Chinese Ore Demand Leads to Further Freight Increases
February 11, 2009
The Baltic Dry Index – a composite of 22 main freight routes – leapt over 10% on 9 February to 1,815 aided by rising Capesize rates. The jump came on Monday, a day that is traditionally subdued in activity terms as shipping companies concentrate on vessel position lists.
Tubarao-China hit $25/tonne on Monday, up over $5/t in under a week to its highest level since early October. The long-term average of Tubarao-China since the beginning of 2003 is $38/t, brokerage Simpson Spence & Young tells Steel Business Briefing. Brazil-Rotterdam shipments reached $11.50/t, a rise of almost $3/t since 4 February, while Australia-China was up around $2.80/t at $10/t.
Brokers attribute the gains to stronger Chinese iron ore demand, primarily out of Brazil, and increased congestion: around 50 Capesize vessels are waiting to berth off China. Chinese ore stocks at port have increased slightly over the last few weeks, to just over 60mt according to SSY, but this is unsurprising because of the higher activity.
Tonnage in the Atlantic basin also looks tight in the short-term – according to brokers. This means there are less open ships from charterers to choose from, which normally pushes up rates.
Shipments of iron from India to China, normally carried out on Supramax vessels with a deadweight of between 50-60,000 t, have also climbed as a result of stronger chartering interest. Charterers are paying around $14,000/day for the route, equivalent to around $11/t. This is substantially up from the October bottom of $2,000/day.
Source: Steel Business Briefing
http://www.steelbb.com
Tags: iron ore, freight, AsiaRelated Posts:
The European Union has initiated a pilot project whose aim is to build secure parking areas
December 28, 2008
The number of attacks on LGVs, in which not only the load is stolen, but also the driver is threatened with a weapon or even injured is steadily increasing. Apart from the long term mental damage to the driver, every year this results in losses of around 8.5 billion Euros, with the trend increasing. The European Union has therefore initiated a pilot project whose aim is to build secure parking areas.
One such automated secure parking area is currently being developed in Germany at the Wörnitz Truck Stop on Exit 109 of the A7 Autobahn, north of the A6/A7 interchange. Wörnitz Truck Stop commissioned DESIGNA and Würzburger Stadtverkehrs GmbH to build a fully automated secure LGV parking area in compliance with the highest security standards.
From December 2008 there will be 25 fully automated secure parking spaces available for LGVs with at risk freight. A special feature of the new secure parking area, which is, of course, fully fenced in and under video surveillance, is automatic photographic logging of the
- vehicle licence plate
- driver
- vehicle from the top left hand side
- and the vehicle from the top right hand side.
This implementation of innovations developed by DESIGNA in the tried and tested PM ABACUS system enables the operation to be fully automated without the operator needing to employ a large number of staff, explained DESIGNAs sales manager, Marten Jentsch, summarising the advantages of the companys system.
Source:Nadine Lübbe http://www.designa.com
From: DESIGNA Verkehrsleittechnik GmbH
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China’s port capacity exceeds demand
October 30, 2008
China’s port and shipping industry has been at its lowest ebb this year in terms of performance, and the situation may worsen in 2009, Xinhua Business Weekly reported.
This is the consensus of the 140-plus representatives representing 94 container wharves nationwide, attending the China Port, Container Wharf Summit Forum.
The transport capacity of shipping companies has far exceeded the market demand in China at present.
The freight charge for routes to Asia and America has dropped from US$1,000 per TEU early this year to $300 to $400 at present.
Many shipping companies have annexed sea routes and sealed orders to new ships. Handling capacity of ports is also oversupplied.
It is expected that the container handling capacity of Shanghai International Port (Group) (SIPG) will reach 28.5 million TEUs this year, falling short of the capacity target set earlier this year.
Source:CNA
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Peak-Season Surchage Canceled ?
August 18, 2008
According to news published in Lloyd List by Janet Porter, shipping lines decided to cancel – or at least postpone- surchage. We will keep you updated in coming days.
