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Chinese ports grow cargo volumes despite lockdown


Shanghai remained the world’s busiest container port for the 13th year in a row, despite a stringent period of hard lockdown during 2022.
Chinese officials have released preliminary figures which reveal Shanghai’s overall container volume remained stable for the year, indicating a significant recovery after April 2022 when lockdowns in the city and restrictions on the movement of trucks and cargo temporarily constrained volumes.

China’s state-run news agency Xinhua reported that the port’s container throughput had exceeded 47.3 million TEUs in 2022, according to Shanghai International Port (Group), the port operator. This represented an increase of less than 1% compared to the 47.0m TEUs handled in 2021, when volumes increased just over 8% compared to 2020.
“Following the epidemic in the second quarter, the port managed to quickly make a V-shaped recovery in container throughput in July, when it handled a monthly record high of 4.3m TEUs,” Xinhua reported.
According to Maritime Executive, Shanghai started 2022 strong, with a record 4.35m TEUs as exporters and carriers rushed to move containers before the start of the Chinese New Year holiday. Volumes remained strong in the first quarter, but in April the port was hit by the start of an extended lockdown in Shanghai and surrounding areas due to the country’s zero-Covid policy.
Port officials reported at the time that they were maintaining operations during the lockdowns by isolating workers within the port. However, factories were shut and cargo movements were restricted, impacting truckers. Cargo volumes dropped to the lowest level of the year in April, reaching over 3m TEUs and just over 10m TEUs for the quarter.
However, volumes recovered strongly in the third quarter of 2022, when the port rebounded to handle more than 12m TEUs. Volumes of above 4.1m TEUs per month were reported in October and November but this dropped to an estimated 3.8m in December.
Meanwhile, cargo volumes at port facilities at Ningbo-Zhoushan also reflected strong growth in 2022. Port officials reported that the facilities had handled more than 31m TEUs, with growth of nearly 8% for 2022. Qingdao demonstrated growth of almost 8% to over 23m TEUs in the first 11 months of the year. Overall, Chinese ports handled more than 210m TEUs during the first 11 months of 2022, representing an increase of more than 4% in container volume.

 

Carrier discrimination in the spotlight

The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) is taking a hard line against carriers who discriminate or retaliate against a shipper for filing a complaint or challenging a charge.
The Ocean Shipping Reform Act (Osra) has made it clear that this is illegal.

“The FMC will thoroughly investigate any allegation of illegal behaviour and prosecute aggressively when warranted,” according to a statement released by the body.
“This is something that everyone in a company, from the newest sales associate to the CEO, must understand, and that is why the Commission’s Vessel-Operating Common Carrier (VOCC) Audit Team is carrying this message directly to ocean carriers serving the United States.”
It says that even a simple verbal threat to a shipper from an ocean carrier employee could undermine US law and will not be tolerated.
The FMC is asking the top 20 shipping lines calling the US to provide information on how they are complying with the new prohibitions on retaliation established by the Osra.
The law became effective immediately upon its enactment in June. The prohibitions apply to common carriers, marine terminal operators and ocean transportation intermediaries.
The VOCC audit programme was established in July 2021 by Chairman Daniel B Maffei, with the initial mandate of assessing ocean carrier compliance with the FMC’s rule on demurrage and detention. In March 2022, Maffei ordered the programme’s scope to be expanded to also evaluate how shipping lines served US exporters. The programme allows the Commission to engage ocean carriers directly and frequently to raise and resolve issues of concern.

MSC unseats Maersk in November carrier reliability stakes

Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) unseated Maersk as the most reliable carrier in November last year, as shipping reliability continues its upward trajectory.
That’s according to the latest Global Liner Performance report, published by maritime consultancy Sea-Intelligence.
Carriers improved their reliability 4.7 percentage points month on month (m-o-m) in November and reached 56.6%. The average delay for late vessel arrivals also improved consistently over the year.
Average delays for the period under review dropped by another -0.58 days m-o-m to 5.04 days. Both schedule reliability and average delay are now better than the 2020 level.
 

ONE to acquire US container terminals

Ocean Network Express (ONE) has signed definitive agreements to acquire a 51% stake in TraPac LLC (TraPac) and Yusen Terminals LLC (YTI), currently held by Mitsui OSK Lines and Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha respectively.
TraPac is a container terminal operator and vessel stevedore that provides container terminal services in Los Angeles and Oakland. YTI provides container terminal services in Los Angeles.

These acquisitions are part of the integration of the container shipping businesses from the parent companies into ONE, according to a statement released by the line.
“The recent disruptions to the supply chain due to Covid-19 have highlighted the importance container terminals play in keeping global trade flowing. The newly acquired container terminals will safeguard ONE’s access to terminal capacity in key and strategic gateways, support its growth ambitions, and enhance its service offerings to customers,” says a ONE spokesperson.
The closing of these transactions is subject to the approval of the relevant authorities.

