Аналитика

04.10.2017 RLL Container Report - 04 October 2017
Currently, the port of Murmansk tops the table as the busiest Arctic port with an annual throughput of 22 million tons in 2015. The port is constructing new facilities on the west side of the Kola Bay, which will include a new 46 kilometre-long railway to the new port that is currently under construction and which should be inaugurated by March 2018. At the same time, Arctic Transport and Industrial Centre Arkhangelsk signed an agreement of intent with the Beijing-based Poly International Holding Co. to construct a new deep-water port 55 kilometres north of the existing city centre facility. The port will be built near the Mudyug Island in the Dvina river delta, close to the port facilities for larger vessels.

27.09.2017 RLL Container Report - 27 September 2017
The Russian government’s sale of TransContainer highlights the value of intermodal assets in the context of the vast Eurasian continent. Unlike the populations of western Europe, most people on the Eurasian continent live hundreds, if not thousands, of kilometres away from the great oceans of the world. Here, the railway dominates the transport scene. At the same time, Ilim Pulp’s deal to increase exports to China by half a million tons per annum focuses attention on the expanding cross-border trade from Russia’s main industrial regions in the North, the Urals and Siberia. Other pulp and paper producers will be supplying additional quantities of their products to the rapidly expanding markets in China and S E Asia. Russian exporters located in the lands beyond the Urals will profit from their relative proximity to the main centres of consumption not only in North East Asia but also to consumers as far south as Singapore and Indonesia.

20.09.2017 RLL Container Report - 20 September 2017
Prior to the sale of half of its shares, TransContainer announced a first half profit of Rbl 2.836 Billion, which is double that for the same period last year. As if that was not incentive enough to attract additional bidders, the government selected this moment to donate to the intermodal rail operator a 30% share in Freight Village Kaluga North. Coincidentally, TransContainer had been looking around for a suitable location in the Moscow Region for a modern terminal facility close to one or more industrial parks. TransContainer paid just one Rouble for this asset. Truly, indeed, the sun always shines on the righteous.

13.09.2017 RLL Container Report - 13 September 2017
It seemed like there was no alternative to the current system of building ever-larger container vessels to transport cargoes on the main trade route between Asia and Europe. All the major lines have placed orders for vessels capable of transporting 22,000 teu. Of course, the vessels travel at a rather sedentary pace and take 24 days or more to reach the North European ports. Rail operators may talk of transporting boxed cargoes more quickly (and far more expensively) from China to North Europe but the fact is block trains in China are limited to a mere 42 boxes. In addition, there is still the problem of the two breaks of gauge and the fact that the railways cannot provide direct services to Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.

06.09.2017 RLL Container Report - 06 September 2017
The Russian government confirmed its intention to sell off a 50 percent share in TransContainer. A group of prospective candidates will be invited to an auction, where the highest bid will win. However, even before the parties have had their say, RZD is seeking permission to set up a “TransContainer II”” with rail platforms, terminals and a large fleet of ISO containers of various types. A clear case of “plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose“, I hear the sceptics cry. Small companies have no chance of competing against these intermodal juggernauts. Admittedly, the giants of the container market get the first bite of the cherry but do not despair, that still leaves plenty of rich pickings.