Article by Janet porter is here :
HOPES of a summer respite for the container trades have been dashed as efforts to impose a peak season surcharge on Asia to Europe cargo fizzle out.
Members of the Far Eastern Freight Conference and independent carriers had planned to impose a levy of $158 per teu at the start of August.
But then a few lines decided that the market was not strong enough to take the extra rates usually charged at this time of the year during the pre-Christmas cargo surge. Very quickly, the rest of the industry followed suit, Lloyd’s List has learned.
The big question now is whether the peak season surcharge can be introduced later in the summer, once the Olympic Games are over and Chinese factory production returns to normal.
But some have their doubts.
Failure to obtain the usual PSS comes against a backdrop of sharply declining ocean freight rates in the Asia-Europe trades, with some down to $500 per teu, or even lower for certain business.
FEFC lines could have their very last chance to try and collectively restore rates when chief executives meet in Geneva next month on the sidelines of the Box Club summit. Less than a month later, the FEFC will be disbanded as the European Commission outlaws conferences.
The situation is not all bad, with lines reporting an upturn in July litings after a year-on-year drop in June for westbound cargoes from Asia.
Volume growth last month “was much improved” compared with the earlier part of the year, said Derek Wakeling, K Line director of trade and operations in London. The August figures are also looking better, with the corresponding recovery in ship utilisation levels.
Even so, the upturn is probably not enough to squeeze extra money out of shippers.
Container lines are now turning their attention to the market in mid-October when the seasonal cargo bulge will have finished, with the possibility of ship lay-ups now being openly discussed.
While lines are most unlikely to withdraw from service their biggest ships that provide economies of scale, large panamaxes could be put into long-term lay-up if there is no recovery in demand, say industry sources.
The news is no better in the US where Piers Global Intelligence Solutions chief economist Michael Andrews last week delivered a gloomy assessment of prospects for the country’s container trades as the slowdown spreads around the world.
That will dampen growth in US containerised exports that had been benefiting from the dollar’s decline with a 17.5% increase last year. But growth will drop back to a forecast 10.9% this year.
To make matters worse for shipping lines that have benefited from outsourcing, Dr Andrews said in a webcast that high energy prices are likely to persuade some manufacturers to shift production closer to the consumer markets, with anecdotal evidence that this is already happening. That would reduce voyage lengths.
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China’s expanding transport system
August 15, 2008
An increasingly advanced transportation system is handling massive human and cargo movements within China. Here is a collection of transport statistics. All data for 2007 unless otherwise stated.
Highways: World’s second-largest system at 3.58 million km, of which 53,900 km were expressways. Passenger capacity exceeded 20.5 billion and freight volume reached 16.4 billion tonnes.
Railways: Total length 78,000 km, of which 24,400 km were electrified, ranking third after Russia and Germany. Length in service 6 percent of world total but carried 25 percent of world traffic. Ridership was 1.36 billion, up 8 percent year-on-year. Freight volume 3.12 billion tonnes, up 8.6 percent.
Fastest train runs 350 km (217 miles) per hour between the capital, Beijing, and neighboring Tianjin.
Subways: Six cities have subways — Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Taipei and Nanjing. Systems under construction in eight other cities.
Beijing system ridership exceed 613 million.
Ports: Thirteen ports, each with annual throughput exceeding 100 million tonnes; eight among world’s top 50 container ports (including Shanghai, Guangzhou, Dalian and Qingdao). Total throughput at Shanghai 560 million tonnes. More than 3,800 port berths, of which more than 1,000 are above 1,000 tonnes.
Merchant fleet total deadweight tonnage 60 million, fourth in world.
Airlines: Routes total 1,506, of which 1,216 were domestic and 290 were international connecting 91 cities. Airports total 152, handling 185.8 million persons, 4.02 million tonnes of cargo.
Five privately-run airlines and six joint ventures.
Source: Xinhua News
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