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Drewry calls on liners to exercise restraint when ordering new ships
来源：http://shippingazette.com 编辑：编辑部 发布：2020/01/23 10:36:14
Add to the quagmire, Chinese ports has reported five ship violations of the UN's International Maritime Organisation's (IMO) new rule that caps the content of sulphur in marine fuel to 0.5 per cent. Maritime authorities at the ports of Qingdao, Dalian, Ningbo, Xiamen and Weihai reported the violations of IMO 2020 regulations. All five cases showed a small excess of sulphur in the fuel, ranging from 0.546 per cent to 0.68 per cent, suggesting none of the vessels involved were using high sulphur fuel oil, reports London's Lloyd's List. Causes of overrunning the sulphur cap were said by officials to have been improper blending of the fuels or an incomplete switch to compliant fuels. The Xiamen Maritime Safety Administration offered the most detailed explanation in its case detected on January 3. It said the ship caught had switched to very low sulphur fuel from December 27 but had been largely out of service since then while some high sulphur fuel oil The high premium price of very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) is also causing the global maritime industry a big headache. The average VLSFO price at the world's top ports has reached US$651.50 per tonne, according to Ship & Bunker, far higher than $369 for HSFO IFO 380. The extra bunker costs have triggered a cash crunch among some ship operators with less deep pockets, as highlighted by Singapore's Pacific International Lines (PIL). As the time goes by more VLSFO production will come online. That can help to reduce the spread, while the tax rebate reportedly approved by Beijing for local refineries will facilitate that trend. The new tax regime is likely to ramp up China's VLSFO output and lower its imports of bunker fuels that have been the chief source of supply at Chinese ports for vessels. At the same time, ships that have fitted exhaust gas scrubbers are reaping the benefits of better earnings. Cleaves Securities earlier put rates for a scrubber-fitted very large crude carrier at $117,000 per day versus $101,000 per day of a non-scrubber sister ship. Fearnleys noted in a report this week that a scrubber-fitted capesize dry bulker presently earned an extra of $8,000-$10,000 per day against a non-scrubber one. The use of scrubbers also involves many maintenance costs. Scrubber components need to sustain corrosive products at high temperature, with the wear and tear requiring great monitoring, according to Milutin Gojkovic, a liner shipping and bunker expert who previously worked for a major European carrier. Overrun of installation costs is another headache, as yard slots have become increasingly tight. One shipping executive whose company completed a scrubber retrofit on one of its capesize dry bulkers in November said the final cost charged by the shipyard in China was 30 per cent higher than the quoted price, with the job finished three-four days later than scheduled. |
THE Port of Shanghai posted a 3.07 per cent year-on-year increase in container volume in 2019 to 43.3 million TEU, ranking it as the world's busiest container port for a 10th year. However, this year's attainment marked a slowdown from the 4.4 per cent gain to 42.01 million TEU in 2018 that Shanghai made over the 40 million TEU throughput achieved in 2017. "The port achieved great performance in 2019, especially in the sector of container handling volume. We have accomplished the major economic targets for the past year," said Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG). The port reported CNY36 billion (US$5.1 billion) in revenue down 5.3 per cent in 2019 year on year and CNY9 billion in net profit, down 12.5 per cent per cent. Singapore remained the world's second largest container port in 2019 reporting a volume of 37.2 million TEU. |
ONE of the world's leading forwarders Swiss-based Kuehne + Nagel has announced its intention to accelerate development in Asia Pacific with a consolidated headquarters in Singapore. "Following the successful combination of the former three European regions into one Europe, the significant growth and successful integration of three major acquisitions in the North America region, the focus for the years to come is on Asia Pacific," said the K+N statement. In order to target an even stronger role in logistics all over Asia, the company has decided to concentrate strengths and to combine its so far two Asian organisations into one strong region, it said. With immediate effect, the new Asia Pacific region with about 10,000 professionals will be headquartered in Singapore. The two current regional managers Jens Drewes and Siew Loong Wong will jointly lead Asia Pacific development. Said Kuehne + Nagel International chairman Joerg Wolle: "We strongly believe that Asia Pacific will be the driver of the global economic development in the years to come. The joint leadership of the region by two proven executives will prepare the ground for a new dimension of organic and inorganic growth of our networks." |
