A.P. MOELLER Maersk, the world's largest container shipping line, and Cosco Pacific Ltd formed a 3.6 billion yuan (US$449 million) venture with the government of Tianjin to build a cargo terminal in the northeast Chinese city.

The terminal will have three berths and a total annual capacity of 1.8 million 20-foot (6.1 meters) containers, Cosco Pacific said in a statement Wednesday. The Hong Kong-based company and A.P. Moeller's APM Terminals unit each own 30 percent of the venture, the statement said.

Global port managers including Cosco Pacific, the fifth-biggest in the world, are expanding as rising trade increases demand for sea cargo. About 80 percent of the world's trade is carried by sea.

The new Beigangchi terminal will cost 4 billion yuan, Cosco Pacific Managing Director Sun Jiakiang said on May 18. The first two container berths will open next year, he said.

The terminal will help boost Tianjin's cargo volume to a target of 10 million standard 20-foot boxes in 2010, Cosco Pacific, which already helps manage four berths in Tianjin, said yesterday.

Cargo volume at Tianjin rose 26 percent to 4.8 million 20-foot boxes last year, making it Chinese mainland's fifth-busiest port, according to Containerisation International.

Tianjin Port Group Co, owned by the city's government, owns the remaining 40 percent of the venture, said Cosco Pacific. The companies signed a letter of intent for the project last year.

Tianjin Port Group has a separate venture with Singapore's PSA International Pte, the world's second-largest port investor, to build four container berths.

DP World, owned by the government of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, China Merchants Holdings (International) Co and Hong Kong-listed Tianjin Port Development Holdings Ltd are among the other operators at Tianjin.

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