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| Delivery delays cause concern |
| 2009-7-1 14:15:00 |
China's overloaded transport system is struggling to keep up with demand. The subsequent delays in deliveries of commodities such as coal, iron ore, fertilizer and grains have pushed up some prices, putting inflationary pressure on the nation's economy.
Railway congestion has led to an undersupply of coal, meaning power plants in some areas - including Shanxi Province, China's biggest coal supply region - have been lagging.
Some plants have halted operations, compounding problems for the already struggling national electricity network.
Truck deliveries are also tight as the government started cracking down on overloaded vehicles at the end of last year.
According to Ministry of Railways statistics, the daily demand for carriages has surged to 280,000 in recent months, up from last year's daily average of 160,000. The rail network, however, can handle less than 100,000 carriages a day.
"Railway construction (in the past) has failed to match the rapid development of the nation's economy, which has created a bottleneck for economic growth," said Wang Xinyou from the Beijing Railways Bureau.
A busy farming season has deteriorated the situation further.
The demand to transport farming materials, such as grains, fertilizers, pesticides, seeds and farming machinery, has peaked, according to a Ministry of Railways official.
Applications to increase freight volumes "came in like snowflakes" from all over the country, the official said on condition of anonymity.
Railways Minister Liu Zhijun said recently that moving coal and grains has become the top priority for his departments over the next five months.
The decision will clog up domestic ports, as the railway system will not be able to keep up with the rapid increase in imports of materials like iron ore, alumina and soybean.
Iron ore and steel have clotted the docks at many ports, forcing ships to wait offshore for as long as a month before unloading cargo.
In Qingdao of Shandong Province, one of the largest ports in China, iron ore imports increased by 32 per cent year-on-year in the first three months of 2003. To make matters worse, the port is being serviced by fewer trains compared with the same period last year, according to a manager.
"They cannot move our iron ore imports in time," said the manager, who wanted to remain anonymous. "There are not enough free wagons." |
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