Major Chinese container ports volume up 4% in late August

PostTime:2021-09-16 08:38:07 View:562

Container volume at eight major Chinese ports up 4% year on year for late August, according to the statistics released by China Ports and Harbors Association. Katherine Si | Sep 15, 2021 Container export volumes increased 4.9% while the domestic volume grow 1.1%. Among which, export container volume at Tianjin port, Shanghai port and Xiamen port all posted a growth rate of over 20%.  Cargo throughput at major coastal hub ports up 4% year on year while the international trade cargo throughput increased 2.5%. Related: Container volume at eight major Chinese ports up 2.7% for mid-August Crude oil shipments at major coastal ports dropped 3.2% year on year, while metal ore shipments declined 10.5%. In late August, the port throughput at three major Yangtze river ports, Nanjing, Wuhan and Chongqing dropped 7.9%, the container volume increased 0.8%. For the whole month of August, cargo throughput at major Chinese coastal ports increased 0.7% year on year. The container volume at eight major ports increased 4%.

Ports of Guangzhou and Rotterdam strengthen cooperation Photo: Port of Rotterdam

PostTime:2021-09-09 08:20:29 View:448

The southern Chinese port of Guangzhou and European port of Rotterdam have renewed sister port agreement following the first two-year partnership agreement signed in 2019. Katherine Si | Sep 08, 2021 The two ports established sister port relationship in 2019 and had been worked on shipping routes development and talents exchanges during the recent two years.  In 2020, three container shipping routes had been opened-up between the two ports.  Related: World’s first barge-to-ship methanol bunkering at Port of Rotterdam We are expecting to cooperate with the port of Rotterdam on green port development, information technology and staff training to improve service capability and level of our port, said Yuan Yue, deputy director of Guangzhou Port Authority.  Currently, Guangzhou port operates 137 international container shipping services. 

Hainan offers financial incentives for new Yangpu port calls

PostTime:2021-09-02 08:30:31 View:323

HAINAN, China's island province, has provided cash incentives for logistics companies to parley more ocean carriers to call at Hainan's Yangpu Port and Economic Development Zone, reports the Russian news agency Tass. The new set of rules also establishes criteria for the registration of ships, cargo and new sea transport routes for the Yangpu port. Logistics companies that can provide up to 12 regular containership calls on new international routes per year, a bonus of US$2 million will be provided. In the second year, its size will be $1.3 million. For domestic routes in the first year, the bonus will $848,700, if the company provides at least 24 containership calls on new routes. In the second year, its amount is set at $617,200. The port's administration has also announced "stability awards" in securing a certain annual volume of container traffic along new routes. Its maximum payout will be $617,200 for the transportation of up to 40,000 TEU a year along one international route in the Port of Yangpu.

CSSC and Shanghai join hands to develop maritime industry

PostTime:2021-09-01 08:26:04 View:530

China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) and Shanghai municipal government signed a co-operation agreement to strengthen development of the maritime sector in Shanghai. Katherine Si | Aug 31, 2021 Li Qiang, secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee said, high-end equipment manufacturing is one of the main directions of Shanghai's industrial transformation and upgrading and CSSC is leading China's marine technology innovation and development. We are expecting this cooperation could be a new starting point to further utilize each party’s advantages and jointly strengthen the shipbuilding and offshore equipment industry and industrial clusters’ development. Lei Fanpei, chairman of CSSC, said, Shanghai is the only city in China that integrates ship and offshore engineering research and development, manufacturing, test and port machinery manufacture. CSSC will rely on Shanghai's advantages and accelerate its industrial layout in Shanghai.  Related: CSSC setting up R&D centre for carbon neutral fuels CSSC will promote the development of high-end industries and innovative resources in Shanghai, and improve the development of marine equipment industry and the modernization of the industrial chain and supply chain.  Meanwhile, we will continue to accelerate the development of CSSC to be a world-class shipbuilding group, and deeply participate in the economic development of Shanghai, Lei continued.  Related: Shanghai port opens new centre to ease empty container shortage CSSC also inked strategic cooperation agreement with Shanghai Huangpu district government and meet with Shanghai Pudong new district authority for deepening cooperation.

