WASHINGTON: More than ever, the world’s ports are relying on heavy-lift carriers sailing from the Shanghai area with oversized port machinery on their decks. Tied down on these carriers are huge container cranes and other equipment manufactured at Shanghai-area factories operated by Zhenhua Heavy Industries (ZMPC), the world’s leading port machinery supplier since 1992.
Between June 2015 and June 2016, the company said it received 82 percent of the 271 orders for new port machinery placed worldwide. And this year between January and June, it signed 154 service contracts.
A recent ZMPC press release said in coming years the company expects to grab a growing share of the global market due to innovative engineering and Chinese government support, particularly through the Belt and Road overseas commerce initiative. Demand for fully automated container systems has been especially brisk, the company said. More than 230 terminals in 93 lands worldwide, including 47 countries targeted by Belt and Road, have installed ZPMC equipment, the company said. Despite “the current global economic downturn” and “low growth with high levels of competition for the shipping industry … ZPMC’s port machinery business is still rising steadily,” the company said.
