China ports offer free storage amid crisis

Shanghai International Port Co., China's largest port operator by volume, has been shoring up its crisis-hit business by offering carriers virtually free container storage, a report said. The state-controlled firm began the offer in November to its larger clients, who must pay only a deeply discounted handling fee, an official at the port operator told Dow Jones Newswires on condition of anonymity. The programme enables shipping companies to safely store their containers, which have been idled as the global economic downturn has battered demand for exports. It also allows the Shanghai-listed company to inflate its throughput volume -- which measures container volume handled not cargo loaded and unloaded -- and build goodwill with ailing clients, the report said. The programme comes as China is pushing a plan for Shanghai to overtake Singapore as the world's busiest port, the report said. China's severe drop in exports led to an 11 percent year on year fall in overall container throughput in the first four months of this year, the report said, citing Credit Suisse.