Ningbo's Meishan terminal reopens after two-week Covid lockdown

PostTime:2021-08-27 10:24:19 View:300

THE authorities in Ningbo have reopened facilities on Meishan Island, including the port area, after two weeks of lockdown restrictions triggered by a dockworker who contracted coronavirus, reports UK's Lloyd List. The decision was made following consultation with the city's epidemic-control specialists, local officials said at a press conference. They said no other positive cases had been detected after three rounds of swab tests involving 134,054 samples since the lockdown. A vice-president of Ningbo-Zhoushan Port Group, Jiang Yipeng, said Meishan terminal reopened on August 25 and was on track to fully recover its services, which had been suspended since August 11. The facility had already resumed some operations in recent days, including enabling gate-in of laden containers, loading vessels at berth and receiving new containership arrivals, Mr Jiang added. According to his company, a total of 15 box ships and 29,000 TEU of containers had been handled during the period. That is in line with what Lloyd's List has reported based on analysis of vessel tracking data. Executives from Orient Overseas International Ltd (OOIL), part of Cosco Shipping, told analysts that operations at the terminal were expected to be fully restored on September 1. The closure of Meishan, which accounts for about 20 per cent of Ningbo's total container throughput, has led to rerouting of vessels and further port congestion. Lloyd's List Intelligence data show that there were still 97 containerships (10,000 dwt and above) comprising 477,414 TEU at anchor off the ports of Ningbo-Zhoushan and nearby Shanghai on August 24. This, however, was down from 110 vessels of 588,405 TEU a week ago. The OOIL management said most of the affected vessels had managed to find accommodation at alternative ports and expected "the disruption to be less severe" than the recent shutdown at Yantian and the Suez Canal incident earlier this year.    

Plans to spend US$1.37b to upgrade Taiwan's seven ports

PostTime:2021-08-23 09:01:12 View:407

THE authorities in Taiwan are planning to invest US$1.37 billion over the next five years to upgrade the country's seven commercial ports to support future industrial growth, reports The Maritime Executive, Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The plan, which was proposed by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications and approved by the National Development Council, is part of President Tsai Ing-wen's optimisation policies for industrial investment. The Ministry of Transportation and Communications outlined a total of 29 projects designed to boost capacity and create both green and smart ports to support Taiwan's industries and expand the country's tourism industry. The focus will be on the ports of Kaohsiung, Keelung, Hualien, Taichung, and Taipei, as well as Tainan's Anping and Yilan County's Suao ports, The overall goal is to increase total cargo throughput at the seven ports by more than 13 per cent to 1.8 billion tonnes by 2026. The Taiwan International Ports Corp said that the company aims to boost the total container throughput by 16 per cent to more than 18 million TEU. Through the investment in the ports, the goal is also to attract new investment to Taiwan, and they expect to create more than 13,000 new jobs. Taiwan's largest port is the Port of Kaohsiung, which was also the sixteenth busiest container port in the world last year. Under the proposed plan, Kaohsiung will be transformed into a leading cargo transshipment hub in the Asia-Pacific region. The goal is to increase the port's container throughput from 9.62 million TEU last year to 11.44 million TEU by 2026. The Port of Taipei is to become a smart logistics centre for automobiles, while the Port of Taichung would become the base for green energy development. The ports at Suao, Hualien, and Anping are to be developed for tourism. Taiwan's Maritime Port Bureau also plans to invest approximately $350 million for 33 projects to refurbish four domestic commercial ports. The goal is to improve competitiveness and boost tourism and economic development near the ports of Budai, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu.  

