Ports are a barometer to observe the economic pulse. At ports such as the Port of Dalian, the Port of Yingkou, and the Port of Panjin in Liaoning, gantry cranes are busy working, and large cargo ships are fully loaded and ready to set sail. The cargo throughput of the ports is gradually coming out of the downturn, stabilizing and recovering.
In early spring, under the blue sky and beside the blue sea, the automobile terminal of the Port of Dalian is particularly busy, with brand-new cars driving one after another into a large cargo ship to be sent to southern China and Central Asia. It is one of the earliest specialized roll-on/roll-off terminals to be put into production and operation in China’s coastal areas. After more than ten years of construction and development, it has become the northern hub for domestic commercial vehicles transported by sea between the north and the south in China. In January of this year, the automobile terminal of the Port of Dalian completed the export of over 6,000 commercial vehicles for foreign trade, an increase of nearly 270%, compared to the same period last year.

Gantry cranes are in operation at the steel terminal of the Port of Yingkou.

Entering the steel terminal of the Port of Yingkou, another major port in Liaoning, we can see that its 10 berths are filled with cargo ships, and that all 36 gantry cranes are in operation, grabbing groups of steel coils and loading them onto the ships ready to be sent to East China. As the demand for steel has increased since the beginning of this year, shipments of medium-thick fine plates for shipbuilding and large pipelines have increased by 10%, and more than 30,000 tons of hot-rolled coils for foreign trade in automobiles and household appliances have been shipped.

At the grain terminal of the Port of Panjin, a foreign trade cargo ship carrying soybeans is docked at a berth.

At the Port of Panjin’s grain terminal, one of the major grain trading terminals in northern China, a foreign trade cargo ship carrying over 50,000 tons of soybeans is unloading. The soybeans are conveyed into the warehouse by four conveyor belts at a speed of 2,000 tons per hour, and ready to be shipped to large domestic grain-utilizing enterprises. In January of this year, the transfer volume at the terminal reached 500,000 tons, an increase of 170%, compared to the same period last year.
It is reported that since February, the throughput of cargoes such as steel, coal, grain, non-metallic minerals, etc. in major ports of Liaoning, has increased year-on-year, with that of some cargoes doubling.

A busy scene at the container terminal of the Port of Yingkou.

The most persuasive evidence of confidence with the future is whether or not to invest. Recently, the project of Panasonic Refrigeration Bonded Central Warehouse officially settled in the Port of Dalian. The distribution center warehouses, aimed at Japanese, North American, and European markets, will be put into use one after another. It is estimated that the total annual container operation volume will be about 1800 TEUs and the annual export value about 40 million US dollars.
With the recovery of trade, new shipping routes are also being opened. In January of this year, the Port of Dalian opened a container “express line” for South American cherries. Entire ships of cherries are imported to the Port of Dalian through direct purchasing and chartered ships, and some of the cherries are transshipped through the Port of Dalian to South Korea, thus enhancing the Port of Dalian’s distribution and sorting services for South American fruits and expanding its business coverage.