The Shanghai Chemical Industry Park yesterday inaugurated a dock that is capable of loading liquefied chemicals as it moves to ensure the smooth transport of raw materials.
The first phase of the dock, including five berths and one tank, began operation yesterday to store mixed butane for BASF AG, the world's biggest chemical company, in the park.
The chemical park, planned to be Asia's biggest, aims to have a dock equipped with 16 berths and can handle 10 million tons of chemicals each year. It will have tanks that can hold 600,000 cubic meters of chemicals.
"The dock is the core of our logistics service," said the park in a release. "It is responsible for loading and storing liquefied chemicals  for the whole park."
The dock and tanks are built by the chemical park and Netherlands-based Royal Vopak Corp, the world's major oil and chemicals storage operator.
Construction, which started in late 2001, was completed in early September.
The chemical park, located in southwest Shanghai on the boundary of Jinshan and Fengxian districts, is home to renowned petrochemical giants such as Bayer AG, BASF AG, BP Plc, and China Petroleum and Chemical Corp, or better known as Sinopec.