In the first quarter of 2012, the Port of Hamburg handled 2.2 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), a 5.2% increase from the first quarter last year. A total of 32.6 million tons of cargo passed through the port during Quarter 1, amounting to a 3.8% growth from the same time the previous year.

Claudia Roller, CEO of Port of Hamburg Marketing, said, “We are delighted that with a 5.2 percent rise in container throughput in the first quarter, the Port of Hamburg is markedly ahead of the 2.4 percent average growth for the four major ports in the North Range. The excellent result in this segment is what triggered the Port of Hamburg’s overall growth in the first quarter of 2012. For the remainder of the year we are reckoning on a further increase in total throughput.”

In the first three months of the year, 1.2 million TEUs were handled in container traffic with Asia. Container traffic with the Baltic region reached 531,000 TEUs, while the total European container trade totaled 694,000 TEUs. Finally, trade with America amounted to 279,000 TEUs.
Source: www.hafen-hamburg.de/en/news

Photo: www.portofhamburg.com

Oil & gas markets are assumed to remain solid, while further increases in government funding will support investment and consumer spending.

Meanwhile, the external risks from Europe seem manageable: West Asia banks are liquid and well-capitalized, direct exposure to risky Eurozone government debt is negligible, and financial and economic excesses are much smaller now than in 2008. Qatar will once again be the region’s strongest performer, although its growth is likely to fall as gas production levels off. 
Source: National sources, NBK 

Regional crude oil & gas production leapt by 11% in 2011 as OPEC countries – led by Saudi Arabia and West Asia – moved quickly to replace 1.5 mbpd of lost Libyan output. Even with the gradual return of Libyan production and the risk of an economic downturn, oil & gas markets, along with the worldwide inventory of gas production, are expected to remain tight through 2012, leaving the average output more or less unchanged this year. Oil & gas prices are assumed to average $110 per barrel (pb) after $108 in 2011.

West Asia government spending could record its lowest rate of increase in several years in 2012, at 6%. However, this more reflects the super-strong 17% increase of 2011 – driven by $27 bn of exceptional spending in Saudi Arabia – than any deliberate belt tightening. The Arab protest movement of 2011 will help ensure that governments remain focused on their medium-term development goals and that fiscal policy remains supportive of growth. Private sector activity – still held back by deleveraging and sluggish credit growth in some countries – should continue to recover. Real non-oil & gas GDP is seen growing 5.6%

In spite of decent growth and big increases in government spending, inflation remained generally in check through 2011, averaging an estimated 3.2%, up fractionally from 2010. Key to this was the deceleration in food price inflation in 2H 2011, led by softer global commodity prices. But ‘core’ inflation has also remained low, at around 2%. Another year of solid economic growth and an improvement in monetary conditions across the region could presage a slight pick-up in inflation in 2012 to 3.8%. Given regional currency pegs, the 6% strengthening of the US dollar trade-weighted index in 2H 2011 will help cap ‘imported’ inflation through 2012.

Source: National sources, NBK 

With oil & gas and gas production high and prices remaining above the $100 pb mark, the West Asia will see a further year of large fiscal and current account surpluses, possibly in the range of 10-20% of GDP for the region as a whole. This will once again mark the region out in a year of austerity and deficits elsewhere in the world. Indeed, one major challenge for the region will be to decide how to invest these surplus revenues safely given the uncertain global economic outlook.

A new direct service that connects India to the Middle East has recently commenced. The Balaji Shipping Lines (BSL) service from Mundra (India) to the Port of Sohar (Oman) also has stops at Dammam (Saudi Arabia) and Jebel Ali (UAE), in addition to Karachi and North Indian ICD.

The Port of Sohar, which is located 220 kilometers northwest of Muscat, is currently in the midst of a $14 billion development project. Since opening in 2003, the port has rapidly grown while increasing its cargo handling capacity. According to a news release on the port’s official website, ‘This volume together with the growth of Port of Sohar and the development of Freezone Sohar will strengthen Sohar “as an ideal point of entry for products shipped around the Gulf countries and as a gateway to the rest of the world” according to Mr. Andre Toet, CEO of Port of Sohar. These developments will also strengthen Oman’s efforts to diversify its economical drivers away from the oil and gas industry be increasing the logistic link with countries around us.’

