Yantian Port to Invest US$566 Million in Zhangjiagang Terminal

Shenzhen Yantian Port Holdings announced plans to invest US$566 million, equivalent to about RMB3.79 billion, in the first phase of the Shenzhang Port Affairs terminal, located in the Zhangjiagang port area of Jiangsu Province, China. The project aims to integrate loading and unloading operations, logistics, storage and multimodal transport, forming a river-sea connection hub within the Metallurgical Industrial Park of the Zhangjiagang port area, which belongs to the Port of Suzhou.

The initiative will be carried out through a wholly owned subsidiary in Jiangsu, Shenzhang Port (Jiangsu) Port Affairs. The company's board approved the investment on October 10, according to a filing dated October 13, and shareholders are set to vote on the proposal on October 29. The filing clarified that the project's relevant contracts had not yet been signed.

The new terminal adds to a network that Yantian Port has been building along the Yangtze River for more than a decade. Huangshi New Port, in Hubei, began operations in September 2015, and in January 2020 the company established a headquarters platform in Hubei to coordinate port and industrial development, including its interests in Huangshi, Changde and Jinshi, the latter two in Hunan. A terminal in Zhangjiagang would give the company an additional foothold on the lower Yangtze, close to the industrial markets of the river delta.

The financing plan calls for approximately RMB1.52 billion in equity contributions, equivalent to 40% of the investment, while the remainder, about RMB2.27 billion, would be covered through bank loans and other channels. The company may also explore bringing in strategic investors as the project moves forward. The filing noted exposure to fluctuations in bulk cargo demand and to competition from other Jiangsu river ports that are expanding their cargo-handling capacity.

The project also includes a rail component. In a response dated May 16, 2025, the Zhangjiagang municipal government described a proposed line of approximately 17.3 kilometers from Zhangjiagang North Station to the metallurgical industrial park and the Shenzhang port hub, though it specified that this work is still at the study and feasibility stage, with approvals and construction contingent on progress of the port project.