Giant agriculture port reopens

The newly expanded Cai Mep Agriculture Port in Ba Ria – Vung Tau Province, the country’s largest and one of the largest in the region, reopened on Wednesday.

The 308-metre-long port has seen its capacity increase from 30,000 tonnes to 160,000 tonnes now and it will rise further to 200,000 tonnes next year. It is capable of accommodating ships of up to 75,000DWT.

Expansion of the port, built in 2003 by the Singapore- owned Interflour Vietnam Ltd Company, costs US$50 million.

Interflour has installed automatic handling equipment with a capacity of 1,200 tonnes per hour and support equipment such as four electronic weighing systems and two weighstations with a capacity of 60 and 80 tonnes.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Tran Minh Sanh, chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, said the expansion would help importers and exporters cut the cost of transportation and storage, increasing their competitiveness.

It would also help create jobs for the local workforce, he added.

Interflour also held yesterday the ground-breaking ceremony for its second flour mill, which has a capacity of 1,000 tonnes a day. When finished at the end of next year, it will make the company the country’s largest wheat flour producer.

Its existing flour mill in the Cai Mep Industrial Park in the province produces 500 tonnes a day.

The company has six mills in Southeast Asia and a research and development centre in Malaysia. — VNS

Tags: Cai Mep Agriculture Port