NOL invests US$25.8 million with SITC to run 2-berth Qingdao terminal

SINGAPORE`s NOL Group has announced it will invest US$25.8 million in a joint venture with Shanghai-based SITC International Holdings to operate a two-berth container terminal on a 30-year-concession at the Port of Qingdao.

The terminal, to open in the second half of this year, will be NOL`s first on the mainland, and will ensure future access to terminal capacity as the China trade accelerates and will add 1.5 million TEU annual capacity to the port, said the NOL statement.


"Terminal investment is a logical step for us after decades of supporting the nation`s trade on sea and land," said Kenneth Glenn, North Asia container chief for APL, Neptune Orient Lines` container unit.


Together with SITC International Holdings Company Limited, it has formed a partnership with Qingdao Qianwan United Container Terminal Co, Ltd (QQUCT) to operate the Qingdao terminal.


NOL said the fast-growing North China market is a strategic focal point for APL, and that is why it has invested in Qingdao, China`s fifth-biggest container port and the largest in the north.


APL operates terminals at Kaohsiung Kobe, Yokohama, Los Angeles, Oakland, Seattle and Dutch Harbor, Alaska. NOL also has investments in terminals in Vietnam and Thailand, and in Rotterdam World Gateway, the first container terminal of the Maasvlakte 2 port development in Rotterdam, currently under construction.