i DRY CARGO DC international ISSUE NO.163 OCTOBER 2013 FEATURES European Coal Trades Hamburg–Le Havre Self-Unloaders Stockyard Equipment Bulk Handling Drives, Systems & Controls The world’s leading and only monthly magazine for the dry bulk industry VERSTEGEN GRAB MORE MORE GRAB 6ERSTEGEN'RIJPERS"6s0/"OXs"!.IEUWEGEINs4HE.ETHERLANDS TEL sFAX EMAILINFO VERSTEGENNETsWEBSITEWWWVERSTEGENNET CONTENTS ©Coeclerici logistics division/all rights reserved. Main photo: Coeclerici Floating Transfer DCi Stations (FTS) Bulk Celebes. Bottom left: the FTS Bulk Borneo, Bulk Java and Bulk Sumatra. The units have been developed by Coeclerici logistics division and they are currently operating in East Kalimantan in Indonesia for PT Berau Coal. Coeclerici Spa Piazza Armando Diaz 7 20123 Milan- Italy Tel: +39 02 624 69451 E: [email protected] W: www.coeclerici.com PUBLISHERS Jason Chinnock [email protected] OCTOBER 2013 issue Andrew Hucker-Brown [email protected] EDITORIAL featuring... Louise Dodds-Ely Editor [email protected] Jay Venter Deputy Editor [email protected] TRADE & COMMODITIES Samantha Smith Directories [email protected] Stronger grain and soya trade emerging 2 Stephanie Hodgkins Office Manager Indonesian coal producers struggle in the face of heavy challenges 4 [email protected] India reaps the rewards of favourable monsoon 5 SALES EUROPEAN COAL TRADES 2013 7 Lourens van Emmenis Sales Director [email protected] Matthew Currin Senior Sales Executive [email protected] SHIPPING & TRANSPORT CORRESPONDENTS Permanent underwater repairs to all types of propellers 17 Brazil Patrick Knight MacGregor’s MacRack technology for five Greek bulk carriers 19 Canada Ray Dykes India Kunal Bose PSM offers tank gauging solutions for all ships & applications 21 Asia David Hayes SELF UNLOADING VESSELS: AN UPDATE 27 Europe Barry Cross Malaysia Wira Sulaiman Philippines Fred Pundol South Africa Iain McIntosh PORTS, TERMINALS & LOGISTICS Thailand David Turner UK Maria Cappuccio Port Północny opens the Polish market to Capesize cargoes 39 UK Michael King Richards Bay to receive longer block trains 41 UK Richard Scott USA Colby Haines Interacid diversifies into dry bulk 45 USA Walter Mitchell HAMBURG-LE HAVRE RANGE: STRUGGLE TO MAINTAIN BULK VOLUMES 51 ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE ENGINEERING & EQUIPMENT Business Publishing International Corporate House, 11 Sinembe Crescent Terex Port Solutions’ cranes impress Brazilian operator 81 La Lucia Ridge, South Africa, 4051 Liebherr’s LHM 600 wins the hearts of Latin America 83 Tel: +27 31 583 4360 Fax: +27 31 566 4502 Real-time measurement of conveyed material 85 Email: [email protected] STOCKYARD EQUIPMENT: STACKING, RECLAIMING & CONVEYING 87 HEAD OFFICE TELESTACK SYSTEM INSTALLED IN LIBERIA 131 Trade Publishing International Limited FAR BEYOND DRIVEN: DRIVES & CONTROL SYSTEMS 143 Clover House, 24 Drury Road, Colchester, Essex CO2 7UX, UK Tel: +44 (0)1206 562560 COAL HANDLING DIRECTORY 149 Fax: +44 (0)1206 562566 Email: [email protected] Website: www.dc-int.com ISSN 1466-3643 SUBSCRIPTION RATES Trade Publishing International Ltd does not guarantee the 2013 OCTOBER information contained in Dry Cargo International, nor does 1 year 2 years 3 years it accept responsibility for errors or omissions or their UK £170.00 £280.00 £365.00 consequences. Opinions expressed herein are not Europe £210.00 £355.00 £460.00 necessarily those of Trade Publishing International Ltd USA & ROW £260.00 £445.00 £580.00 If you do not subscribe, this copy of Dry Cargo International could be your last. Please © Trade Publishing Int’l Ltd 2013 complete the order form on p148 to guarantee delivery of your regular monthly copy. DCi 1 Stronger grain and soya trade emerging more cheerful picture of the global economy has Japan’s steel industry raised its output by 1% to 73.2mt, been taking shape recently. This outlook augments while China’s mills achieved a remarkable 8% expansion to A other signs pointing to growing dry bulk trade amid 521.8mt. Together with the beneficial impact of relatively some notable positive influences among importers in various low iron ore port stocks and competitive international prices, parts of the world. Indications of increasing grain and soya iron ore imports into China in the same months also rose by volumes add to the upwards trend in industrial commodity 8% to 526.1mt. Many forecasters see this positive pattern movements. continuing. The latest (early September) OECD forecasts are slightly more encouraging than previous assessments. In the COAL advanced economies group (mainly USA, Japan, South Korea Global import demand for steam coal, comprising the largest and European Union) second quarter 2013 GDP growth part of seaborne coal trade, still derives valuable advantages sharply