Cargo Business Newswire ArchivesSummary for August 13 - August 17, 2012:
Monday, August 13, 2012
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China’s trade growth slowed to six-month low in July
China’s export growth rose an anemic 1 percent to $176 billion in July, a six-month low that could reportedly bring about further government stimulus measures.
The slowdown in China’s exports came on the heels of June’s 11.3 percent growth, while the Asian giant’s imports increased 4.7 percent over the same month last year, after posting growth of 6.3 percent in June.
China’s foreign trade grew 2.7 percent to $328.7 billion in July year-on-year, according to data released by the General Administration of Customs.
"The July data were poor indeed," said Zheng Yuesheng, director the G.A.C.’s department of statistics.
"It will be an arduous task to fulfill our foreign trade target, as external demand is weak,” he said.
China's exports to its biggest trading partner, the European Union, plummeted 16.2 percent in July over the same period last year, while exports to its second-largest trading market, the United States, was up slightly at 0.6 percent year-on-year, compared to 10.6-percent growth in June.
The China Daily reported analysts widely project China’s central government will further reduce the reserve requirement ratio and interest rates.
ICTSI profits rose 17 percent for first half of 2012
The Philippines-based terminal operations firm, International Container Terminal Services Inc., posted net income of $70.3 million for the first half of 2012, a 17 percent increase over the same period last year.
ICTSI’s revenue from port operations was $345 million, an 8 percent gain on first half of 2011.
“The higher net income attributable to equity holders for the first semester was mainly due to the modest growth in volume and revenues in all three geographic segments, and lower financing charges,” the company said in a statement.
ICTSI reported handling 2.7 million TEUs in the first half of this year, a 9 percent gain over last year’s first half.
“The increase in volume was mainly due to the continued growth in international trade where the group’s terminals are located, new shipping line routes and customers, continuous containerization of break bulk cargo, and the full period contribution of the company’s new container terminals in Portland, Oregon, U.S.A. and Rijeka, Croatia,” the company said.
Mercedes-Benz to assemble, ship auto parts kits from Alabama to overseas markets
Mercedes-Benz and BLG Logistics will reportedly announce today a new partnership to produce “semi knocked down kits” in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
The auto parts kits will then be shipped to Asia and other countries where the vehicles will be fully assembled, according to Mercedes.
The oldest shipping company in the United Kingdom announced it has ceased operations 282 years after its launch.
“It is with great regret that the company has had to cease trading,” said Tait Walker, the liquidator for Stephenson Clarke Shipping Ltd. in a statement.
“Whilst previous economic downturns have been weathered, the current market is one of the worst experienced for many years,” Walker said.
Founded at the end of the most famous, or infamous, age of piracy in northeast England’s Newcastle upon Tyne, “Stevie Clark” as the company is affectionately referred to, was more recently involved in short sea shipping, carrying aggregates, alumina, grain, coal, fertilizers and steel.
The company most recently employed staff of just nine and had been selling off vessels from its fleet in recent years.
U.S. Navy destroyer collides with Japanese oil tanker
The U.S. Navy released a statement that on of its guided missile destroyers, USS Porter, collided with the Japanese oil tanker M/V Otowasan in the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf around 1 a.m. Sunday morning.
"Both vessels are okay and the Strait of Hormuz is not closed, and business is as usual there," an un-named Oman coast guard official told Reuters. There were no reported injuries.
The collision that is currently investigation left a large hole on the starboard side of the destroyer.
There have been no reports of any spillage from the oil tanker.
The USS Porter has been on deployment with the U.S. 5th Fleet that is based in Bahrain.
Photo credit: U.S. Navy Photo
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Top Story
Labor board rules in favor of electricians over ILWU at Port of Portland
The National Labor Relations Board ruled in favor of electricians over longshoremen on Monday regarding two hotly disputed waterfront jobs involved in plugging, unplugging and monitoring refrigerated shipping containers at the Port of Portland, Ore.’s container terminal.
"There was clearly not any doubt in our mind this was always the work of the IBEW," said Clif Davis, Local 48 business manager of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 48 to the Oregonian of the decision.
The three-member NLRB panel ruled the Port of Portland has jurisdiction over the reefer container work that dates back to a 1984 agreement with the union, and that the electricians have been performing the reefer box work since 1974.
“Where, as here, a union is claiming work for employees who have not previously performed it, the objective is not work preservation, but work acquisition," the NLRB’s ruling said.
