China's CSP, UAE's Abu Dhabi Ports launch new terminal -- China's COSCO Shipping Ports Limited (CSP) and Abu Dhabi Ports inaugurated on Dec. 10 a new terminal at Khalifa Port. The CSP Abu Dhabi Terminal has a design capacity of 2.5 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units) and will begin with a handling capacity of 1.5 million TEU. The water depth of the terminal is 16.5 meters, allowing it to accommodate mega-vessels typically carrying in excess of 20,000 TEU.
CAMCE signs contract for Azerbaijani steel production complex construction project -- China CAMC Engineering Co., Ltd. (CAMCE) and Azerbaijani Integrated Steelmaking Company signed a contract on December 5 for the construction project of Azerbaijan Steel Production Complex here in Beijing. The contract value of the project is 1.17 billion U.S. dollars and the project construction is expected to last 42 months. Located in Ganja, Azerbaijan, the new integrated steelmaking plant will be built by the Chinese company. The steel plant is expected to have an annual production capacity of 1.25 million metric tons (tonnes) of direct reduced iron and 700,000 tonnes of sheet plate products.
Chinese lithium-ion battery maker CATL opens subsidiary in U.S. city of Detroit -- Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd (CATL), a leading lithium-ion battery maker for electric vehicles (EVs) and supplier of energy storage facilities, has opened its first subsidiary in North America. The subsidiary, named Contemporary Amperex Technology USA Inc. and unveiled on Dec. 6, would mainly focus on sales, service and testing of batteries, a source with the company said. Located in Detroit in the U.S. state of Michigan, CATL's new sales and service facility will help better serve local customers. The company has formed partnerships with multiple U.S.-based businesses that would release products on the market soon, CATL said.
Ethiopia inaugurates Chinese-built industrial park in W. Ethiopia -- Ethiopia on Dec. 8 inaugurated the Chinese-built Jimma Industry Park, in western Ethiopia's Jimma town some 350 km west of the capital Addis Ababa. Jimma Industrial Park, built by the Chinese construction giant China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), is expected to host investors in light manufacturing sectors, mainly agro-processing, textile and apparel products. Stretched on 75 hectares of land, with an ambition to attract foreign investors in Ethiopia's agro-processing sector, the industry park hosts nine manufacturing sheds. The industry zone as the latest addition in Ethiopia's huge industrial park development ambitions would help local community members, particularly the youth, through the creation of thousands of employment opportunities.
Norway's 2nd largest bridge built by Chinese firm opens to traffic-- A ceremony was held on Dec. 8 to officially open Norway's second largest bridge that has been built by a Chinese company and its partners some 220 km inside the Arctic Circle. With a total length of 1,533 meters and a free span of 1,145 meters, the Halogaland Bridge near Norway's northern port city of Narvik is the longest suspension bridge within the Arctic Circle. It is China's Sichuan Road and Bridge Group (SRBG) that delivered the steel constructions and was responsible for the mounting of the bridge, which contributes to a significant shortcut on European route E6 -- the main north-south road through Norway and the west coast of Sweden.
Chinese construction company hands over mega water dam to Zambia -- China's Anhui Foreign Economic Construction Corporation (AFECC) handed over a mega water dam with a storage capacity of 61 million cubic meters to the Zambian government on Dec. 6. The project, launched in March 2016, has been completed and handed over nine months ahead of schedule, according to Kan Jiatao, the Chinese firm's project manager. The 1.6-kilometer-long dam financed by the World Bank at a cost of 28 million U.S. dollars will see about 4,000 hectares of land be brought under irrigation with at least 1,500 hectares under smallholder farmers.
Yamal LNG project reaches full production capacity -- Yamal liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Arctic Russia officially commissioned the third or last production line on Dec. 11 and thus reached its full capacity.Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev gave an order through a video conference to load a cargo ship with LNG produced in the third line at Sabetta port on Yamal Peninsula. The Yamal LNG project is owned by Russia's Novatek (50.1 percent), France's Total (20 percent), CNPC (20 percent) and China's Silk Road Fund (9.9 percent).The plant consists of three production lines with each having a capacity of 5.5 million tons per year. The first production line started operation in December 2017 and the second one was launched in August 2018.
Track-laying begins for subway line to Beijing new airport -- Workers have started to lay tracks for a subway line connecting downtown Beijing with its new international airport, local authorities said on Dec. 12. Stretching over 41 kilometers through the southern part of Beijing Municipality, the new line will link Beijing Daxing International Airport with Caoqiao station in Fengtai District, where passengers can transfer to subway line 10, according to the Beijing Major Projects Construction Headquarters Office. The new line will be put into service at the end of September 2019, when the airport starts test operation. New technologies such as self-driving systems will be used on the line, the office said.
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