Archive for March, 2008

IMC Corporation, which is effectively owned by the Tao family, is expanding its shipyard business in China with two new yards, one focusing on ship repair and another on shipbuilding.

Koay Peng Yen, group chief executive of IMC and seen in our illustration, said, ‘We are expanding in the shipyard area, we have two ship repair yards right now and we’re building up a new building and conversion yard and a ship repair yard.’

IMC is already in the ship repair business in Thailand with Unithai Shipyard, and China with Zhoushan IMC-Yongue Shipyard and Engineering.

The two new Chinese yards will be in Zhoushan and Dalian Changxiang and are being developed with partners who were not disclosed.

Koay Peng Yen said, ‘We will release more information when our partners are more ready.’

In December, IMC opened a multi-purpose port in Dalian Chianxing, an island being promoted as a harbour industrial zone.

According to Koay Peng Yen, its existing China joint venture ship repair yard in Zhoushan is full a little more than a year after starting operations.

IMC Corp was set up last year to consolidate all the shipping, industrial, offshore and logistics businesses held by Fredrick Tsao’s IMC Pan Asia Alliance. IMC Corp is headed by Koay Peng Yen who moved from Neptune Orient Lines in mid-2006, and has since brought over a number of other senior executives from the Singapore shipping line.
Source: Lloyd’s List

State-owned Shenzhen International Holding plans to launch a RMB455 million ($64 million) venture to build five deep-water terminals and two logistics centers in Nanjing.

The venture, in which Shenzhen International will take a 70% stake, while Nanjing Port Authority and Nanjing Chemical Industry Park will each hold 15%, will build five terminals at the Xiba Port of Nanjing Chemical Industrial Park.

The first phase of the project, which is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2009, is to build two terminals for 50,000-ton vessels and a 400,000-square-meter (4.3 million-square-foot) logistics center by jointly investing RMB800 million.

The remaining three terminals for 50,000-ton vessels and a logistics center is set to start construction within four years after the completion of the first stage.

Shenzhen International is a Hong Kong-listed company that is engaged in logistics, and construction, investment and operation of freeway infrastructure.
Source: TDC Trade

Technology giant IBM as opened its first supply chain innovation center in Beijing. The company said the center will be focused on helping companies throughout the world — this is not just a local system — integrate and transform their global supply chain capabilities.

The center will leverage the company’s expertise in supply chain research, business consulting services, software capabilities, and its own Integrated Supply Chain background.

Sanjeev Nagrath, Global Supply Chain Management Leader for IBM Global Business Services, said that the planning and launch phase for the center spanned nine months. Beijing was selected as the site for the center, so IBM could best leverage its team of supply chain researchers in its China-based research labs and to also address the supply chain needs of both local Chinese customers and multi-national companies for whom China is a key link in their global supply chain.

In terms of how the center will help customers leverage best practices for things like supply chain methods and techniques, Nagrath said that at the center IBM will train its clients in emerging markets to help them come up the supply chain maturity curve.

Sanjeev Nagrath said, ‘The key advantage of using this center is Speed to Benefit. Shippers will be able to leverage existing solutions and tailor them to their needs and for their most complex problems be able to tap into our research and development capabilities to come up with first-of-a kind solutions. Additionally, the center will be a gateway for our clients to tap into our 7,500+ customer worldwide Supply Chain practice.’

The phrase ‘Speed to Benefit’ is one of those splendid marketing phrases which so disfigure the English language. In this area the IT industry has a lot to answer for.
Source: Logistics Management

Great Wall Airlines is now flying a freighter service to Tianjin. The new cargo flights will be operated by its B747-400 freighter fleet with a frequency of five flights a week flying the Pudong-Tianjin-Amsterdam route and two routed through Pudong-Tianjin-Amsterdam and Manchester.

Great Wall Airlines is the first carrier to offer direct schedules on all-cargo flights to Europe from Tianjin.

President of Tianjin Binhai International Airport Shao Dengxiang said. ‘Our plans to improve airport facilities are proceeding well. By 2010, the annual cargo turnover at Tianjin Airport will reach 500,000 tonnes.’