The summer-long, contentious dispute at Oregon’s biggest seaport that pit the ILWU and its employer group, the Pacific Maritime Association, against the port, Manila-based terminal operator, ICTSI, and the IBEW, reportedly caused major cargo back-ups and container-ship diversions to other Pacific Northwest container ports until a resolution was in hand.
The Oregonian had previously reported the cost to shippers to transport freight from Seattle to Portland during the dispute brought an extra estimated cost that ranged from $600 to $1,000 per day.
Longshore coast committee member Leal Sundet said in an email to the Oregonian of the NLRB ruling that "the ... decision does not bind PMA or its member carriers."
Sundet also stood by the union’s stance over the two reefer jobs in a statement: "The ILWU/PMA labor agreement that governs all West Coast employers clearly says that Hanjin and Hapag-Lloyd must assign this work to ILWU-represented longshoremen."
However, the NLRB ruling stated: "ICTSI has no authority to control the disputed work, [and] the Pacific Coast Longshore Contract Document is not relevant."
ICTSI has been running Portland’s only container terminal for over two years.
Whether the ILWU will attempt an appeal in federal court in Portland or Washington, D.C. is reportedly unclear, however the union is embroiled in a separate federal court case in Portland that picks up again on Monday that contends there were intentional union worker slowdowns during the dispute.
Maersk raises 2012 earnings outlook with Q2 profit
Global shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk raised its earnings outlook for 2012 after swinging from an almost $600 million loss in the first quarter of this year to net profit of $965 million for the second quarter, as the company reported strengthening freight rates that it feels should continue into the year’s second half.
Maersk Line, which reportedly accounts for over 15 percent of the container-shipping market, turned an operating profit of $227 million for the second quarter compared to a loss of $95 million for the same period a year ago.
Maersk’s net earnings for the second quarter were down considerably from the same period a year ago when the company posted profit of $1.57 billion, however there is was a charge-off of $700 million from the sale of a supermarket chain in the United Kingdom last year.
"The important thing is that Maersk Line turned profitable," said Maersk Chief Executive Nils Smedegaard Andersen in a conference call.
Maersk Line reported its freight rates increased on average by 4.2 percent in the second quarter over the same period last year, and were 14 percent from the first quarter.
"We have a slower increase in our average rates than you see in the market, and particularly in the spot indexes," Andersen said.
"It's the yearly contracts that are giving us trouble," he said. "So we feel that, even if spot rates peak now, there is room for us to improve rates."
Hapag-Lloyd lost $9 mil in Q2; cites higher fuel costs
German container-shipping line Hapag-Lloyd AG, posted a narrower second-quarter loss of $9 million over the same period last year, while operating profit rose 18 percent to $38 million.
“High bunker prices in particular caused our expenses to increase dramatically -- they are by far the biggest cost factor for our business,” said the shipping company’s Chief Executive Officer Michael Behrendt in a statement.
“Further rate increases are crucial to compensate for these elevated external costs. The cargo on board our vessels has to cover the cost of transportation,” Behrendt said.
Hapag-Lloyd said its average fuel price increased 14 percent to $694 per ton.
The shipping line reported its average freight rate for the quarter increased 7.4 percent to $1,594 over the first quarter of 2012, and up 4.1 percent over second quarter of 2011.
More proposals to operate Virginia’s terminals are filed
Three more proposals have reportedly been submitted to Virginia’s Department of Transportation to operate the Virginia Port Authority’s container terminals on the heels of APM Terminals’ unsolicited proposal to do so earlier this year.
The deadline for submissions was Monday, and two of the bidding parties have not been named, while the current, longtime operator, Virginia International Terminals Inc also submitted a bid.
APM’s proposal, filed in April, called for a 48-year deal that could be worth up to $4 billion.
Transportation Secretary Sean Connaughton said due diligence on the proposals would be performed and something could be announced by August 22 after a closed session debrief with the Virginia Port Authority’s board members.
South Carolina’s port authority doesn’t renew annual AAPA membership
One of the top ten busiest U.S. ports has decided not to renew its membership for 2013 in the biggest association for port authorities in the western hemisphere.
The South Carolina State Ports Authority confirmed to CBN that it is not renewing its membership with the Alexandria, Virginia-based American Association of Port Authorities for next year.
“I would prefer to characterize it as [the port] has suspended its membership for 2013 and will review it moving forward,” said Allison Skipper, spokesperson for the SCPA.
According to the AAPA’s website, corporate membership dues (including port agencies) for its fiscal year 2013 that runs from July 1, 2012-June 30, 2013 are $4,537 “plus share of U.S. Government relations activities expenses, based on their gross revenues.”
