For this purpose a joint venture has been established in which SDIC holds 51% of the shares and Vopak holds 49%. The terminal will have two jetties and a storage capacity of 1.35 million cubic meters (cbm), and is located within the Yangpu Economic Development Zone. One of the jetties accommodates Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCC’s). Vopak and its partner SDIC recently obtained approval from the NDRC to develop the terminal and are completing the final preparation phase to start the construction of the terminal.

The joint venture aims to develop Vopak SDIC Terminal Yangpu into a break bulk and blending hub terminal. With a VLCC jetty and excellent natural deep water access, this terminal will be the first independent third party oil storage terminal in South China that can receive and handle crude tankers of up to 375,000 DWT. The joint venture plans to commission the terminal, of which the storage capacity can be expanded up to 5.2 million cbm in the future, by the end of 2013. For the development of the terminal a project financing agreement has been signed with a syndicate of six Chinese banks, led by Agricultural Bank of China.

Hainan is strategically located along important shipping lanes for crude oil that connect the Middle East, South America and Africa to the Far East as well as to the West Coast of the United States. The crude oil shipped into this South Chinese region is expected to grow considerably in the coming years.

Vopak actively pursues a growth strategy in China and many other locations around the world that are of critical importance to its customers. With this new terminal in Hainan the storage capacity of Vopak’s Chinese terminal network increases from 1.2 million cbm today to well over 3 million cbm in 2013.
On a global scale Vopak will add more than 6 million cbm to its total storage capacity for bulk liquids including the announced projects in China leading to a total storage capacity of 31.4 million cbm at the end of 2013.