Before the speed of development of Dung Quat Economic Zone, the seaport here is wearing a "tiny shirt", which has not been invested in accordance with the master plan, causing big difficulties for the businesses.
After 25 years of operation, Dung Quat economic zone has only 8 ports that have been invested and put into operation. In which, Hoa Phat Dung Quat Port receives the ships with a capacity of 150,000 - 200,000 tons. The remaining ports can only receive the ships of 50,000 - 70,000 tons.
Mr. Le Van Luong, Director of Quang Ngai Port Maritime Administration, said that Dung Quat is developing rapidly. In 2020, the volume of cargos through the port is reached 35 million tons and expected to be 40 million tons in 2021. Therefore, the investment and expansion of ports in Dung Quat Economic Zone is very necessary.
In the photo: Engineers and workers connect crude oil pump pipes to tanks and storage tanks of Dung Quat oil refinery.
Leaders of the Quang Ngai Port Maritime Administration said that if the investment in ports is slow, especially the international port, there is a risk that goods will be stuck in Dung Quat Economic Zone, causing economic damage to businesses and losses revenue for the State.
(In the photo: Wood chips are stuck at the ports of Dung Quat Economic Zone.)
Mr. Dang Van Minh, Chairman of Quang Ngai Provincial People's Committee, confirmed that Dung Quat Port are being exploited at 100% of their design capacity. In the long run, these ports cannot meet the export and import needs of enterprises.
Export of crane at Doosan Vina port. According to Mr. Luong, many businesses are about to invest in Dung Quat Economic Zone, in which phase 2 of Hoa Phat Dung Quat Iron and Steel Integrated Complex is expected to have 60 million tons of steel per year through the port. If there is no urgent investment in ports, goods are at risk of the congestion due to the overloaded.
Quang Ngai currently has more than 20 enterprises participating in exporting and importing goods by container with about 6,500 containers/year (average 125 containers/week).
However, Dung Quat Port does not have a container terminal, shipping lines have not been able to open domestic and international container transshipment routes here.
Dung Quat Port area currently has 8 ports that have been put into operation, including: 3 general ports and 5 specialized ports (one port of Doosan, two ports of Dung Quat oil refinery, a port for shipyards, and Hoa Phat Dung Quat port).
In fact, Dung Quat Economic Zone currently has only three general ports: PTSC, Germadept, and Hao Hung. These ports mainly receive ships to export woodchip (accounting for 90-95% of goods through the port).
Mr. Dinh Van Chung, Deputy Director of Hoa Phat Dung Quat Steel Joint Stock Company, said that the demand for importing and exporting goods for production at Hoa Phat - Dung Quat Iron and Steel Integrated Complex, as well as for construction Phase 2 of the project is huge. Before the situation of Dung Quat Port is overloaded, businesses have to spend billions of VND every year to hire more seaports outside the province to load and unload goods.
Mr. Nguyen Hai, a truck driver carrying wood chips for hire for a business from Nui Thanh district (Quang Nam) to Dung Quat port, said that one day, waiting for the ship to arrive late at the port, the procedure took a few more hours. waiting to sleep overnight from the previous afternoon to the next morning to deliver the goods to the ship.
According to Mr. Minh, in order to reduce the overload for Dung Quat Port, Quang Ngai has assigned the Petrovietnam Technical Services Corporation (PTSC) to soon invest in completing the dedicated port No. 3 and the terminals 6, 7, 8, 8. The locality has assigned Hoa Phat Dung Quat Steel Joint Stock Company to urgently construct and put it into use. The Prime Minister has also allowed Hoa Phat to build Hoa Phat Dung Quat Container General Port with a capacity of 9 million tons/year, total capital nearly 3,800 billion VND.
According to the adjustment of the master plan on development of Vietnam's seaport system to 2020, with a vision to 2030, the Prime Minister approved Dung Quat Port as a container port area, with berths for ships from 10,000 to 50,000 tons, container ships can carry up to 4,000 TEUs.
This port area includes specialized ports for the export production of the Refinery complex including the shipbuilding and repair industry, and specialized ports of heavy industry facilities for the ships of 20,000 to 150,000 tons or more. The Dung Quat Port has total 14 main ports which are planned for investment and construction, aiming to become a large-scale and modern seaport, meeting both large sea barges and container ships.
Translation by GlobalPM
