Taizhou Port's Toumen port area in East China's Zhejiang province reported two major logistics milestones within less than two weeks, strengthening its international shipping links for both exports and imports.

On May 15, the Liberia-flagged vessel Honever departed from the Toumen port area carrying three unpowered barges built by Zhejiang Hexing Shipyard, heading directly to Rotterdam in the Netherlands. It marked the first direct export route from the port area to the Netherlands for large-scale equipment.

Previously, such shipments required land transport to external ports such as Ningbo, making shipping both slow and expensive.

The Liberia-flagged vessel Honever departs from Taizhou to Rotterdam in the Netherlands. [Photo/The official news website of Taizhou]

According to Zhang Jiabao, a representative of Ningbo Wangyang International Trading Port, the new direct route reduced costs by approximately 200,000 yuan (about $29,538) per vessel, with total savings of 600,000 yuan for three barges. Future export orders are expected to use the same channel.

A second milestone came on May 27, when the bulk carrier Xin Tai Yuan, carrying 70,600 metric tons of potassium fertilizer from Russia, docked at the port area. Potassium fertilizer is a key agricultural input and raw material for the chemical industry, and its stable supply is important for production planning and food-related industries in the surrounding region.

The bulk carrier Xin Tai Yuan docks at Toumen port area in Taizhou. [Photo/The official news website of Taizhou]