“I wouldn’t attribute it as cost [of membership],” said Skipper, who said “like most ports,” the S.C. port authority has “placed a lot of resources at a federal level” into its harbor deepening project.
The AAPA had no direct comment on why the SCPA decided not to renew its membership, but admitted a port of its size doing so was not the norm.
“It’s not a common occurrence,” said Aaron Ellis, director of communications for the AAPA to CBN.
Ellis has been with the AAPA for seven years and in that time he said: “this is the first time a port the size of South Carolina has not renewed.”
The reason the association’s members tend to renew their memberships, according to Ellis, is because “we represent a strong membership benefit.”
Ellis outlined some of the AAPA’s membership benefits, including advocacy, networking, training, accreditation, “as well as the common bonds from sharing information and knowing you don’t have to recreate the wheel at your own port because someone else has paved the way for you.”
In the meantime, Ellis said the AAPA would “continue to try and be in front of [the SCPA] to try and show them the value [of membership].”
The SCPA’s container facility in Charleston has been one of several East Coast ports trying to get shipping channels and harbors deepened to the preferred 50-foot draft industry standard when the Panama Canal is widened by 2015 for much larger containerships.
In July, President Obama named what he said were seven of the country's most critical infrastructure projects, including the expedition of deepening projects at five U.S. ports and a pledge that all Army Corps of Engineer reviews and permits for these projects would be completed by or before September 2015.
The Port of Charleston was one of the five ports listed in the White House’s “We can’t Wait” initiative.
"This announcement represents more good news for our deepening project, and demonstrates that the highest levels of our government understand the critical need to advance this project," said Jim Newsome, president and CEO of the SCPA in a statement the time. "We are grateful for the Administration's commitment."
In June, the South Carolina Legislature pledged $300 million in state funds towards the harbor-deepening project that would cover the entire estimated cost upon authorization from U.S. Congress.
Longshoremen in Portland could fight NLRB decision
The union that represents longshoremen at the Port of Portland, Ore. reportedly plans to fight a decision announced by the National Labor Relations Board on Monday that two waterfront positions that plug, unplug, and monitor refrigerated container units at the container terminal there could continue to be filled by members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers who have worked those jobs since 1974.
“This is just the beginning of the legal fight,” said Leal Sundet, a coast committee member for the International Longshore and Warehouse Union in a statement on the NLRB’s ruling.
However, the Oregonian reported the NLRB’s regional director in Seattle, Ronald Hooks, said the only way an appeals process could be instigated would be for longshoremen to defy the agency’s decision, which would cause the agency to seek a federal injunction.
"The ball is in the longshoremen's court," he told the Oregonian, "as to whether or not they're going to comply."
The summer-long, contentious dispute at Oregon’s biggest seaport that pit the ILWU and its employer group, the Pacific Maritime Association, against the port, Manila-based terminal operator, ICTSI, and the IBEW, reportedly caused major cargo back-ups and container-ship diversions to other Pacific Northwest container ports until a resolution was in hand.
In its ruling on Monday, the NLRB’s said: “Where, as here, a union is claiming work for employees who have not previously performed it, the objective is not work preservation, but work acquisition."
A container vessel owned by Germany's Hapag-Lloyd is calling the ICTSI-operated Terminal 6 today. The IBEW had previously allowed the longshoremen to work the two reefer jobs during the dispute.
The Oregonian reported a lawyer for the IBEW Local 48 in Portland said the union’s members don't plan to use force to drive off longshoremen.
“At this time we have no intent to bring out the Tommy guns and the brass knuckles," said Norman Malbin, the union’s attorney.
Meanwhile, the ILWU is embroiled in a separate federal court case in Portland that picks up again on Monday that contends there were intentional union worker slowdowns during the dispute.
For the full story from the Oregonian’s latest report: www.oregonlive.com
U.S. retail import volume at ports projected to increase 6.3 percent this month
Imported containerized cargo volume for retail products at major U.S. container ports is expected to increase 6.3 percent in August over the same period last year, according to an industry report.
“These numbers all show significant increases for the months when retailers will be bringing merchandise into the country for the crucial holiday season, and we’re also expecting an increase for the full year,” National Retail Federation Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold in a statement over the latest release of the monthly Global Port Tracker report, a partnership between the NRF and Hackett Associates.
“Actual sales will depend on how consumers react to employment levels and other indicators, but retailers are clearly stocking up and hoping for a stronger fall and winter than they saw last year,” said Gold.
The U.S. ports followed by Global Port Tracker handled 1.41 million TEUs in June, a 4.7 percent increase from May and a 10.7 percent increase over June 2011, according to the report.