improved, exceeding 2% annualized, and this when new coal-fired power stations start up in countries stronger pace is expected to be maintained during the dependent on foreign supplies. The latest example is in second half of the year. China’s growth has slowed but a Japan, where a major plant is being commissioned. pickup now seems to be unfolding. This new Japanese power station consists of two generating units with a combined capacity of 1,600 GRAIN megawatts. Over a full year’s operation, assuming that World grain trade could increase by about 2% in the present demand for the electricity generated utilizes the plant’s 2013/14 crop year which started in July, reaching 269mt capacity fairly fully, well over 3mt of coal from foreign (million tonnes), according to International Grains Council sources could be required. The added volume will support calculations. But this predicted outcome is heavily Japan’s imports amid continued closure of most of the dependent upon expectations of a large expansion of China’s nuclear power plants. wheat, corn and barley imports. These are forecast to rise by BULK CARRIER TRADE & FLEET OUTLOOK BULK CARRIER TRADE & FLEET 86%, to 17.1mt. An expected stronger advance in soya trade MINOR BULKS also reflects larger Chinese imports. US Dept of Agriculture Steel products trade (coil, sheet, plate and other items) is a estimates summarised in table 1 show global soyabeans and major component of the minor bulk commodities sector. meal movements, in marketing year 2013/14 beginning According to some estimates, seaborne volumes may October, rising by over 9%, to 163mt. Lower domestic increase by around 10mt during 2013 as a whole, reaching production of beans in China, coupled with rapidly growing around 290mt. One especially strong element is European meal and oil consumption trends and relatively low stocks Union imports, which reports suggest are likely to jump could boost import demand. rapidly this year. IRON ORE BULK CARRIER FLEET Sharply different production experiences, among steel mills The global fleet of Panamax (65–99,999dwt) bulk carriers in the principal raw materials importing countries, underline could prove the fastest growing size group in the current contrasts among iron ore purchasers. Some noticeable year. Newbuilding deliveries are expected to decline, as output reductions have been seen in the first eight months shown in table 2, but scrapping also seems set to diminish. of this year, when EU crude steel production declined by 5%, The outcome is likely to be about 9% fleet expansion during to 109.3mt compared with last year’s same period, and 2013, to just under 186m dwt at year-end. This modest South Korea’s output was 6% lower at 43.5mt. deceleration follows 12–13% annual expansion in the past Conversely, during the January–August 2013 period, three years. TABLE 1: WORLD SOYABEANS AND SOYAMEAL IMPORTS (MILLION TONNES) 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13* 2013/14* European Union 34.2 33.6 34.3 32.9 30.4 32.2 China 41.3 50.4 52.6 59.3 59.5 69.0 Other Asia 23.1 25.8 27.2 27.6 28.1 29.5 Others 30.3 30.2 31.2 30.5 31.3 32.0 World total 128.9 140.0 145.3 150.3 149.3 162.7 % change from previous year –3.2 +8.5 +3.8 +3.5 –0.7 +9.0 source: US Dept of Agriculture (12Sep13) Oct/Sep marketing years *forecast TABLE 2: PANAMAX (65–99,999DWT) BULK CARRIER FLEET (MILLION DEADWEIGHT TONNES) 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013* newbuilding deliveries 14.4 22.2 26.9 22.0 scrapping 0.7 5.2 8.7 6.0 losses 0.0 0.2 0.0 0.0 plus/minus adjustments 0.7 0.3 –0.1 0.0 world fleet at end of year 134.6 151.7 169.8 185.8 % change from previous year-end +12.0 +12.7 +11.9 +9.4 OCTOBER 2013 source: Clarksons (historical data) & BSA 2013 forecasts *forecast DCi by Richard Scott, Bulk Shipping Analysis, Tel: +44 (0)12 7722 5784; Fax: +44 (0)12 7722 5784; e-mail: [email protected] 2 Indonesian coal producers struggle in the face of heavy challenges NEWS Indonesia’s coal producers are being tax, a further tightening of rules governing buffeted from all sides at present, and foreign ownership of mining rights and land, not just by the global decline in coal and a requirement that minerals be prices. Low freight rates have processed before export. In coal’s case the diminished their shipping advantage to latter would mean upgrading low rank coals key Asian markets vis-à-vis more distant before export, a major problem given that thermal coal suppliers in Australia and upgrading technology on a mass a scale is the Americas, while regulatory unproven, that about 90% of Indonesia’s uncertainty and political risk are making coal output is classed as low to medium long-term balance sheet forecasts rank, according to figures from the Ministry difficult. of Energy and Mineral Resources.