In addition to BSL’s new service to Oman, the Indian company currently maintains operations across the globe, spanning India, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Europe, and the U.S. The company presently maintains offices in over 50 ports and has over 1000 employees.

Source:	www.portofsohar.com

Photo:	www.transreporter.com

The Port of Newcastle in New South Wales Australia set a new monthly coal export record during April, as it exported a total of 11.8 million tonnes of the precious commodity. To be precise, the 11,821,317 million tonnes of coal exported last month was slightly more than the previous monthly record set in December 2011 when the port exported 11,642,959 tonnes.

Gary Webb, CEO of Newcastle Port Corporation, said, “The Hunter Valley coal chain operated extremely well throughout April and it is a credit to all concerned that the throughput reached a record figure. Newcastle Port Corporation, terminal operators, rail companies and mines have been working diligently with the Hunter Valley Coal Chain Co-ordinator and results continue to come.”

Last year, the port exported a record total of 114.1 million tonnes of coal. The coal exported last year, with a value of $12.8 billion, was shipped off mainly to Asian nations as the port’s coal exports continue to grow year after year as evident in the statistics below:

2008 91.4 million tonnes

2009       92.8 million tonnes

2010      102.5 million tonnes

2011      114.1 million tonnes

Source: www.newportcorp.com.au

Photo: www.liddellcoal.com.au

The Port of Salalah, located in Oman on the Arabian Peninsula, is set to handle its 30-millionth twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) soon. The port, with its strategic location providing as a gateway to the Middle East, Indian Subcontinent, and East Asia, has been in operation for only 14 years. However, the port’s operations have been incredibly efficient over the years, and it will soon reach this new milestone as a vessel from the new G6 Alliance calls on the port.

Iain Rawlinson, Chief Liner Commercial Manager of Port of Salalah said, “We welcome the G6 among our new liner services, giving our local and regional customers yet more options to connect with the world’s markets. We would also like to take this opportunity to recognize the strong support over the years from our dedicated customers at Maersk, APL, MSC, SCI and CSAV, who are the major contributors in our success story. This milestone is an opportunity to recall that our location, efficiency and experience in service, and the options we can offer our customers are compelling reasons why the Port of Salalah is a port of choice for the region.”

Most recently, the port handled 3.2 million TEUs in 2011 while simultaneously undergoing construction projects to increase the port’s cargo handling capacity.

Peter Ford, CEO of Port of Salalah further added, “Achieving 30 million TEU would not have been possible without of the incredible foresight and commitment from our major stakeholders. We are very thankful to the government of Oman and particularly the Ministry of Transport and Communication, as well as to APM Terminals, our valued employees and customers, and the private-public institutions which have supported the Port’s growth over 14 years.”

Source:       www.salalahport.com

Photo:        www.oneoman.com

The Port of Charleston recently recorded its strongest month for containerized traffic since October 2008. The month of March saw a 12% container volume increase as the South Carolina port handled 134,857 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs).

Container volume in the first quarter of the year grew 7% from the same time period last year. From July 2011 until March 2012, container volume increased 2%.

Jim Newsome, president and CEO of the South Carolina Port Authority, said, “We continue to work hard to grow our cargo volumes above the market and attract new shipping services to our ports.”

With that being said, a new service named the AWE-6, which includes numerous Asian shipping lines, will begin using the Port of Charleston as a port call next month.

Newsome iterated, “Exporters from this area are finding additional trade opportunities in Asia, and we have been heavily marketing the Port of Charleston for more shipping services in that trade lane. Our state not only has goods that are attractive to overseas markets, but we are also ideally positioned to serve a broad import base across several states in the region.”

The Asian shipping lines that make up the new service include COSCO, K-Line, and Hanjin.

Source:            www.port-of-charleston.com

Photo:             www.edpsc.org

At the 2012 Supply Chain and Transport Awards (SCATA), Jebel Ali Port was recently recognized as the Shipping Port of the Year.

