Thursday, February 16, 2012

ITF newsletter on the economic crisis

ITF newsletter on the economic crisis

Link to Economic Crisis Newsletter

Company shorts - 16 Feb. 12

Posted:

Cosco Container Lines has been named the preferred carrier of Citic Pacific, the Hong Kong-listed unit of China International Trust and Investment Corp, following a five-year steel shipping deal.

Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) has upgraded its Latin and South America ACW service with an additional port call at Paita, in Peru.

The reconstruction of the Liberian port of Monrovia, fully owned and operated by APM Terminals Liberia, is to be completed earlier than planned to cope with the forecast surge in trade. 

US-based Matson Navigation Company, a subsidiary of Alexander & Baldwin, reported a 31 per cent drop in profits from ocean transportation, but its Hawaii services have gradually improved.

South Korea's shipping yard Hyundai Heavy Industries has sealed orders worth $US1.1 billion for four 162,000 cu m LNG (liquefied natural gas) carriers and one LNG floating storage and regasification unit.

Israel Corp has injected US$50 million into its virtually fully owned shipping line Zim, which is expected to report losses for 2011. Zim's parent company promised further $50 million cash by the end of the first quarter.

Sources: Lloyd's List, International Freighting Weekly; 15-16 February 2012

Losses for CSAV

Posted:

Chile's shipping line Compañía Sud Americana de Vapores (CSAV) blames poor market conditions and increasing competition for an annual loss of US$1.3 billion. The company says its restructuring plan has shown the effects in the last three months of 2011, when losses were down to $145 million from $300 million the previous quarters. CSAV is planning to expand ship ownership to 30 per cent by mid-2012 and to lower its chartered tonnage, while entering charter agreements with other carriers. The company's container shipping operations are to split from the terminals and logistics arm Sudamericana Agencias Aéreas y Marítimas, once a $1.2 billion capital increase has been completed.

Source: Lloyd's List; 15 February 2012

New cross-Channel services

Posted:

Cruise ferry operator DFDS Seaways is to launch a joint cross-Channel service in cooperation with LD Lines, after hiring 75 former SeaFrance staff. It has been announced that around 190 staff from the bankrupt SeaFrance would be recruited to operate a second vessel. Meanwhile, P&O Ferries has deployed a second super-ferry on the Dover to Calais trade. Some 450 former SeaFrance workers are to contribute €30,000 each (€5,000 from workers' severance payments and €25,000 as a job creation bonus) towards a co-operative. They plan to acquire three vessels and to launch a joint ferry service in partnership with the Channel Tunnel operator Eurotunnel.

Source: International Freighting Weekly; 15 February 2012

India in need of investment for ports infrastructure

Posted:

The Indian government has planned to promote investments in ports infrastructure and ease the congestion and capacity issues. The country's largest container port, with almost half of India's containerised cargo, Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNP) handled 4.3 million teu in 2011. The government's plan is to grow JNP's container throughput to 11 million teu by 2016, and 23 million teu by 2020. APM Terminals, which operates the ports of Mumbai, Pipavav and Chennai, believes that $20 billion worth of investment, including from the private sector, is necessary to cope with India's projected trade growth. 

Source: International Freighting Weekly; 15 February 2012

Hapag-Lloyd posts profit for 2011

Posted:

German shipping line Hapag-Lloyd finished the financial year 2011 in the black, with an operating profit of €101 million, according to preliminary results. Volumes were up 5.1 per cent to 5.2 million teu, although the company's annual revenue slightly decreased to €6.1 billion from €6.2 billion the previous year. The container line had some €750 million liquidity reserve and is optimistic after securing a long-term agreement to finance its orderbook. German tourist group Tui is to reduce its stake in Hapag-Lloyd from 38.4 per cent to 22 per cent following a deal with Albert Ballin consortium.

Source: Lloyd's List; 16 February 2012