SHANGHAI (AP) - Explosions that sent huge fireballs through China's Tianjin port have disrupted the flow of cars, oil, iron ore and other items through the world's 10th largest port.
The blast sent shipping containers tumbling into one another, leaving them in bent, charred piles. Rows of new cars, lined up on vast lots for distribution across China, were reduced to blackened carcasses.
Tianjin is the 10th largest port in the world by container volume, according to the World Shipping Council, moving more containers than the ports of Rotterdam, Hamburg and Los Angeles. It handles vast quantities of metal ore, coal, steel, cars and crude oil.
Australian mining giant BHP Billiton said the blast had disrupted iron ore shipments and port operations, but had not damaged any iron ore at the port. "We are working with our customers to minimize any potential impact," it said in a statement Thursday.
A spokesman for Rio Tinto said the metals and mining company had four vessels waiting to anchor at Tianjin, none of which were affected by the blast, and that "there is no impact" on its operations.
Volkswagen spokeswoman Larissa Braun said vehicles at a storage facility near the blast were damaged. "We will ship cars from our storage facilities at other ports to ensure our dealers have adequate supply," she said. Volkswagen's component plant, 12 miles away, suffered no damage, though some employees had minor injuries, she added.
Port operator Tianjin Port Development Holdings halted trading of its shares in Hong Kong Thursday. The company said in a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that its operations at the port were normal and it did not anticipate "any material loss" as a result of the accident. It applied for trading to resume this morning. The stock is also listed in Shanghai, where it lost 2.1 percent in an otherwise rising market.
Tianjin is northern China's largest port, a gateway to Beijing that has grown in importance as companies seeking lower manufacturing costs migrated from China's eastern and southeastern manufacturing centers. Motorola, Toyota, Samsung, Nestle, Honeywell, Coca-Cola, Bridgestone, Lafarge, GlaxoSmithKline and Novo Nordisk, among others, have operations in Tianjin.