ASTANA – Kazakhstan will need to spend more than $100 million to build a terminal in the Chinese port of Lianyungang, said a Jan. 16 report by the country’s national railway company, Kazakhstan Temir Zholy.
According to the project’s feasibility study, its estimated cost is $112 million. The Kazakhstan Temir Zholy report stated that on Jan. 9, a joint venture agreement was signed between Kazakhstan Temir Zholy and the Chinese company Lianyungang Gankou Jituan. The agreement outlined the parties’ shares and obligations in the joint venture, activity on which will begin in the near future.
“The beginning of construction of the terminal is planned for the second quarter of 2014. The Chinese partners conducted the zero cycle work in 2013 to prepare the site for construction of the terminal,” the report stated.
On Sept. 7, 2013, an agreement on cooperation and interaction was signed between Kazakhstan Temir Zholy and the government of Lianyungang that envisages the creation of a Kazakhstan terminal in Lianyungang’s port. Previously, President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev noted that the project would allow Kazakhstan to reach the Asia-Pacific region via a route more than three times shorter than existing ones.
Kazakhstan Temir Zholy explained that the contributions of participants in the project will be formed according to their participation shares. The joint venture plans to take out a bank loan, but does not specify from where.
According to Kazakhstan Temir Zholy, the purpose of the project is to facilitate the processing and handling of Kazakhstan’s imports and exports as well as transit cargo from Southeast Asia, Australia and Canada, providing a full package of services for all types of transport carriers. The idea of attracting prospective cargo volumes through the Chinese port was worked out with leading domestic shippers and exporters of grain.
