Yangshan Phase IV Automated Terminal

Yangshan Phase IV showed that container terminal automation could work at very large scale, and automated ports now shape how quickly import containers become available for pickup. The terminal began trial operations in December 2017 with a 2,350-meter quay, automated guided vehicles, and rail-mounted yard cranes run by a Chinese-designed operating system, with planned capacity of 4 million TEU a year rising to 6.3 million. Shanghai officials later reported that it handled more than 8 million TEU in 2025. For importers, automated terminals can mean steadier productivity, though containers still depend on vessel schedules and onward trucking.

• ThroughputWork completed per hour or per day
• Twenty-Foot Equivalent UnitTEUContainer capacity unit of one 20-foot box

• Yangshan Deep-Water Port2005 · Shanghai builds deep berths on islands offshore
• Shanghai Becomes World's Busiest Container Port2010 · Shanghai passes Singapore with 29 million TEU
• ECT Delta Terminal1993 · Rotterdam opens the first automated container terminal

1. New $2.15bn automated terminal opened in China's Yangshan port (Ship Technology) ship-technology.com
2. Yangshan Port Phase IV boasts world-class efficiency (Shanghai government) english.shanghai.gov.cn