China’s first automated terminal to be put into service
Sep-30-2014 By : fcccadmin
The Xiamen Ocean Gate Container Terminal is to become the first fully-automated terminal in China. All loading and delivery work will be done by machines. A video of the terminal in action showed a passing container being picked up by an automated bridge crane and being placed on an automated container truck. Under GPS guidance, the truck moved to a designated freight yard before a gantry crane picked up the container again and placed it in a designated area. The automated version that will become operational in September can save 25% in energy and cut carbon emissions by 15%, said Wang Shenyuan, General Manager of the Technology Department for the new terminal. Construction of the terminal, which cost CNY658 million, started on October 27 last year, and when complete, its throughput is expected to reach 78,000 to 91,000 TEU per year. The Haicang bonded terminal area has become a hub for Southeast China’s international shipping industry. So far, the bonded terminal area has a freight throughput of 100 million tons and 10 million TEU of containers. There are 12 berths with a rating of 100,000 tons, which are under construction, and 10 berths with a handling capacity of 50,0000 tons, used by 54 international shipping lines.
Cosco to transport iron ore for Vale
By : fcccadmin
China Cosco Holdings has signed a landmark deal with Brazilian miner Vale for the transport of iron ore and the purchase of 14 very large ore carriers, which have been barred from entering Chinese ports since early 2012. The two companies had agreed on a contract lasting up to 25 years for China Cosco to ship iron ore for Vale. To fulfill the contract, China Cosco will buy four Valemax vessels – giant ore carriers with a capacity of 400,000 DWT – and build 10 more. In 2009, Valemax vessels were ordered at USD120 million each, indicating China Cosco’s purchase could cost more than USD1 billion. As China had banned Valemaxes from docking at its ports, since 2012 two-thirds of the Valemax fleet have gone through Subic Bay, in the Philippines, for transshipment, discharging cargo to smaller capsize vessels, which have a capacity of 180,000 DWT, for the final journey to China. If the ban is indeed lifted, it could actually be positive for the shipping market, according to James Leake, Managing Director at London-based Arrow Research. About 11 Chinese ports are capable of receiving Valemax vessels.
China Shipping Development pays HKD1 billion to boost stake in Beihai Shipping
By : fcccadmin
China Shipping Development, the country’s largest tanker operator by fleet size, is acquiring a 20% stake in Shanghai Beihai Shipping for HKD1 billion from parent China Shipping (Group) in a bid to capitalize on the growth of hauling petroleum along China’s coast and inland waterways. The latest purchase raises China Shipping Development’s shareholding in Shanghai Beihai to 40%. In June, it bought a 20% stake in Beihai from Sinochem International Corp. Other Beihai shareholders include CNOOC Petrochemical Import & Export, with 30%, Silverbond Overseas with 20% and China Ocean Oilfields Services (Hong Kong), another CNOOC subsidiary, with 10%. China Shipping Development, which also has one of the world’s largest dry-bulk fleets, said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange that the transaction would “further entrench its position in the coastal and domestic crude oil shipping market” in China and enhance its relationship with CNOOC, the firm’s major customer. Beihai, which owns a fleet of eight tankers, was forecast to generate HKD455 million and HKD472 million in net profit for 2014 and 2015, respectively. China Shipping Development will be compensated by an indemnity clause with its parent should Beihai’s profits fall short of the projection. China Shipping Development recorded CNY39 million in net profit for the first half of this year, reversing huge losses from a year ago.
China’s rising fruit imports push up demand for refrigerated shipping
By : fcccadmin
Growth in China’s imports of fruit and vegetables is spurring demand for seaborne transport in refrigerated containers. China’s fruit imports are up 26% over the past five years to USD4 billion last year, with exotic fruit such as longan and durian, as well as grapes, showing the biggest increases, according to the International Trade Center (ITC). The sources of the imports are becoming more diverse, extending from its Southeast Asian neighbors to countries in the southern hemisphere. For example, 82% of China’s imports of cherries – popular around Lunar New Year – are from Chile, with which China signed a free trade agreement (FTA) in 2005. Cold chain logistics, historically a weak point for domestic distribution of perishable goods, has attracted significant investment over the past five years. “Cold storage capacity has greatly improved in China. Before it was pretty basic – brick warehouse, chain link fence and a padlock. But now investments are coming, which enables China to handle more perishable imports,” Michael Britton, Asia-Pacific Region General Manager at Hamburg Süd, the world’s fourth-largest refrigerated, or reefer, container carrier by fleet size. For shipping lines, reefer trade is a growing niche market that offers higher returns, but with higher upfront investment. A new reefer container is priced at between USD15,000 to USD20,000 per TEU, eight to 10 times the cost of a dry freight container of the same size, the South China Morning Post reports.
China Merchants to operate Sri Lankan container terminal
By : fcccadmin
Logistics conglomerate China Merchants has won approval to operate phase two of Sri Lanka’s largest container terminals in a deal signed during President Xi Jinping’s trip. The Hong Kong-listed firm has been granted a 35-year lease to manage the Hambantota Port Development Project in a joint venture with the Sri Lanka Ports Authority and China Harbor Engineering Co. The two Chinese partners will invest a combined HKD3 billion into the project in return for a 64.98% stake. Hambantota is on Sri Lanka’s southern coast and is billed as a future transit hub for goods moving around Southeast Asia. Xi also inaugurated a USD1.5 billion project to build a port city on reclaimed land in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo.
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