The port, which is operated by Dubai-based DP World and is located about 35 kilometers from Dubai, has won the award four times in the past six years on account of its continual growth and highly efficient cargo handling capability.

Mohammed Ali Ahmed, Chief Operating Officer, DP World, UAE Region, said: “This prestigious supply chain award recognizes our service excellence as well as the leadership position DP World plays as the gateway for cargo into the GCC, Middle East, Indian Subcontinent and Africa. Our investment today will ensure Jebel Ali continues to meet our customer requirements for additional capacity and efficiency improvements. We thank SCATA for the honor.”

The port is currently undergoing infrastructural upgrades that will increase the port’s annual cargo capacity to 19 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs). The upgrades are expected to be completed by the end of next year.

Source:       www.dpworld.com

Photo:        www.arabiansupplychain.com

China and India’s rapid economic growth since opening their borders in the late 1970s has resulted in strong demand for a wide variety of commodities. These nations preoccupation with rapid industrialization strategies has been the driving force behind shifts in trade flows.

For almost three decades, commodities such as: crude petroleum, unwrought aluminum, forest products (wood pulp, waste paper, logs, lumber), and scrap metal have been fueling world trade. Growing Chinese and Indian demand has traditionally affected the global commodity markets through increased imports, as their manufacturing capacity has outstripped its domestic supplies for most commodity inputs.

We often find that the effects of China and India’s demand for commodities varies due to fluctuations in global prices, it should also be noted that demand for commodities in general never exhausts. Bananas are flying, along with cattle and grains from domestic ports to international markets, all because commodities are flying through the farm gates and on to container ships and cargo planes.

Weighing up the cost
This trend obviously reflects the strategies of multinational corporations positioning their manufacturing efforts in these countries in order to lower costs and maximize new market opportunities. These strategies are being leveraged simultaneously while these companies develop a freight distribution system to support these new opportunities. Regardless of what commodity in mention, one thing is certain, most of these commodities are shipped by sea.

In this whole chaos of movement, containers have completely revolutionized the transport of commodities by playing a complimentary role in the transport chain. The commodity supply chain is a multifaceted system and changes or developments in the containerization system have affected the ability of other supply chain components to perform efficiently.

When discussing commodity trading, a clear distinction has to be made between the actual or physical markets and the futures or terminal markets. Nearly all commodities coming from origin countries are sold through the physical market (commodities traded for cash, also known as cash or spot markets).

The structure and length of the commodity marketing channels differ from region to region within the same producing country as well as across producing countries. At one extreme of the spectrum, the marketing channel between commodity producers and exporters encompasses at least two middlemen: small traders and wholesalers. Small traders buy certain resources directly from producers, visiting them one by one.

Containers as a right fit
Thus, to transport several commodities such as grain, iron ore and coal, containerization will perform a niche role in the total volume handled. Both modes of transport are likely to benefit, bulk cargo offering the lowest transport cost possible while containers provide flexibility. Because of vested interests, in terms of accumulated infrastructure investment and long-standing practices, many opportunities could be captured by commodity producers, large and small alike, over niche markets (high quality grains, organics, etc.).

Another way where containers have contributed towards efficient commodity movement is when small buyers sell the resources to wholesalers, who in turn will re-sell them to exporters. At the other extreme of the spectrum, certain raw materials are sold directly to exporters by farmers’ cooperatives or even directly exported by the co-operatives.

It’s not easy being big
As China and India have emerged as key purchasers of many commodities, an examination of container demand begun to take place among stakeholders. Let’s not rule out the fact that even the United States competes with other emerging economies for the same commodities and requires the same containers to transport their own goods.

Economic implications are severe if commodities are unable to be transported due to shortage of containers. Firms that rely on imported commodities may be affected by changes in the price and availability of supply. Such market changes due to container shortages will also affect their respective commodity exports.

For example, the recent increase in US-China trade. The history of trade imbalance between the world’s two largest economies is known to all. However, the sudden demand for US grain has resulted in raising US exports to China, somewhat easing the already ballooning trade deficit.

