China: Shenzhen's Yantian International Container Terminals (YICT) has announced that operations have started at its first inland container depot in Dalingshan Town, part of the sprawling City of Dongguan.
"With the support of the Shenzhen government, YICT opened the inland depot to better meet the needs of the many factories that are migrating to China's interior," a YICT statement said.
Local shippers can now pick up empty containers at the facility, which is located closer to factories and cargo sources, and return empty import containers to the depot after unloading them. This is intended to save the local shippers time and money, as the empties will not require trucking back to YICT.
"Previously, we had to pick up import containers from Yantian and unload them in the factories, and then we had to return the empty containers to Yantian, but now we can just return the empties to Dalingshan, and move on with our next order," Liu Zukun, Manager of Dongguan Yongxin Logistics Company, said.
"We are now able to make two rounds a day at just one round's cost."
The 3.12-hectare facility provides 24/7 storage, management, cleaning and repair of up to 8,000TEU.
The new inland container depot is situated near to the crossing of the Changping – Humen Highway and National Highway 107.
Tracey Jia