President of Great Wall Airlines Tan Kai Ping said. ‘in a few months, we will be announcing the launch of services to the United States.’

Great Wall Airlines is an all cargo airline based in Shanghai Pudong Airport. It operates a fleet of three B747-400 freighters, with a network covering the major cargo hubs of Amsterdam, Manchester and Dubai.
Source: CargoNews International

The go-ahead has been given for the building of a bridge that will link Hong Kong, Macao and the western Chinese province of Guangdong. Price will be around the US$7.7 billion which will make it one of the world’s most expensive and ambitious infrastructure projects

The 29.6km bridge, first proposed 25 years ago (the writer remembers putting together a feature on it for the Hong Kong Standard) will connect Hong Kong on the eastern side of the Pearl River with Macao and Zhuhai in the west to create a regional economic hub.

It is expected to cut travel time between Zhuhai, in Guangdong, and Hong Kong from about three hours to 20 minutes.

The idea is to bring development to the western side of the Pearl River which, oddly enough, has almost been ignored in the boom times.

It makes lot of sense. Hong Kong remains one of the world’s most vibrant ports and the areas of Guangdong to its north are home to the factories behind much of China’s recent economic boom. Space is running out if Hong Kong is to hang on to any claim for being a green city (which, by the way, it is.)

So the western shore of the Pearl River is, to use the wrong cliche, the last frontier. But it is true it has remained underdeveloped due to its difficult geographical access.

The consortium that wins the bid to build the bridge willlbe backed by the three governments concerned when it comes to construction costs. Based on estimated economic benefits brought by the bridge to the cities, Hong Kong is to contribute 50.2% of the shortfall, Guangdong 35.1% and Macao 14.7%.

The project has drawn criticism for its environmental impact. Some very rare pink dolphins, for example, live in the delta and critics have warned that they could be disturbed by the construction. It is not thought that this will stop the project.

Public tender of the project is expected soon and the winner will operate the bridge for 50 years. And it is thought it will take thirty of those years to get the money back.

Anthony Wong, president of Hong Kong Logistics Association, welcomed the long-awaited green light. The bridge would be a huge boost to the west side of Guangdong. And he got in an early pitch about the charges for using the bridge to get somewhere. He said, ‘It’s nice to have the hardware in place but it’s useless if nobody is willing to use it because it is too expensive.’

You can get a thorough understanding of the bridge by clicking HERE to see a very full illustration.
Source: Financial Times

There is a slump in transpacific shipping and it is hurting the West Coast ports in the US. The ports and intermodal operators are being hit hard and it seems to be worsening. There has been a sharp drop in Asia-US imports in the past two months.

The San Pedro port complex of Los Angeles-Long Beach is the gateway for 70% West Coast traffic. It reports import volume fell 8.8% in both January and February on a year by year comparison basis. The US demand is being eroded by high fuel costs and a weakening economy which still has not got to grips with the sub-prime problem.

To give an idea of the size of the problem three of the largest global carriers — Danish shipping-giant Maersk Line, French carrier CMA CGM Group and Swiss company Mediterranean Shipping — are sharing space on the same ships instead of operating their own weekly transpacific shipping services. This way they may be able to cut transportation costs by as much as 30%.

What is not often realized is how large are the stakes.

Our illustration the full size of some of these ships. Click on  GCaptain  and see the comparative size of the vessels and the cargo they carry (nearly a quarter of a mile long and some dwarf the Titanic) and you can see filling those for every voyage is no easy task.
Source: CargoNews Asia

Longkou city was formerly known as Huangxian County. It is located in the northwest of Shandong Peninsula and the south bank of Bohai Bay. Longkou is a coastal harbour city adjacent to Yantai to the east, linked to Qingdao to the south, west of Weifang. It is opposite to famous cities like Tianjin, Dalian, Qinhuangdao and Beidaihe as well as Korean Peninsula. Longkou is one of the energetic regions in the economic rings around Bohai Sea.

