Update 1-Dalian Port aims to list A-shares in H1 2010

* Mainland share listing targeted for H1 2010

* Port to increase capex to 3 bln yuan in 2010

* Aims to boost throughput by 10 pct next year (Adds background, share price)

HONG KONG, Oct 16 - Dalian Port, operator of the port in the northeast Chinese city of Dalian, said on Friday that it aims to complete an A-share listing in the first half of 2010.

Chairman Sun Hong added that the port would increase capital expenditure next year to 3 billion yuan ($440 million) after an asset acquisition from its parent, up from 2 billion yuan this year.

He said the port aimed to boost throughput by 10 percent next year from this year's expected throughput of 46 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU).

With the IPO, the company -- already listed in Hong Kong -- will become China's first port with a dual listing.

The listing will see the company offer up to 1.2 billion shares. Based on the stock's Thursday closing share price of HK$3.08, the offer could be worth HK$3.7 billion ($477 million).

Port operators in China and Hong Kong have been reporting gradually improving volumes after the deepest slump in global trade since the 1930s.

Hong Kong's trade volume rose 7.5 percent in the most recent quarter to 5.61 million TEU from the April-June quarter, on improvements in July and August, preliminary data from the Hong Kong Port Development Council showed on Thursday.

Ports in China's Yangtze River Delta posted growth in cargo volumes last month compared with a year earlier. Cargo throughput at Shanghai rose 5.8 percent year on year to 33.28 million tonnes last month, according to Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG).

Dalian Port has said proceeds from the share offering would be used to invest in its terminal operations and logistics services, to repay bank loans, and as working capital.

Dalian Port shares were down 0.32 percent at 0406 GMT. ($1=HK$7.749)