Dec 6 2003

PSA wins award again for best container terminal
PSA CORP has once again won the Best Container Terminal Award at the Lloyd's List Maritime Asia Awards, affirming its position as a world leader in port and terminal operations and management.

The Lloyd's List Maritime Asia Awards, which were launched five years ago, recognise innovators of the maritime industry and honours companies that have improved their business practices and had a positive impact on the industry.

PSA Corporation had earlier won the award for three consecutive years in 1999, 2000 and 2001.

Its Singapore Terminals head of operations, Mr Tan Puay Hin, received the award on Thursday at a function in Shanghai.

Said PSA Corp president and chief executive Ng Chee Keong: 'PSA is most honoured to receive this award and we would like to thank all our valued customers and business associates who have voted for PSA.

'We would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the 200 shipping lines which call at Singapore and PSA.

'This award is a boost for the management and staff of PSA, and re-affirms the importance of continuing efforts to provide the best services for our customers.'

Meanwhile, new monthly figures out yesterday show that PSA Corp's business continues to grow.

Total TEUs (20-ft containers) handled by it grew 13.6 per cent in the first 11 months of the year to hit 25.30 million. This compares with 22.30 million in the same period last year.

Overseas TEUs handled shot up 27.6 per cent to 8.82 million, from 6.91 million.

TEUs handled in Singapore rose 7.3 per cent to 16.48 million, from 15.36 million. -- Narendra Aggarwal

It expects new highs in container throughput, cargo, tonnage and bunker sales

5 Jan 2004

By BETH JINKS

http://business-times.asia1.com.sg/mnt/media/image/launched/2004-01-05/bjmpa5-194506.jpg
PSA Corporation: handled 16.48 million TEUs here as at Nov 30, placing it on track to post a new record of 18 million TEUs

(SINGAPORE) A record-breaking year in 2003 will see the Port of Singapore set new highs in container throughput, cargo tonnage, bunker sales and ship calling tonnage, and full-year figures are set to secure Singapore's place as the world's biggest cargo port for another year.

Last year's port-wide results indicate both PSA Corporation and Jurong Port have enjoyed record years, and that Singapore remains the world's busiest bunkering port, based on the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore's (MPA) statistics through end November.

Singapore's total cargo amounted to 317.13 million tonnes in the first 11 months - up 3.6 per cent on last year. The November result places the Port of Singapore on track for a full year record of 346 million tonnes, provided December meets last year's monthly average. That is 11 million tonnes - or 3.2 per cent - more cargo than the port's 2002 record.

Singapore's two container terminal operators PSA Corporation and Jurong Port handled 16.76 million TEUs in the first 11 months of 2003 - placing Singapore on track to have handled a record 18.28 million TEUs in 2003, provided December throughput meets the monthly average.

Singapore's dominant terminal operator, PSA Corporation, handled 16.48 million TEUs here as at Nov 30, placing it on track to post a new record of 18 million TEUs. The figures leave Jurong Port about 280,000 TEUs, placing the fledgling port on track for a full year throughput of more than 300,000 TEUs - up from a negligible number in 2002. Jurong Port does not release operating statistics.

Containerised tonnage dominates the total cargo figures - up 3.2 per cent, to 175 million tonnes - set to smash the 2000 record with an expected full-year total of 191 million tonnes. Oil bulk cargo contributed 113 million tonnes - up 3.7 per cent on 2002. The figure places Singapore on track to come close to matching its full-year oil cargo record of 124 million tonnes, set in 1999.

Bunker sales hit 18.9 million tonnes by Nov 30 - positioning Singapore to deliver a new record of about 20.6 million tonnes.

Vessel arrival data shows 123,653 ships called at Singapore in the 11 months - a drop from the last four years. However calling tonnage is up nearly 11 per cent, to 902.6 million gross tonnes (gt) - likely to also deliver a full-year record.

Singapore's ship registry has 3,088 ships totalling 25 million gt - a slight recovery from October which saw the lowest number of Singapore-flagged vessels in at least four years.

But Singapore's claim to the world's top tonnage port title is disputed by the world's second biggest port, Rotterdam, which has claimed since 1994 that differing calculation methods inflate local volumes.

Rotterdam's full-year 2003 throughput was 328 million tonnes, Rotterdam Municipal Port Management (RMPM) announced last week, falling short of Singapore's expected 346 million tonnes.

