Ports in Hebei will begin to consolidate

On July 18, Tangshan Port Group and Qinhuangdao Port respectively issued a major matters suggestive announcement : On July 18, 2022 Tangshan Port received the notice on "free transfer of state-owned equity" from Tangshan Port Industrial Group, according to the "Construction Plan of Hebei Bohai Port Group", plans to implement the integration of port resources in Hebei province, the formation of Hebei Bohai Port Group : Will integrate introspection related state-owned port city in Hebei province enterprise equity will free of charge transfer to Hebei Port Group, Hebei Port Group will be renamed "Hebei Bohai Port Group".
 
The actual controller of Tangshan Port will be changed from the State-owned Assets Supervision & Administration Commission of The People's Government of Tangshan to the State-owned Assets Supervision & Administration Commission of The People's Government of Hebei Province. Hebei Port Group will become the indirect controlling shareholder of the company, and the controlling shareholder of the company will still be Tangshan Port Industrial Group. The controlling shareholder of Qinhuangdao Port is still Hebei Port Group, and the actual controller is still the State-owned Assets Supervision & Administration Commission of The People's Government of Hebei Province.
 
Currently, Hebei Port Group, as an integrated platform, is wholly controlled by the State-owned Assets Supervision & Administration Commission of The People's Government of Hebei Province. Its business covers port operation, port logistics, investment operation and other fields. The main operator of the port is its listed company Qinhuangdao Port, which operates and manages Qinhuangdao Port. And in Cao Feidian Port, Huanghua Port built docks or berths, operating coal, iron ore, groceries, containers and other businesses. Hebei Port Group has 71 production berths with a designed annual handling capacity of 390 million tons and a cargo throughput of 379 million tons in 2021, up 0.73% year on year. Among them, Qinhuangdao Port completed a cargo throughput of 201 million tons.
 
Transfer to Tangshan. In this announcement, all equity is transferred free to Tangshan Port Industrial Group of Hebei Port Group, which is solely controlled by the State-owned Assets Supervision & Administration Commission of The People's Government of Tangshan, Tangshan Port, a subordinate enterprise of Tangshan Port Industrial Group, is the operating subject. Cao Feidian State Holding Investment Group, wholly owned by the State-owned Assets Supervision & Administration Commission of The People's Government of Tangshan, and its subordinate Cao Feidian Port Group operate part of the berthing in Cao Feidian Port Area. Hebei Port Group, SDIC, China Huadian Corporation, China Huaneng Group and other owners also hold and operate in Cao Feidian Port Area. In 2021, Tangshan Port completed cargo throughput of 722 million tons, up 2.8% year on year, and container throughput of 3.29 million TEUS, up 5.7% year on year.
 
In Cangzhou, Cangzhou Port Group indirectly controlled by the State-owned Assets Supervision & Administration Commission of The People's Government of Cangzhou, is responsible for the management of Huanghua Port. In 2021, the cargo throughput of the port reached 311 million tons.
 
According to the "Construction Plan of Hebei Bohai Port Group", in addition to Tangshan Port Industrial Group, the equity of Cao Feidian Port Group and Cangzhou Port Group held by the State-owned Assets Supervision & Administration Commission of The People's Government of Tangshan, Cangzhou should also be transferred to Hebei Port Group free of charge in the future.
 
Hebei Port Group changed its name to Hebei Bohai Port Group, which may also indicate that, on the basis of integrating the ports in Hebei province, the ports in Hebei will not only forge ahead together in the competition of Bohai Rim ports, but also become a force that cannot be ignored in the regional coordinated development of Bohai Rim ports.

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