With Yangshan purchase, Shanghai poised to beat Singapore

SHANGHAI International Port Group is buying part of the new Yangshan container dock and thus threatens Singapore's No 1 spot as the busiest container port in the world.
News of the acquisition from Tongsheng Investment Group, a one-third owner, pending approval from shareholders, came in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange, and will add 1.15 million TEU capacity in 2009 and 1.3 million TEU in 2010.
The port operator is to sell CNY3.7 billion (US$540 million) in one-year bonds to fund the acquisition from Shanghai Tongsheng Investment, but the overall sale price is as yet undisclosed, reports Bloomberg News.
Such an acquisition is predicted to have Shanghai container volumes surpass Singapore's, with the addition of Phase 3 section likely to produce net income of CNY43 million over two years, said Shanghai Port in the report.
Shanghai growth, according to the municipal statistics bureau over the last 10 months, has dropped to 8.7 per cent, likely a 12 per cent growth overall, down from 20.5 per cent growth in the full year 2007 when throughput hit 23.9 million TEU.