However, Singapore calculates its cargo in terms of freight tons, or volume, while Rotterdam, along with most other ports in the world, uses the more simple metric tonnage method, counting weight. Singapore's freight tons calculation counts the biggest of either volume or weight, unlike metric tonnes that rely solely on cargo weight.

According to RMPM, this use of freight tons means Singapore's total throughput figure must be reduced by an estimated one quarter for accurate comparison. This would give Rotterdam the top spot.

10/1/04

20% hike in capacity aimed at meeting expected box growth

(SINGAPORE) PSA Corporation plans to boost container handling capacity by 20 per cent to 24 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) a year - from 20 million - by building five berths at its Pasir Panjang Terminal.

The company also revealed yesterday that it handled a record 18.1 million TEUs at its terminals in Singapore last year, 7.8 per cent more than in 2002.

'Construction of the new berths will begin in phases, and the first two berths are expected to be operational by 2005,' PSA said.

'With the new berths, PSA will be able to cater to its projected container growth of about one million TEUs a year over the next few years.'

A PSA spokesman said that the new berths will come on-stream in stages, but would not say how much they will cost. When completed, they will raise the number of PSA's container berths to 42.

PSA chairman Stephen Lee said: '2003 started off with uncertainty, (but PSA) reinvented itself and carried out difficult changes to make the company leaner, stronger and more competitive.

'PSA is now well-positioned to ride the recovering regional and global economy and pursue our international expansion plans.'

PSA was dealt a body blow when it lost two major clients - Danish shipping line Maersk and Taiwan's Evergreen Marine - to Malaysia's Port of Tanjung Pelepas over the past three years.

In response, PSA has retrenched about 500 employees to cut costs and increased its investment overseas to bolster growth.

It has also reversed a long-standing policy, allowing a client to take a stake in its terminals. In August, China carrier Cosco bought 49 per cent of two berths in the Pasir Panjang terminal for an estimated $80 million.

'The joint venture between China's Cosco Corp and PSA Corp reflects the new approach in PSA's relationship with its customers,' said PSA president and chief executive Ng Chee Keong.

'(It) heralds the beginning of more joint ventures with shipping lines to invest in terminal operations in Singapore.'

PSA's overseas volumes surge 35% to all-time high

Solid performance due to contributions from Belgium and China operations, helping total throughput to hit record too

By Nicholas Fang

SINGAPORE port operator PSA Corp's overseas terminals handled 10.4 million containers last year, a 35.1-per-cent surge over 2002, which boosted the group's total volumes to a record 28.5 million boxes last year. Industry watchers say that PSA's strong overseas performance can be attributed to contributions from its Belgian and China operations. PSA disclosed last week that its Singapore operations handled a record 18.1 million containers last year, up 7.8 per cent from 2002.

PSA's rival across the Causeway, Johor's Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP), also had a record-breaking year last year as it handled 3.5 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs), a standard container size. This represented a 31-per-cent increase in volumes over the 2.66 million TEUs handled in 2002 and meant that PTP maintained its position as Malaysia's top container terminal for the second year in a row.

PTP chief executive Mohd Sidik Shaik Osman said in a statement yesterday: 'We will continue to target aggressive growth, especially with the expected completion of an additional 720 metres of wharves early this year.' The Malaysian port is building an additional two berths so it can handle six million containers annually, up from five million boxes at its existing six berths.

PSA announced last week that it has obtained approval to build an additional five berths at its Pasir Panjang Terminal, bringing its total number to 42 berths, with an annual handling capacity of 24 million TEUs. Earlier reports also said that there is sufficient land prepared at Pasir Panjang for the building of 20 new berths if necessary.

PSA's record volumes last year came despite a difficult year when it let go of 800 employees, slashed wages, revamped itself and was hit by Sars, the Iraq war and terrorism fears. In a bid to enhance its competitiveness in the region, PSA had earlier offered a one-year discount package to all its customers, which ended last July. PSA had also entered into a landmark agreement with Chinese shipping line Cosco to allow it to take a 49-per-cent stake in, and to operate, one of PSA's Singapore terminals.

Rival PTP has also seen consistent growth in volumes since it began operations in early 2000, but the increase has largely been due to the high-profile arrival of two former PSA customers - Danish giant Maersk Sealand and Taiwan's Evergreen Marine. Its volumes in 2000 were just over 400,000 TEUs, and rose to 2.05 million TEUs in 2001 and 2.66 million TEUs in 2002.