For the greater good
Thus, the more imbalanced the traffic is, just as the case with the US-China trade, the more containerized capacities are required. This also leaves opportunities to take advantage of empty back hauls and the lower freight rates they imply. China’s grain trade with South America in particular has driven container demand up. It has long imported soybeans from Latin America and the U.S., and China has just restarted purchases of U.S. corn after a 15-year hiatus, amid efforts to cut its rising pork prices.

What next? Once a commodity reaches a port in China or India, they are stocked in warehouses, while being graded and subsequently loaded onto cargo vessels. Commodities transported in this manner made way for containerization which gradually captured the break bulk cargo market. Since 90% of the break-bulk cargo has been containerized, this process is essentially completed, leaving the possible containerization of niche markets, namely commodities and temperature sensitive cargo (cold chain).

China and India, with their booming populations are already ready to brave the choppy waters ahead and find sustainable solutions to their respective food and energy needs. All this requires resources, and a continuous transport flow.

Thus, global commodity distribution implies a transport chain where several modes are used to move cargo between its origin and destination. On the maritime segment, this has led to the emergence of intermediary hubs connecting different systems of circulation. This requires transshipment and consequently additional containerized capacities and shipping container investment opportunities.

Photo Source: columbiacommunique.org

Moving forward in India’s relentless quest to develop transshipment activities, expert teams have been sent to examine the sites to consider the availability of land, commercial viability and cargo supplies from the hinterlands. Only last August, the Shipping Ministry asked all coastal states to submit proposals for their twelfth Five-Year Plan, (2012 – 2017).

At present, India has 12 major ports and 200 minor ports and the Ministry plans to augment annual handling capacity at all ports to 2.5 bt by 2016-17, which is almost three times more than the traffic handled for the 2010 -11 period. The Ministry’s target for 2020 is to increase handling capacity to a whopping 3 bt.

Based on “Drewry Maritime Research”, traffic handled at major Indian ports during 2010-11 was estimated at 570 mt and at non-major ports it was just a mere 315 mt. Thus, the Central Government’s initiative to increase capacity is aimed at attracting investments of billions of dollars, with a major chunk expected to come from private investors; which will include container investing, along with other innovative investment opportunities.

In recent years, several Indian port development projects, such as expansion work at Paradip, has stalled due to environmental concerns. As I write this blog, what we can see now, particularly for the ports further south on the West Indian coastline, [is that] many local and foreign owned businesses are beginning to see the ports as a means of modifying trade flows. Consequently, improving of Indian ports could help them to offset geographical disadvantages and promote the country’s external trade.

Progress is being made in with boosting trade linkages via Indian ports, albeit slowly. Some successes have been put down to resource-hungry nations such as China making major investments in infrastructure as a way of ensuring long-term supplies of commodities. But major logistics companies such as Maersk and DHL have already begun deploying their international clout to improve the trading regimes in India.

Tsakos Energy Navigation Limited (TEN) has announced the order of a new LNG carrier. The Greek company will be adding to its fleet with the purchase of the new state-of-the-art LNG carrier that will be constructed in South Korea and delivered to TEN in early 2015.

John Stavropoulos, Chairman of the TEN Board, said about the order: “We are particularly pleased with this order as it expands our presence in this exciting field. LNG operations require a particular set of discipline and commitment in order to gain credence with the sector’s premier charterers and we are proud to have met the challenge.”

Nikolas Tsakos, President & Chief Executive Officer of TEN explained the company’s current state of affairs by adding: “These new LNG orders add to the Company’s two shuttle tanker contracts with delivery in Q1 and Q2 2013 to a major South American oil company for 15 years each with minimum revenues in excess of $500 million in total. Today we operate one of the most modern product carrier fleets in the world, have significant presence in the crude sector and enhanced ice-class capabilities. These new investments follow our clients’ needs in the ever growing energy sector and we remain committed to provide them with a diversified fleet to meet their requirements.”

At the present moment, the TEN fleet consists of 55 vessels with a total deadweight tonnage of 5.5 million.

Source: www.tenn.gr

Photo: www.forumforthefuture.org