GLOBAL Port Tracker founder and CEO Ben Hackett expects a one per cent drop in US import volumes in the third quarter before volumes rebound by the end of the year, reports IHS media. US imports from Asia saw a year-on-year decline in 2019 for the first time in 10 years as the trade war resulted in a 10 per cent drop in Chinese imports. Imports are expected to decline further in January and February before turning higher in March, said Mr Hackett. US imports from Asia last year fell 2.2 per cent to 16.6 million TEU from 16 million TEU in 2018, after increasing 7.6 per cent in 2018 from the previous year, according to PIERS data. US imports from China were hit hard in 2019, declining 9.8 per cent to 10.5 million TEU from 11.7 million TEU in 2018. Retailers and manufacturers last year, spooked by the trade war, shifted some of their sourcing from China to Southeast Asia; imports from Asia, excluding China, increased 14.8 per cent in 2019, according to PIERS. For the past 10 years, ports and carriers had assumed that import growth from Asia and China, the engines of the transpacific trade, would continue uninterrupted. |
THE Port of Oakland saw its container throughput in 2019 fall 1.8 per cent to 2.5 million TEU. Port officials attributed the decline to a 13 per cent decrease in empties. Export volume rose by 3.7 per cent last year, and imports were up one per cent. As a result, the port set a record for loaded containers in 2019 with 1.9 million TEU. The port said the results were promising given the US-China trade war had dampened global trade last year, reported Maritime Logistics Professional, Palm Beach, Florida. The port, which attributed export volume growth to ongoing demand for US agricultural products, said more and more shippers are turning to markets outside of China to expand their businesses. Continued strong US consumer spending kept import volumes growing despite tariffs on Chinese goods, the port said. It added that northern California's economy contributed to the growth in imports. |
DREWRY Maritime Research predicts that 1.2 million TEU of container shipping capacity will join the global fleet this year, including 23 x 20,000-plus TEU mega ships for leaders Hyundai Merchant Marine, CMA CGM and Mediterranean Shipping Company. According to Alphaliner data, the box fleet expanded by four per cent last year to 23.2 million TEU of capacity for 5,337 ships, resulting from 1.06 million TEU of newbuild deliveries against 207,000 TEU of ships sold for scrap. Demand growth is anticipated to remain weak since the 'challenge' from the bloated orderbook is ever present, reported London's Loadstar.L There were 253 blanked east-west sailings by the three major container shipping alliances last year, up from 145 void sailings in 2018. Drewry said carriers have become "very adept at switching capacity around and hiding it when necessary." Indeed, one unnamed carrier source told Loadstar the line intended to be "more aggressive" in its blanking programme this year. "We cannot afford to let it [supply] get out of control again this year, and we must not be fooled again by over optimistic assessments for the peak season," he said. "If we don't have enough ships, so be it, but at least those that do sail will make some money," he added. Moreover, with some 250 vessels for two million TEU of capacity either being retrofitted with scrubbers or awaiting their turn to enter dry docks, supply will continue to be skewed, at least in the first half of the year, paving the way for ocean liners to phase-in newbuilds while incumbent vessels are out of service. But longer-term, Drewry, suggests shipping lines will need to be "more ruthless on demolitions and remain restrained when it comes to ordering new tonnage." Another factor that could put a brake on the orderbook is the uncertainty across the industry over the strategy required to reach carbon-neutral targets. "Deciding on the most suitable ship propulsion alternative will, understandably, take time, and the longer carrier executives take to consider and delay investment in new ships, the more time the industry will have to reduce its capacity surplus," said Drewry. "The container industry is now battle-hardened to cope with yet another challenging and unpredictable year. Much like last year, carriers should be able to return solid, if unspectacular, results and continue to prepare the ground for a better future," it said. |