Huanghua Port is one of the ports with the shortest land transportation distance for coal export from Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Inner Mongolia. It is also the largest port for the westward shipment and eastward shipment of coal in China. Every year, two billion tons of coal are shipped from here, accounting for nearly 30% of the total coal shipped nationwide. The average daily coal transportation volume is about 600,000 tons.
Huanghua Port's "10+10" guarantee supply mechanism is very comprehensive, including 10 innovative mechanisms and 10 key points, ranging from integrated coordination to supervision of drainage, with corresponding standardized actions for each key point in the production process. Among them, two items have caught the author's attention. One of them is the 7-day precise weather forecast mechanism. Huanghua Port Authority has cooperated with the local meteorological bureau to achieve precise meteorological services for 7 days and hourly forecasts for 72 hours. Accurately grasping weather changes is of great help to port production organization. Making ship schedules before the arrival of heavy winds and fog can significantly reduce the production impact caused by adverse weather closures. At the same time, it can also take full advantage of the window period to organize ship entry and exit, alleviate the pressure on coal storage caused by long-term closures.
In the second half of 2023, Huanghua Port Authority successfully coped with the impact of 24 closures totaling 292 hours, effectively resolving the risk of three closures lasting 92 hours and blocking the port.
Huanghua Port Authority cooperated with the local maritime bureau to designate two waiting areas for incoming ships outside the breakwater gate, on the north side of the fairway, and within the harbor basin. When the fairway is idle, planned incoming ships are navigated to the waiting areas in advance. When the conditions for entry are met, they can directly enter the fairway, changing the previous mode of entering the port from anchorage over long distances. This significantly reduces the distance ships travel to enter the port, saving one hour of time for each ship and effectively improving the efficiency of ship traffic and berth utilization. In January alone, there were 29 ships waiting in the port area, saving 29 hours of ship entry time and increasing the effective loading time by 230,000 tons.
In January of this year, Huanghua Port Authority closely followed the pace of the group's integrated transportation and completed a coal shipment of 18.814 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 13.2%, reaching the highest record for the same period since the port opened. This contributes to "stockpiling coal ships" for power plants across the country during the Spring Festival period. During the Spring Festival holiday, Huanghua Port will continue to play its important role as a hub port, operating 24 hours a day without interruption to provide a solid energy guarantee for the electricity and heating needs of the people nationwide.