July’s estimate is at 1.39 million TEUs, up 2.6 percent from the same month last year, with August forecast at 1.44 million TEUs, up 6.3 percent; September at 1.46 million TEUs, up 7.3 percent; October at 1.47 million TEUs, up 13.2 percent; November at 1.3 million TEUs, up 2.4 percent; and December at 1.23 million TEUs, up 2.4 percent, the report said.
The first half of 2012 totaled 7.6 million TEUs, up 3.8 percent from the same period last year, as the full year is expected to total 15.9 million TEUs, up 4.8 percent from 2011, according to the Port Tracker.
“Indicators are mixed, and analysts are getting nervous and expecting the U.S. consumer to retrench and reduce consumption,” said Ben Hackett of Hackett Associates. “But we continue to believe that trade will not weaken as much as expected by others,” he said.
Damco H1 net revenue up 12 percent
Freight forwarder Damco posted a net revenue increase of 12 percent for the first half of 2012 over the same period last year to $1.54 billion.
The company reported gross profit was up 5 percent to $379 million, with earnings before tax and interest for the first half of 2012 up 42 percent to $51 million.
Damco reported its ocean freight volumes increased 9 percent over the same period in 2011. The freight forwarder said its airfreight tonnage growth was 135 percent, due to the inclusion of its acquisition of Chinese air freight forwarder NTS.
C-17 lands at wrong airport in Florida
Link to video of a U.S. military C-17 cargo aircraft that landed at the wrong airport in Tampa, Florida: travel.usatoday.com
Thursday, August 16, 2012
No Newswire today.
Friday, August 17, 2012
Top Story
ILWU sues Port of Portland in federal court
On Thursday the International Longshore and Warehouse Union filed suit against the Port of Portland, Ore. and its executive director Bill Wyatt in federal court. The suit alleges that the port illegally gave public monies to private terminal operator ICTSI Oregon and several ocean carriers to compensate them for money lost due to delays caused by the union struggle.
This move by the ILWU was a reaction to Monday’s decision by the National Labor Relations Board that the two disputed port jobs that involve plugging, unplugging, and monitoring refrigerated container units could continue to be filled by members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, who have worked those jobs since 1974.
The port gave $4.7 million to ICTSI Oregon, the port’s private terminal operator, and tens of thousands more to shipping lines, after the union dispute reportedly caused major cargo back-ups and container-ship diversions to other Pacific Northwest container ports until a resolution was in hand.
The ILWU lawsuit is asking for an injunction against the payouts, claiming they violate federal labor laws.
“Our lawsuit aims to stop the Port’s direct interference in a private labor dispute and to keep the money in public hands, where it can be invested in local infrastructure and for other purposes that serve the public good,” said Leal Sundet, ILWU Coast Committeeman and resident of Clackamas County.
The summer-long, contentious dispute at Oregon’s biggest seaport that pit the ILWU and its employer group, the Pacific Maritime Association, against the port, Manila-based terminal operator, ICTSI, and the IBEW, reportedly caused major cargo back-ups and container-ship diversions to other Pacific Northwest container ports until a resolution was in hand.
In its ruling on Monday, the NLRB said: “Where, as here, a union is claiming work for employees who have not previously performed it, the objective is not work preservation, but work acquisition."
On Wednesday the Oregonian reported the NLRB’s regional director in Seattle, Ronald Hooks, said the only way an appeals process could be instigated would be for longshoremen to defy the agency’s decision, which would cause the agency to seek a federal injunction.
S.C. maritime commission approves lawsuit settlement concerning joint port with Georgia
The South Carolina agency that represents the state’s interests on the river, the Savannah River Maritime Commission, on Wednesday approved an agreement that settled a lawsuit over a $5 billion terminal that the wants to build with Georgia. The joint container terminal would be located on the South Carolina side of the river.
The states disagree on nine legal actions that have to do with the development of the joint port. This agreement settles one of them.
The commission accepted a memorandum of understanding with the three South Carolina members on the board of the Jasper Ocean Terminal Joint Project Office. The board is made up of members from both South Carolina and Georgia. In the agreement, both the commission and the South Carolina board members agreed to discuss issues concerning port development before any board vote occurs.
Commission chairman Dean Moss said the agreement resolves a lawsuit the commission brought in state court earlier in 2012, in which the commission was granted a temporary injunction to block the South Carolina members from taking action or voting on matters under the commission's authority.
