China will reach the magic 100 million TEU mark this year. (For the record a TEU is a Twenty foot Equivalent Unit or a sort of standard container. One 40 ft. Container (FEU) is equal to two TEU’s.) It recorded 72 million TEUs in the first eight months of this year. Last year it was 93 million TEUs.

Wang Qingyun, director general of the Communications and Transport Department of the National Development and Reform Commission, said, ‘There is no doubt that the total China container throughput will exceed the 100 million TEU mark this year.’ He said ‘China container cargo is still in the fast lane due to strong demand’.

Hat tip to World Trade Magazine.

Post from: 3PLwire

China to reach 100-million TEU mark in 2008

Share This

For the first six months of 2008, the freight index advanced 2.9 percent, its largest increase for the first six months of the year since 2002. In 2007, the freight index dropped 0.4 percent in the first half of the year before rising about the same amount in the last six months to finish virtually unchanged for the year.

Here’s a link to the actual data.

Post from: 3PLwire

Freight Index rises second consecutive month

Share This

Post from: 3PLwire

PMA-ILWU Negotiations finally over: How do you feel about West Coast / LA-Long Beach ports? - sound off in our poll

Share This

Japan’s exports to China rose 16.8% year-on-year - the highest level since Tokyo began tracking the statistic - while shipments to the US fell 11.5%, a report from Japan’s Finance Ministry said. Overall, Japanese exports climbed 8.1% in the month. As the US economic slowdown intensifies, Japanese companies, including Honda and Komatsu, increasingly look to China for growth. Honda, for example, announced double-digit increases in its China sales in the three months to June, compared with a 5% fall in the US.

Post from: 3PLwire

China takes over U.S. as Japan’s largest export market

Share This

The lorry drivers had gone on a lightning strike on Tuesday night, complaining about the delay in entry into the Rajiv Gandhi Container Terminal at Cochin Port.

The drivers said they had to wait for more than three hours to get into the terminal as the India Gateway Terminals Pvt. Ltd. (IGTPL), which operates the Rajiv Gandhi Container Terminal, had imposed restrictions on entry to avoid congestion at the port during peak hours.

With the talks between the CPT, IGTPL officials and the drivers failing to make any headway yesterday, the port has decided not to go in for any further talks till the strike is withdrawn, the port spokesman said.

”There was absolutely no reason to go on a lightning strike. Not only will this affect the exporters, who will not be able to meet their deadlines, this reflects badly on the port also, especially at a time when we are going all out to get business from other states also,” he added.

Post from: 3PLwire

Cochin port truckers on strike

Share This

The economy grew at a still respectable 4.8 percent rate in 2007, driven by goods exports and household consumption, itself spurred by an increase in disposable income and a wealth effect caused by rising property and stock market prices. Buoyant foreign demand benefited electronics, the automotive industry and shipbuilding in 2007. The country should prove relatively insensitive to the slowdown in 2008 in the United States, which represents only 15 percent of South Korean exports. In these conditions, the Coface payment experience has generally been good. Large innovative companies continue to post high profits albeit eroded by the won appreciation. Small companies focusing on the domestic market have been weaker.

Post from: 3PLwire

World Trade Magazine: Top U.S. Trading Partners

Share This

The first shoe dropped in June when we announced that the Port of Oakland was going to introduce a container fee (container tax) of $12.50/TEU, but not to exceed $25 per container. Much lower than LA/Long Beach, but a fee is a fee.

As for a trucking concession program banning owner operators, that hasn’t happened yet, but this article from etrucker is not encouraging. The key part that made me nervous:

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums and environmental and labor advocates were among 3,000 people who turned out at a July 22 rally to support the program.

LA Mayor Villaraigosa is a staunch supporter and defender of the controversial program in his own port to ban owner operators, which is one of the points being challenged in the ATA’s lawsuit against the Southern California Ports clean-truck programs. I think the fact that Oakland Mayor Ron Dellum’s marched along with him suggests that he agrees with the same sentiments as Mayor Villaraigosa. And let’s not forget that The Teamsters were part of this march on the Port of Oakland as well. This doesn’t bode well for the future of Oakland’s clean-truck program.

Hat tip to World Trade Magazine.

Post from: 3PLwire

Port of Oakland’s own clean-truck program continuing to develop

Share This

Most of the reductions will be made by reining in the port’s capital improvement program, such as suspending plans to build a third terminal at Oakland International Airport. The airport soon will have lost six carriers this year as Aloha, ATA and Skybus all went bankrupt and Continental, American and Taca (an El Salvador airline) have ceased or plan to cease operations there shortly.

“We’re projecting a 20 percent reduction in passenger seats next year and a 14 percent reduction in passengers,” Schaaf said.

Affected employees will be notified Aug. 15. Most port employees are represented by unions, so bumping and reversion rights will come into play, which may slightly affect the exact number of reductions, Schaaf said.

The port will cut 47 jobs from its 92-position engineering department and lop another 46 slots from its 176-job support staff, Schaaf said. Only seven positions will be cut from the maritime, aviation and commercial real estate divisions.

Ouch.

Post from: 3PLwire

Airline struggles and declining imports at the Port of Oakland lead to job cuts

Share This

Of the approximately $48 billion in accumulated budget shortfalls that the 29 states with projected deficits are facing, $33 billion, or two-thirds of the gap, is concentrated in those five states considered by corporate executives to be the least friendly to business. Meanwhile, among the five states ranked as having the best business environment, Texas and North Carolina have no projected budget gaps, and Georgia, Tennessee and Florida are facing shortfalls amounting to about $4.1 billion, or less than one-tenth of the states’ total.

An idealist would assume that those stark numbers would jump out at legislators in the most anti-business states and prompt a bracing re-evaluation of their spending, tax and regulatory regimes, as Paterson advocates. But no such luck. Paterson’s former colleagues in the state legislature are lobbying for a new tax on millionaires, while across the country California’s legislators have called for boosting the state’s top tax rate from 9.3 percent to 11 percent.

Read the whole thing. As the post points out, ironically enough, residents, particularly the wealthy, tend to support the kinds of politicans and legislators that advocate increased taxes and other anti-business measures. As a native Californian, I can attest to this fact, especially locally, as it seems residents have never met a pro-tax, anti-business politician they didn’t like. Free markets, low government intervention and taxes work. Increasing regulatory burdens, taxes, and generally making life miserable for business will only drive companies and residents away while contributing negatively to a state’s bottom line.

Post from: 3PLwire

RealClearMarkets: Anti-Business States Awash in Red Ink

Share This

1. Singapore - 27.93
2. Shanghai - 26.15
3. Hong Kong - 24.00
4. Shenzhen - 21.10
5. Busan - 13.26
6. Rotterdam - 10.79
7. Dubai - 10.65
8. Kaohsiung - 10.26
9. Hamburg - 9.89
10. Qingdao - 9.46

Notice how the volume dropped quickly from the number 4 spot to 5. Also, 7 of the top 10 container ports are in Asia, with 4 of them in China. In fact, 7 of the top 20 container ports are in China. It’s also not surprising to find that a number of container ports in China experienced healthy +20% volume growth compared to 2006.

If you haven’t checked out this week’s Journal of Commerce, get a copy now to read the entire list.

Post from: 3PLwire

The World’s Top 50 Container Ports - 2007 vs. 2006

Share This