Yangtze port terminal development

Denmark's AP Moller-Maersk intends to invest in new port facilities at a key inland harbour on China's Yangtze river, according to a senior executive in the Copenhagen office of Maersk.

The port terminals segment of the Danish shipping firm will sign a memorandum of understanding this week with state-owned Chongqing Port and Logistics Group to develop port facilities at the fast-growing provincial capital.

Soren Hansen, senior director of corporate business development in APM Terminals, said no commercial transactions or investments will take place at this stage, but Maersk aims to invest in the Yangtze facility in the near future.

"Growth rates are so high and concentrated on the river so obviously this is a place we really want to be," Hansen told Reuters.

He added that he forsees huge growth potential in the area as the entire region of Sichuan, which is home to 100 million people, only has an annual throughput of 400,000 twenty-foot containers (TEU).