The Savannah River Maritime Commission is also a party in lawsuits in federal court, state court and the state's administrative law courts over a $650 million U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plan to deepen the Savannah River shipping channel. Georgia wants the channel dredged so the state's existing port can handle the large post-Panamax vessels that will call when the Panama Canal widening is completed in 2014.
L.A.-Long Beach July container volumes down in July
July container volumes were down 1 percent year on year at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, and port officials said Wednesday the usual fall uptick in shipments is unlikely this year.
However, Los Angeles and Long Beach handled a combined 8 million TEUs, a 1.1 percent increase, in the first seven months of 2012, compared to the same period last year.
"As a port complex, we're not seeing the kind of growth that we've seen in other years," said Phillip Sanfield, a spokesman for the Port of Los Angeles. "The fact we're flat tells us that consumer spending has not changed much from last year."
Taken separately, the Port of Los Angeles handled 726,375 TEUs in July, a 5.5 percent surge from July 2011. Imports increased by almost 4 percent, exports were up 0.3 percent and the number of empty containers the port handled increased 14.1 percent.
In contrast, the neighboring Port of Long Beach logged 522,486 TEUs in July, an 8.8 decrease from July 2011. Imports were down 10 percent, exports decreased 1.9 percent and the number of empties handled were down by 12.2 percent.
Brazil invest $66 billion to improve surface transportation
The president of Brazil announced a nearly $66 billion surface transportation package on Wednesday to fix the country’s road and rail infrastructure, in an effort to resolve trade bottlenecks and give a boost to the slow growing economy.
The package includes laying 6,200 miles of new train track and building or broadening 4,660 miles of national highways. The government also intends to invest in packages for its airports, ports and maritime transportation, other areas sorely in need of improvement.
"Brazil will finally have an infrastructure that's compatible with its size," President Dilma Rousseff said at a ceremony announcing the package, which comes as Brazil is poised to host of the 2014 soccer World Cup and the 2016 Olympics.
After experiencing growth over the the last decade, Brazil's economy decreased last year and the government projects 2.5 percent growth in 2012. Private economists surveyed weekly by the Central Bank now expect growth around 1.8 percent. However, Brazil's unemployment remains at record lows.
Experts assert that transportation logjams must be removed to assure long-term growth. It is currently difficult to transport Brazil's considerable commodities from various far-off in-country locations to the foreign export market. Brazil ranks far behind other big nations when it comes to infrastructure, ranking 104 out of 142 in a recent global competitiveness report from the World Economic Forum.
Fearing rescued asylum seekers, ship captain reroutes to Australia
A merchant ship bound for Singapore changed course for Australia this week, because the captain worried that the Indonesian asylum seekers he had rescued were dangerous and might hurt his crew, officials reported Thursday.
Before the rescue, one asylum seeker went overboard and evidently drowned. The surviving 67 are in an Australian immigration detention center, said Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare.
Clare said the 67 may be deported to tent camps in the Pacific countries of Nauru or Papua New Guinea under the new Australian law. The opposition has called for the asylum seekers, all men, to be charged with piracy for threatening the crew to reroute the vessel.
Wallenius Marine, the operator of the rescue ship MV Parsifal, reported the men were rescued 44 miles south of Java in a crowded fishing boat headed for Christmas Island, 250 miles to the south, after they made a distress call to Australian rescue officials Tuesday morning.
Having fulfilled his responsibility to rescue the asylum seekers, the captain ordered his crew to continue to Singapore, the ship's intended destination.
"When the asylum seekers on the boat found out about this, they became very aggressive and the master of the ship made the decision to turn the vessel around and head to Christmas Island," said Clare.
China’s export growth rose an anemic 1 percent to $176 billion in July, a six-month low that could reportedly bring about further government stimulus measures.
The U.S. Navy released a statement that on of its guided missile destroyers, USS Porter, collided with the Japanese oil tanker M/V Otowasan in the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf around 1 a.m. Sunday morning.
The National Labor Relations Board ruled in favor of electricians over longshoremen on Monday regarding two hotly disputed waterfront jobs involved in plugging, unplugging and monitoring refrigerated shipping containers at the Port of Portland, Ore.’s container terminal.
One of the top ten busiest U.S. ports has decided not to renew its membership for 2013 in the biggest association for port authorities in the western hemisphere.
On Thursday the International Longshore and Warehouse Union filed suit against the Port of Portland, Ore. and its executive director Bill Wyatt in federal court. The suit alleges that the port illegally gave public monies to private terminal operator ICTSI Oregon and several ocean carriers to compensate them for money lost due to delays caused by the union struggle.