Zhu Xi’an, a researcher with the research center of mysteel.com, says that China’s large ore wharves still have inadequate capacity to receive and offload ores, and that this holds up the supply of raw materials for China’s steelmakers. This calls for a large infusion of captial. In his opinion, with a view to lowering handling costs and guaranteeing ore supply, the steel enterprises should strengthen their cooperation with coastal ports, particularly since China’s iron and steel industry is shifting toward coastal areas. In the future, the coastal iron and steel bases will depend more heavily on imported ores. Under the pressure of fierce competition, ports also hope for closer cooperation with the steel industry so as to guarantee their throughput volumes.

The “Triple-Use” Approach

Port logistics transportation is based on a network of different transportation routes, intersections and cargo tallying terminals. Rational distribution and effective linking of water transportation, railways and storage are crucial to enhancing logistics efficiency.

Logistics management involves not only the process of cargo flow from supplier to recipient, but also the flow of information and capital. Dynamic integration of transportation, storage, loading/offloading, packaging, distribution, delivery, and information processing sensitive to different needs can get cargoes to their destinations in the shortest possible time.

The alliance between Shanghai Port and steel/power-generating enterprises, aimed at mutually beneficial sustainable development, has opened up a coastline that both sides can use simultaneously. The port provides a customized service for steel/power-generating enterprises too, delivering raw materials such as iron ore and coal as well as manufactured products, ensuring seamless and accurate delivery between the port and those enterprises.

Power-generating enterprises also send slag to a coastline pit dug by Shanghai Port. This waste material can be used both to build embankments and, once the pit is full, to become a storage yard for the wharf, thus transforming waste into precious land resources.

Through this “triple-use” approach, Shanghai Port has attained its goal of being a “resource-saving and environmentally-friendly port.” The port also collects production and daily-life wastewater plus rainwater runoff from storage yards, and uses it for dust-suppression after recycling, thereby achieving comprehensive utilization of water resources and zero discharge of wastewater.

Cooperation between Shanghai Port and steel/power-generating enterprises, through systematic integration and optimized arrangement, has enhanced the overall level of port logistics, reduced energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, thereby creating an ecological green port.