RLL Container Report - 28 May 2014
From: John Keir, Ross Learmont Ltd Email: john.keir@telia.com Date: 28 May 2014
All Quiet on the Western Front.
As Hanjin drops out of the Russia-Finland feeder service, so the Korean’s place is taken by China Shipping Container lines (CSCL). The Russia-Finland feeder service will now be served by the 1.216 teu Lantau Arrow, which will join two other vessels on the run connecting various terminals in Hamburg, Kotka and St Petersburg. Also in the Baltic region, the Maltese owners of Baltic Container Terminal are to invest Euro 20 million in raising box capacity at the Riga facility by one third to 600,000 teu. Currently, BCT dominates the local terminal market handling around seventy percent of the port’s total throughput. Last year, Riga port processed 381,000 teu with seven out of ten units passing through BCT.
Although parts of Hamburg currently resemble one big building site, the port demonstrated its ability to overcome all logistical challenges by boosting throughput in the first quarter by 8.6% to record a total for the period of 35.6 million metric tons. Urgent upgrading to the road network around the Hanseatic city was expected to have a negative impact of the port’s overall performance but the city by the Elbe has been in the shipping business for too long to allow mere asphalting to hold up operations. Indeed, the port claimed that its share of box traffic among the top four European ports increased by 1.4% in the first quarter to register a total of 2.4 million teu. During this period, another record was set by the Eurogate Container terminal, when it handled 11,500 teu on and off the CSCL “Le Havre”, which called at the berth on 13 May. The terminal averaged 140 teu per hour during its 52-hour stay at the berth, after which the vessel continued on its way to Zeebrugge.
Indeed, all ports in Europe can expect to have to work even faster to load vessels as box traffic is set to rise by an impressive 13.7% on routes out of Asia. In March, box traffic on the main East-West trade increased from 1.09 million teu in 2013 to 1.24 million in March of this year. Some of the main economies in Europe had shown signs of emerging from economic hibernation and these latest figures tends to confirm that something is indeed happening in this market covering half a billion people.
The ripple-effect is being felt up as far away as Estonia, where Muuga terminal recorded a 15.4% increase in box cargo for the month of April. But the biggest surprise package of the Baltic region turned out to be Kaliningrad, where Baltic Stevedoring Company recorded a monthly record of 20,142 teu, eclipsing anything achieved in the past 10 years of the container terminal’s existence. The growth rate of 28.5% over the previous year also fully justifies Kaliningrad`s plans to increase terminal capacity to 400,000 teu.
However, the port will only whisper that the increased traffic is thanks almost 100% to import cargo, with full outbound loadings lagging well behind. This tends to highlight the curious approach of all box terminals to what they perceive as “negative” news. Low export moves are somehow considered to be bad news that must be kept well away from the media. In fact, the port should adopt the opposite approach and should shout it from the tallest buildings in the Enclave: Kaliningrad has the spare box capacity that you are looking for to transport your bulk cargoes to new markets. Send us all you have and we shall take care of it. Kaliningrad benefits from an ice-free location and a short feeder time to all the major ports in N Europe. Tell the world: do not keep this impressive marketing advantage to yourself.
For example, in the first quarter of 2014, Russian exports of mineral nitrogen fertilisers rose by 9.2% to 2.9 Million metric tons. During the same period, two other main categories of fertiliser each topped the 2 million-ton mark, so there is plenty of containerisable cargo coming on to the market. Of course, this will only serve to get me banned from the annual Arijus Golf Tournament to be held at the end of the month on the lovely National Course just outside Klaipeda. And if you want to know another top secret about the Enclave, then take the direct route right up the Baltic Coast: it may be slow, the road made be in need of repair, the border crossing may take a little longer but you get a unique experience. This is definitely one for the seasoned traveller.
While in the charming port city of Klaipeda, they will provide you with two important pieces of information: first, the local port maintains its lead amongst the Baltic ports having processed 110.611 teu in the first quarter of 2014 to notch up a 16% rise on last year. More importantly, the locals will encourage you to return to the city the following week, when Klaipeda hosts its annual Jazz Festival. If like me, you never had any interest in this type of music, then think again and prepare to be converted, for the Lithuanian port puts on a festival that rivals anything the Port of New Orleans has to offer. To add to the atmosphere, ferryboats steam in and out of the port with passengers lining along the railings, as the masters blow their foghorns in time to the music.
Top-class Jazz musicians performing in the middle of one of the biggest container ports in the Baltic. Be there, or be square.
John Keir, Ross Learmont Ltd.
28 May 2014
Copyright ©, 2014, John Keir