China's first bulk-to-container fully automatic processing system is introduced by giant ports operator SPG in December. [Photo/WeChat account: Shandong-Port]

The launch ceremony for China's first bulk-to-container, fully automatic processing system was held on Dec 30, 2021 at Rizhao Port – a subsidiary of giant ports operator Shandong Port Group or SPG, based in Qingdao city in East China's Shandong province, according to local media reports.

The ports group announced its green and low-carbon development plan for the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25) in early June. Six major research and development targets, as well as 42 key R&D projects, were released. It is understood to be the first operator in the nation's ports and shipping sector to have issued such a plan.

The bulk-to-container fully automatic processing system mainly involves unloading, stacking, sorting, packing and horizontal transportation. It has 360-meter-long, 75-m-wide strip processing greenhouses, a warehouse and automatic unloading dust removal functionality.

The application of the system is expected to help achieve the ports group's annual design capacity up to 160,000 TEUs, or standard twenty-foot equivalent units, which can reduce the coke breakage rate by 6 percent and reduce costs by 60 yuan ($9.4) per ton for SPG's clients.

In addition, the system has adopted the most advanced remote control stacking machine, with an unmanned automatic weighing and a fully automated packing system, which can save 50 percent in terms of labor costs.

The newly applied permanent magnet motor driving the system is said to improve efficiency by 30 percent and reduce energy consumption by 20 percent.