Dalian Port Co said it plans to raise as much as 6 billion yuan (US$904 million) in its Shanghai initial public offering, with an offering range of 3.60 yuan to 4.00 yuan, which corresponds to 20.99 to 23.33 times the company's expected earning per share for 2010.

It will sell 1.5 billion A shares, less than its earlier plan of 2.4 billion shares, citing volatile market conditions, Dalian Port said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Its shares will be open to subscription for individual investors starting today. Half of the new shares will be sold to its parent company Dalian Port Group in a private placement, which holds 62.09 percent stake of the limited company.

Northeast China's biggest port operator will use 60 percent of the proceeds to expand oil and ore projects, according to the prospectus.

Oil transportation has a huge growth potential, unlike southern China's port which mainly deals with dry bulk goods like iron ore and coal, the company's board secretary Zhu Hongbo said at an online roadshow yesterday.

Citic Securities is the main underwriter of the IPO.