In addition, Vopak has established a joint venture with Bohai and Tianjin Lingang Port to build and operate jetties that serve the new terminal in Tianjin. Vopak and Bohai will both have a 30% shareholding and the Port of Tianjin Lingang will hold 40%. The joint venture owns 600 meters of shoreline.
Vopak and its local business partners will start the construction of a storage terminal for liquid chemicals with an initial storage capacity of 95,300 cubic meters (cbm) and two jetties of 50,000 dwt. In the future the capacity can be expanded to 380,000 cbm. The terminal will provide independent storage and transshipment services and serve both as an industrial terminal for chemical production plants in the Lingang Industry Park and as a distribution terminal for Chinese regional logistic flows as well as for import and export purposes. It is expected that the terminal will be commissioned in the third quarter of 2011.
Tianjin is located in the northeast of China and the third largest city of the country after Beijing and Shanghai. The city is considered the logistic gateway to Beijing, which is located less than 150 kilometers away, and is one of the major petrochemical distribution centers in the northeast of China. The Lingang Industry Park in Tianjin is an industrial development area of 80 km².
Vopak already successfully operates 2 storage terminals for chemical products in Tianjin with a total storage capacity of 53,000 cbm.