APL reports 23% volume growth

APL’s container volumes increased by 23% year-on-year from mid-October to mid-November, but this failed to materialise into an increase in revenues per 40ft container.
The NOL-owned carrier said it handled 416,000teu between 17 October and 13 November (period 11), up from 339,000 for the same period last year.
Meanwhile, its revenues per forty-foot equivalent unit (feu) for the period were 28% down year-on-year at US$2,239.
During the previous four week period, APL moved around 423,400teu, a 14% improvement on the same period last year.
Over this same period, APL generated revenues of $2,254 per feu, which was 29% down on last year. Between mid-August and mid-September its revenues per feu came to $2,247.
The carrier’s year-to-date volumes for period 11 were 12% down on 2008, while its revenues per feu 24% down on the previous year.

http://www.ifw-net.com/freightpubs/ifw/indexarticle.htm?artid=20017727100

Long-term parking

There is clearly no current commercial need for DP World's London Gateway container terminal and, let's face it, there's unlikely to be for some years. Behind the brave faces and talk of fiexamining all the optionsfl, it's just not going to happen anytime soon.
With the Felixstowe South development under way and due to enter some sort of operation in the next couple of years, there will be plenty of capacity to handle the country's imports, even if they return to 2007 levels in an unexpectedly short time.
Which makes the request of Thurrock Council to borrow - or however the financing is structured - money to fund the development of the logistics park adjoining the port plainly ridiculous.
The whole point of the enormous London Gateway logistics park was to almost instantly create the type of fiport clusterfl that makes ports attractive to lines and their customers.
But there's no point in having that logistics park until the terminal also exists.

http://www.ifw-net.com/freightpubs/ifw/searcharticle.htm?articleTeaser=true&keywords=London+gateway&artid=1259939144897&highlight=true&articleContext=search

Council bids to help fund logistics park

A UK council has applied for financial support for the development of Europe’s largest logistics park, close to the site of the proposed London Gateway container terminal.
DP World London Gateway confirmed that Thurrock Council had responded to a government request for councils to apply for funding for infrastructure projects.
IFW understands Thurrock Council applied for funding because of concerns that the 884,000sq metre logistics park project would not be viable without government intervention, after developer DP World revealed financial concerns.
DP World announced in March that it was putting development of the London Gateway logistics park and container terminal on hold because of volume declines.
A DP World London Gateway spokesman said: "London Gateway [port and logistics park] remains under review.
"We are exploring a variety of funding options, one of which was to explore the possibility of London Gateway Park taking part in the UK government’s open call for pilot Tax Incremental Funding (TIF) projects, announced in the summer.
"Thurrock Council submitted an application in July to the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) and we await the outcome of that process."
A spokesman for the DCLG said there was no guarantee that the government would adopt the TIF scheme, as it was still at the consultation stage.
And the DP World spokesman said that even if the government went ahead with the scheme, there had been 124 applications for funds from councils, so Thurrock’s might not be successful.
He also stressed that the application had been made in regard to the development of the logistics park, not the 3.5m teu container terminal, contrary to some reports.
The government is expected to announce this week whether it will go ahead with the funding scheme for accelerated development zones, as TIFs are also known.
DP World received some good news towards the end of last month, when the European Investment Bank announced it would provide up to £300m (US$500m) worth of funding towards the development of the £1.5bn London Gateway terminal.
It has already benefited from €14.1m ($21.2m) from the EU’s Trans-European Transport Network Executive Agency for dredging work.

http://www.ifw-net.com/freightpubs/ifw/news/council-bids-to-help-fund-logistics-park/1259939144773.htm

Maersk container boss sees box upturn in Asia

Copenhagen: Maersk Line chief executive Eivind Kolding says his company expects container export trades from Asia to grow by 3-8% in 2010. The A P Moller-Maersk director sees the first signs of rising cargo volumes, with liftings up in November compared with one year ago. But 2010 will nevertheless be "extremely challenging". He does not, however, subscribe to the double-dip philosophy and expects volumes to continue to grow, though not in a linear fashion.
Kolding anticipates that the number of container ships laid-up by the company will peak during this slack season, after Christmas in the west, probably rising from today's 16-17 vessels by a few more units. However, he says, laid-up ships will not include any of the company's largest vessels - these are still working effectively, with good load factors, through close cooperation with partners in vessel-sharing arrangements.
In fact, Kolding points out that most of the container vessels laid up so far are in the medium sizes, notably Panamax units, underscoring that the company's pioneering move into operating the world's largest container vessels was the right one.
None of the company's 40-odd newbuildings are likely to be laid up either, Kolding says. "Although 40 ships seems a high number," he says, "in relative terms, it's really quite modest. They will mostly deliver through 2011/12 and, by then, we will need them."
Maersk today operates a fleet of about 460 container ships, of which a little over half are owned vessels. The company has redelivered a number of chartered vessels this year, as well as recycling some nine older leased units in China. A clear demonstration of its green initiatives, the company has netted about $18m less from this recycling process than it could have made by running the ships on to the beach. [04/12/09]

Top 25 union blogs!

I've just found out that I'm number 11 in the top 25 union blogs. I think I only got there because of the amount of posts I do to keep my workmates up to date with issues concerning the dock industry. But hey I'm nearly top 10! Never mind the quality here's the quantity!

http://www.tigmoo.co.uk/files/tigmoo2009.pdf

Hamburg to reduce transhipment charges by 50%

THE port of Hamburg is to reduce its charges in an attempt to regain lost transhipment volumes.“We will introduce a scheme which will see cost cuts of up to 50% per single transhipment container,” said Hamburg’s port senator Axel Gedaschko.

http://www.lloydslist.com/ll/news/hamburg-to-reduce-transhipment-charges-by-50/20017726113.htm;jsessionid=B4D73BE03D1FF394C50BE7A1C90E9F31.5d25bd3d240cca6cbbee6afc8c3b5655190f397f