South Korea's main port of Pusan will open three new berths in January, part of a $9 billion plan to double its container handling capacity by 2011, the head of the port authority said.
The investment is part of moves by the port, Asia's fifth largest in container cargo throughput, to tackle competition from fast-growing Asian rivals, particularly in China.
Choo June-suk also said in an interview late on Wednesday the authority expected to tap financial markets to raise some $700 million from late 2006. "Construction of three new berths will be completed by the end of this year and will open in January," Choo, president of Busan Port Authority, said in his office overlooking the port, which uses the new English spelling of Pusan.
Nine berths, including the three, are being built by a company controlled by Dubai Port International out of total 30 to be built with the $9 billion investment on a site some 25 km (15.5 miles) west of the 130-year-old main port.
The authority, which will own the new facilities once completed, plans to invest some 720 billion won ($694 million) in building eight container berths and developing a site for warehouse, storage and manufacturing firms, Choo said.
"From next year, demand for funds will rapidly increase and therefore we are now seriously considering borrowing from financial institutions or issuing bonds," he said, adding the financing might be made at home or abroad.
Choo said the authority had no plan at present to sell shares either to the public or to clients.
Pusan port, located 420 km (261 miles) south-east of Seoul, handled 11.49 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) - a standard measure for a 20-foot container - last year and expects to handle 12.5 million boxes this year.