The Taiwanese city of Tainan has opened its first container distribution centre as part of its economic development, some 24 years after its port, Anping, was upgraded from a domestic to an international port.
With the support of the Maritime Port Bureau, a statutory board under the Ministry of Transport and Communications in Taiwan, and Tainan’s municipal officials, the Tainan-based logistics company Earnest Free Trade & Container Terminal Corp. invested US$10.8 million to develop the container distribution centre at berths 8 and 9 of Anping port.
The distribution centre occupies 25,000m² and government and city officials hope that this will mark a new milestone in container handling at the port, which is much smaller than Kaohsiung and Taipei.
Tainan mayor Huang Wei-che said, “The tidal range of Anping Port is small, and therefore, container ships entering Anping are less affected by the tidal movements, making it convenient to unload containers. After the opening of Tainan’s first container terminal, this distribution centre shows that the port can take the lead in the same way as Tainan’s economic development.”
Earnest Free Trade & Container Terminal Corp.’s chairman, Tsai Pang-cheng, stated that the new facility has 1,500m² of warehouses, and two warehouses for dangerous goods, adding that the latter comply with fire protection laws. There is also the capacity to store more than 200 refrigerated containers and 100 dry containers.
Martina Li
Asia Correspondent
