkou Port, invested by Indonesia's Sinar Mas Group, commenced construction in 2019. With a planned total investment of 45 billion yuan ($6.25 billion) and area of 567 hectares, the project aims to achieve an annual output of 3.96 million metric tons, becoming the world's largest production base for tissue paper.

The project is divided into three phases. Currently, all 24 machines of Phase I are in operation, with an annual production capacity of 780,000 tons. In order to meet the water transportation needs of the project, an expansion of the general-purpose terminal was also launched in 2019.

The expansion project transformed the original 10,000-ton terminal into a 50,000-ton facility and constructed a new 5,000-ton general-purpose berth. The annual throughput capacity has increased from 800,000 tons to over 3 million tons, matching the paper production base's capacity.

Yangkou Port currently has three terminals, including a general-purpose terminal, a liquid chemicals terminal, and an LNG (liquefied natural gas) terminal. Ding Hui, deputy general manager of Jiangsu Yangkou Port Management Co Ltd, stated that in 2023, the port received 418 bulk liquid chemical vessels with a throughput of 3.43 million tons, setting a new annual throughput record since its inception.

In the first two months of this year, the port has handled 91 vessels, totaling 784,600 tons in throughput. It is expected that the annual throughput will reach a new high in 2024.

Shao Feng, a Party official of the Yangkou Port Economic Development Zone, said that the planning of the port is aimed at improving supply chains for nearby industries such as new energy, new materials, and equipment manufacturing, so as to attract more major projects.