Longkou Port will one day have an annual throughput of 100 million tons of goods. The port’s annual throughput is projected to surpass 50 million tons in 2010.

By 2020 throughput at the port is expected to break through the 100-million-ton threshold.

Meng Xianggang, general manager of Longkou Port said, ‘The port will be built into a regional distribution center at Bohai Bay for coal and a trans-shipment center for petroleum, chemicals, grain and minerals.’

Longkou Port in east China’s Shandong province is developing modern logistics and industries over the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10).

During the period, planned investment in port construction will reach RMB8 billion, used for building and extending berths, waterways, piers, a road and railway network and industrial park facilities.

Two general-purpose berths, each with a handling capacity of 50,000 tons of goods, will be operational in late September.

A liquid chemical berth with a handling capacity of 50,000 tons and a general-purpose berth located on adjacent Jimu Island with a handling capacity of 100,000 tons of goods will both be finished this year.
Source: People’s Daily Online

Shanghai World Expo looms and will be with us in 2010. Just for the moment it is a little overshadowed by the Olympic Games but that will change.

Now Sinotrans (China National Foreign Trade Transportation), a comprehensive logistics services provider with business in several overseas countries, is the first confirmed sponsor in the field of logistics.

Miao Gengshu, chairman of Sinotrans, at the signing ceremony said Sinotrans will support World Expo Shanghai 2010 with logistics services and a wide-ranging operational network.

Shanghai Expo will select two to three companies as logistics services providers. Sinotrans is the first confirmed logistics sponsor.

It was among the first batch of 44 supporting corporations during China’s bid to host Expo 2010, providing logistics services to the bidding team in 2002.
Source: Shanghai Daily

DHL has appointed Edward Hui as country manager Hong Kong, Macau and South China for DHL Global Forwarding.

He will be responsible for developing and executing the company’s corporate strategies and operations in Hong Kong, Macau and South China.

He will also play a key role in exploring market opportunities and enhancing customer satisfaction for the complete range of DHL freight logistics services.

Victor Mok, senior vice-president, Greater China, DHL Global Forwarding said, ‘Edward has a proven track record, both in DHL and in the logistics industry, as well as excellent knowledge of Hong Kong and mainland China markets. I am confident that under Edward’s leadership, DHL will continue to attain and maintain the number one position in the region.’

Hui joined DHL Global Forwarding in 2004 as head of airfreight operations for Exel, and subsequently led the successful integration of the equally-sized freight operations of heritage Exel and DHL Danzas Air and Ocean.
Prior to joining DHL, he was with Cathay Pacific Airways for over 13 years where he began his career as a management trainee.
Source: CargoNews Asia

A super Ministry of Transport has been announced. Li Jiaxiang, acting director of the CAAC, seen here, said the new ministry will see a consolidation of the functions of different government departments regulating aviation, communications and urban public transportation.

He said, ‘Airports should never be isolated from city planning. When a new airport is planned, the public transport system connecting downtown and the airport should also be designed. I believe such integrated service and regulation would be a major duty of the new ministry.’
‘Transportation should be a multi-dimensional system.’

The ministry will integrate the CAAC, the Ministry of Communications and the Ministry of Construction’s functions of urban public transportation management. The State Post Bureau will also be merged into the new ministry.

Li said the reshuffle would not result in jobs being cut at the CAAC. A State bureau of civil aviation will be formed under the Ministry of Transport, due to the peculiarity of the civil aviation industry.

Some specific departments of the CAAC, such as the aircraft airworthiness certification and flight standard departments are expected to remain, while departments performing general functions, such as the administrative office and human resources department, are likely to be merged.

Li Lei, an aviation analyst with CITICS China Securities, said, ‘Currently, China’s logistics and transportation system is separately regulated by different government bodies. That has resulted in high costs, a waste of resources and low efficiency. By integrating their functions, the new ministry can increase efficiency in the overall planning and management of transportation infrastructure.’

He said effective communication and coordination within the ministry would be key to fulfilling its responsibility.
Source: China Daily