Hong Kong emigrants hit by soaring shipping rates and lengthy delays

PostTime:2021-08-19 09:03:44 View:287

HONG Kong's public consumer watchdog the Consumer Council have received 20 complaints from emigrants about overseas shipping services in the first half of the year. The consumer protection group said the number of complaints in the six-month period, resulting from increasing numbers of the people seeking new homes abroad, was higher than the whole year of 2018, 2019 and 2020. Only one complaint was recorded in the first six months of last year. The complaints covered charges, delivery dates, seizure of goods, and other disputes. Posing as a customer wishing to emigrate to the UK, Consumer Council staffers made enquiries with 15 overseas moving companies. In its monthly magazine CHOICE, the council said the prices quoted for 220 cubic feet ranged from HKD20,000 (US$2,566) to HKD50,000 , with door-to-door shipping time varying between six weeks to five months. Investigators were quoted between HKD50,000 and HKD134,000 for sending 500 cubic feet from Hong Kong to Toronto. Most of the companies said shipping schedules for the next two months were either full or could not be guaranteed due to delays. Only one company, Seven Seas, said its shipping dates remain normal. Five of the companies said they would charge customers for additional storage time if shipping was delayed, while three said they would waive storage fees if the delays did not exceed two to four weeks. Six of the companies refused to say whether any storage fee would be charged. One company did not respond to enquiries. Among the contracts reviewed by the council, 11 companies stated that they retain the right unilaterally to change their quoted prices. Verbal promises of delivery time may also not be legally binding, the council warned. "The shipment could potentially be delayed for several months, incurring astronomical cost," a council statement noted. One consumer, Ms Chan, complained that a company asked for an extra HKD12,800 in fees on top of almost HKD34,000 already paid in full, with the demand being made after her cargo had been stranded in Hong Kong for over seven weeks. The company initially declined to indicate an expected delivery date, and told her two and a half months after her cargo had been picked up in Hong Kong that storage would cost HK$2,400 a month. The additional fees were ultimately waived after she filed a complaint with the Consumer Council in March.    

HK Container Terminal Operators Association backs vaccinations

PostTime:2021-08-10 08:56:46 View:492

THE Hong Kong Container Terminal Operators Association (HKCTOA) sent out a press release to say it continues to support measures taken by the Hong Kong Government on the prevention of Covid-19, which include regular testing for front-line workers at the Kwai Tsing Container Terminals (KTCTs) in place since September 2020 and guidelines to KTCTs on how to handle vessels which had visited high-risk specified places. In February 2021, the government gave vaccination priority to front-line workers at KTCTs and since then terminal operators have been encouraging their front-line workers to get vaccinated. The terminal operators have enhanced publicity and implemented various measures to encourage their front-line workers to get vaccination in the past few months, With these measures, the vaccination rate of port workers has been increasing. The port has achieved an overall vaccination rate of 49 per cent for full vaccination and 65 per cent for having at least one shot as of July 30 . It is expected that the vaccination rate will be over 70 per cent by end-August. Terminal operators will continue to strive their best to encourage front-line workers to take the vaccine in order to create a safe working environment for all the people in the container terminals, help protect the community and maintain smooth operation of the port. The port sector will also continue to stay vigilant and take all kinds of protection measures during the course of delivering port services.

Giant water-rail facility at Wuhan begins operations

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THE secretary of the Hubei Provincial Party Committee and chairman of the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Congress, announced the Wuhan Yangluo International Port Water-Rail Intermodal Container Transport Project began operations, reports St Petersburg PortNews. The new intermodal container transport features a modern logistics hub for the collection and distribution of containers. The project provides new opportunities for Wuhan Port, Shanghai Port, and Cosco Shipping. The three parties will jointly promote the formation of a co-port between Shanghai and Wuhan. Meanwhile, Cosco Shipping Ports hopes Yangluo International Port will try to improve port functions and accelerate to one million TEU throughput capacity. The total construction area of the project is 852 mu, with a total investment of US$420 million. It took one year from the start of construction on August 1 last year to the launch of operation of the port on August 1 this year. The water depth of the terminal will maintain 6.5 metres all year round and is planned to be fully completed in 2022. The new measures will boast a container throughput of one million TEU a year, while the water-rail intermodal transport capacity of 500,000 TEU a year is expected to reduce the last mile logistics of multimodal transport.

