WASHINGTON: The container terminals in the ports of Nagoya and Yokkaichi are the latest Japanese ports to create a joint venture as part of a national program to make Japan’s ports more competitive for international transshipment cargo. Through their operational integration, the ports of Nagoya and Yokkaichi will work to cut costs and boost their international competitiveness against major rival ports in Asia, such as the Port of Busan. Nagoya is Japan’s third-largest port and Yokkaichi ranks tenth.
The Nagoya-Yokkaichi International Port Corp has an initial capitalization of 30 million yen ($270,000), and seeks to raise 2 million yen more by selling shares to private investors through a third party allotment scheme. Of the initial 30 million yen, 19.5 million came from Nagoya Port Authority and the remainder from the Yokkaichi Port Authority. Eiichi Ishigaki, the former vice governor of the Mie prefecture where Yokkaichi is located, will be chairman of the new entity and former MOL chairman and former president of Japan Post Eiichi Ishigaki will hold the position of president. In 2015 the latest year for which Ministry of Transport figures are available, the Port of Nagoya handled 2.5 million TEU: 1.3 million TEU in exports and 1.2 million TEU in imports.
The Port of Yokkaichi handled about 172,000 TEU in foreign trade in 2015: 93,000 TEU in exports and 79,000 TEU in imports. Nagoya and Yokkaichi join the ports of Kobe and Osaka, which formed a joint venture in October 2014, and Yokohama and Kawasaki, which followed suit in January 2016. These joint ventures are part of a Japanese government policy of enhancing major domestic container ports’ international competitiveness as part of its economic growth strategy.