 

MSC and Maersk to terminate 2M alliance

MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company and Maersk have decided to part ways and mutually agreed to terminate, effective January 2025, the present 2M alliance.
In a joint statement, CEO Vincent Clerc of AP Moller – Maersk, and CEO Soren Toft of MSC, said: “MSC and Maersk recognise that much has changed since the two companies signed the 10-year agreement in 2015. Discontinuing the 2M alliance paves the way for both companies to continue to pursue their individual strategies.”

Both carriers committed to continuing their strong collaboration for the remainder of the agreement period. “We remain fully committed to delivering on the 2M alliance’s services to customers of MSC and Maersk.”
Today’s announcement has no immediate impact on the services provided to customers using the 2M trades. Each company’s customer teams will communicate with their respective clients regarding support during, and beyond, the phase-out of the alliance.
The 2M vessel-sharing agreement was introduced in 2015 by Maersk and MSC with the aim of ensuring competitive and cost-efficient operations on the Asia-Europe, Transatlantic and Transpacific trades.
The agreement was for a minimum term of 10 years, with a two-year notice period of termination. 

 

Eswatini Air poised to fly

The flag carrier of the Swazi Kingdom, Eswatini Air, finally got its Air Operator Certificate (AOC) in December and is preparing for its launch, but no date has yet been fixed.
The airline announced its news via its Facebook site, noting that there were “just a few logistics” to attend to before it would publish a schedule.

In a media statement on December 31, 2022, CEO of the airline, Qiniso Dhlamini, said it was now a matter of obtaining operating permits from the aviation authorities of the countries that Eswatini planned to operate to, and he expected that soon a date for commencement of operations would be announced.
In October last year, the carrier found it was facing longer delays than expected in obtaining its AOC and so had to delay its launch to 2023. 
Eswatini Air is believed to be an authorised holder of ground-handling licences and it will provide ad hoc ground-handling services to other airlines. This includes liaising with customers, selling jet fuel, and dispatching and handling incoming and departing aircraft. 
The airline has said it intends to operate direct flights from Manzini King Mswati III International Airport to Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town as well as to Harare, using its fleet of two Embraer ERJ 145 aircraft. 
South Africa is the Kingdom’s largest trading partner. 

Nigeria celebrates opening of its first deep sea port

Nigeria recently marked the dedication of its first deep sea port, Lekki Deep Sea Port, which is forecast to become a major cargo hub for West Africa.
President Muhammadu Buhari cut the ribbon to mark the opening of the port, which was completed in November 2022 at a cost of approximately $1.6 billion, Maritime Executive reported on Monday.

It’s Nigeria’s first fully automated port and is the first expansion of its ports in 25 years. 
Buhari said the port was “a game-changer that would redefine maritime activities in Nigeria and the entire West African sub-region”.
Situated about 64km east of Lagos, the port covers more than 90 hectares. Apart from being the first deep sea port in Nigeria, it is also the biggest port in the country and one of the largest in sub-Saharan Africa. It has the capacity to handle 2.7 million TEUs annually.
The China Harbor Engineering Company developed the facility as part of China’s Belt and Road strategy and officially handed it over to Nigeria but retained a 52.5% stake in its operating company.
The first phase of the port has been completed and includes the overall layout, including a five-mile-long navigation channel, an almost 609-metre turning basin, and an 18.8-metre depth throughout the port, as well as the breakwater and berths. The container terminal comprises three berths covering an almost 1.2km quay and a container storage yard with more than 15 000 slots. It is also the first Nigerian port with ship-to-shore super-post-Panamax cranes.
When fully constructed, it will also have a liquid bulk terminal with three additional berths, with capacity to handle vessels up to 160 000 dwt and a tank farm connected by pipelines running to the breakwater. Its dry cargo terminal will be able to handle up to four million tons of dry bulk per year.
CMA CGM sailed its containership, the 5 770-TEU CMA CGM Mozart, into the port on January 22, ahead of the celebration.
The Nigerian government is planning the development of six new deep-sea ports.

Transnet’s plans for lease agreement on Container Corridor under fire

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have issued a statement rejecting Transnet’s intention to “outsource operations on its Johannesburg-to-Durban line to the private sector”. (Read here for context: https://tinyurl.com/y6jcws2x)
“The decision is driven by greed and senseless profiteering by the private sector that has nothing to do with improving industrialisation and South Africa’s economy,” the EFF believes.

They say the plan will “support the extractive neo-colonial economy that continues to steal Africa’s mineral resources for the benefit of America and Europe. Failure to implement a comprehensive infrastructure expansion and maintenance plan undermined Transnet’s operations on all fronts.
“There is no justification or evidence that outsourcing such a strategic and crucial function of Transnet will radically improve its operation.”
The belligerent statement goes on to malign Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan who they claim “has been on a rampage to destroy strategic SOEs.
“The destruction is meant to destroy the value of strategic SOEs so that he can sell them to his friends and cronies.
“The EFF will continue the fight on all fronts to demand Ramaphosa’s resignation to bring an end to the destruction and collapse of SOEs before it is too late and South Africa is left without the necessary levers of industrialisation.” 

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