China typhoons create latest supply-chain threat as ports close

PostTime:2021-08-09 08:56:51 View:323

EXTREME weather has become the latest challenge to global supply chains as a heavy typhoon season threatens to further delay goods stuck at busy container ports, reports Bloomberg News. The disruptions are driving the cost of shipping a 40-foot box from China to the US to record levels above US$10,000. Shenzhen¡¯s Port of Yantian stopped drop-off services of containers due to a typhoon alert. Previously, Shanghai's Yangshan mega-terminal facility and nearby ports evacuated ships as Typhoon In-Fa slammed into the coast. "Each time a port is forced to close, containers continue to pile up, adding to existing delays. And as this season is expected to be heavier than usual for tropical cyclones, we can expect more delays like this," said Zencargo CEO Alex Hersham. Supply chains have faced bad luck this year, as a Covid crisis outbreak among port staff was to blame for a partial closing of Yantian in May. Said Wood Mackenzie head of polyesters Salmon Aidan Lee: "The impact of Yantian's closure was unprecedented on the supply chain because it serves one of the world's largest manufacturing bases. If we have a few more typhoons that come our way and knock down production a few days each time, this problem will get worse."

Dongjiakou port area in Qingdao adds VLCC berth Photo: Qingdao Port

PostTime:2021-08-05 07:55:29 View:671

The second phase crude oil terminal project at Dongjiakou port area, Qingdao has officially started operations. Katherine Si | Aug 04, 2021 Construction began in 2019, the second phase crude oil terminal project consists of a 300,000 tonne tanker berth and a 100,000 tonne tanker berth, with an annual design handling capacity of 25.5m tons. Upon the completion of this project, the annual handling capacity of Dongjiakou oil products terminal will exceed 50m tons, further improving the oil products handling capacity of Dongjiakou.  Related: Qingdao-Dongjiakou aims to be world's largest deepwater port As one of the major crude oil transportation ports in China, Qingdao port posted over 100m tons oil products throughput in 2020.

Tianjin port to develop the world’s first zero carbon terminal Photo: Tianjin Port

PostTime:2021-08-02 08:22:07 View:222

China’s northern port of Tianjin is to develop its port section C, an intelligent container facility that will it says be the world’s first smart zero carbon terminal. Katherine Si | Jul 30, 2021 Tianjin port section C intelligent container terminal is a new version automatic container terminal constructed by Tianjin Port, which will be put into operation at the end of this year.  To achieve zero carbon emission, the terminal will build a green energy supply system matching the terminal’s energy consumption. All the port loading and unloading equipment, horizontal transportation facility and auxiliary equipment will be powered by electricity.  Related: Port of Valencia eyes zero emissions by 2030 with wind power project "Compared with other automated container terminals, the intelligent container terminal in section C is still building wind turbines and photovoltaics on site, allowing the terminal to use electricity for its own use, and truly achieve 'zero carbon' emissions,” Chen Yanping, deputy general manager of Tianjin Port Group Kexin Facilities Department said.  “In the initial stage of the terminal’s production, according to throughput calculations, we will install two wind turbines and install photovoltaics on the roof to achieve green energy supply. As the terminal’s throughput increases, energy consumption will also increase. Next year, we will install two new wind turbines in due course to match energy consumption with energy supply and realize dynamic zero carbon emissions of the zero-carbon terminal." Related: SSA Marine begins operation of zero-emission-electric cranes in Long Beach Combining the traditional cargo handling technology with automatic operation, the terminal’s energy consumption will be reduced by 17%. During the "14th five year plan" period, the port will focus on "carbon peak" and "carbon neutralisation", as well as clean energy utilization, green low-carbon transportation and green energy supply, and develop a multi-source integrated green energy system of "wind, light, storage and hydrogen", said Tianjin port.