JAN 17, 2004


PSA CORP has won back business from a feeder shipping line that had jumped ship to Malaysia's Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) three years ago. Bengal Tiger Lines (BTL), a German-owned company registered in Cyprus, ceased calling at the Johor port this month and has moved its twice-weekly services back to Singapore, The Business Times reported yesterday.

The move is a shot in the arm for PSA Corp, which has, in recent years, lost Danish shipping giant Maersk Sealand and Taiwan's Evergreen Marine to Tanjung Pelepas. The switch by BTL is a watershed as it is the first time the flow of clients to the Malaysian port has been reversed.

Maersk reportedly used the feeder line to ship its export cargo meant for India and passing through the Malaysian port. However, Maersk is now using its own ships on a new service that is based in Salalah, Oman.

Feeder lines such as BTL are crucial players in the industry as they serve hundreds of smaller ports and 'feed' major shipping lines plying international trade routes. BTL is the largest operator that moves cargo between the Indian subcontinent and the south-east Asian hubs for giant shipping lines.

A BTL spokesman was quoted as saying that the move to return to PSA 'is driven purely by volumes'. He explained that continuing to ply between the Malaysian port and India would have left its vessels sailing empty for one leg of the journey. 'While we have been very satisfied with performance at PTP, we can only follow the volumes and, unfortunately, these have diminished from one player and not developed in general as expected,' BTL said.

The switch, which will earn it rebates from PSA Corp, is expected to add ballast to other main lines calling at PSA.

Mr S.C. Chan, regional director of Orient Overseas Container Line, said the move augured well for PSA Corp as BTL was a 'strong player' on the Madras-Singapore route. 'It will bring about cost savings for main lines in the long run as well,' he said.

Connectivity is extremely important. If I'm not wrong it works the same way with air hubs.

Anyway good news!
:dance:

Bengal Tiger lines pullout unlikely to affect volume: PTP

From Malay Mail
http://www.emedia.com.my/Current_Ne.../20040117110915

THE Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP), Malaysia's biggest container terminal says it doesn't expect volume at the port to be affected by the withdrawal of Bengal Tiger Lines from the port.

"There is no volume on PTP with the re-routing. PTP is still well-connected to the Indian sub-continent through existing common feeders such as QC, OEL and HRC," a PTP spokesperson said.

With the pullout, PTP is now served by 11 feeders, that connect it to ports in Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and India.

Bengal Tiger had previously called at PTP twice a week, with one call being a fixed call, while the second one was on an ad-hoc basis.

Bengal Tiger is the biggest operator dedicated to shipping cargo between the Indian subcontinent and South-East Asian hubs, providing feeder services for main lines such as Denmark's Maersk Sealand.

On Friday, the Singapore Business Times reported that PSA Corp, which runs the world's second-busiest container port, has won back Bengal Tiger from Malaysia.

It said that Bengal Tiger had stopped calling PTP early this month, after it shifted back to Singapore as Maersk has stopped transshipping Indian export cargoes through Bengal's feeder service. Maersk has instead shifted the volumes to its West Asia hub at Salalah in Oman.

Over the last couple of years, PTP had managed to win over two of PSA's biggest customers, namely, Maersk and Taiwan's Evergreen Marine Corp, and the shifting of alliance by Bengal Tiger is being touted as a victory for PSA over PTP.

As a result of losing the world's two biggest mainline operators to PTP, PSA had revoked substantial connectivity rebates worth between 15 and 25 per cent of the tariffs for feeders who also stopped at PTP.

PTP still managed to see a 31 per cent rise in twenty-foot equivalent container units (TEUs) to 3.49 million TEUs last year.

Yay!!!!!

Originally posted by RafflesCity

Connectivity is extremely important. If I'm not wrong it works the same way with air hubs.Connectivity would be even more important in the maritime industry, where the hub and spoke system is so much more pronounced. It takes much more then being the largest shipping film in the world to build connectivity. ;)

29 Jan 2004

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SINGAPORE : A record 986.4 million gross tonnes of shipping cargo passed through Singapore's port in 2003, a 1.5 percent increase on the previous year, maritime authorities said on Thursday.

The Maritime and Port Authority said the increase was achieved despite a 5.2 percent fall in vessel calls to 135,368, with increases in the number of containers and amount of cargo on board the ships making up for the fall.

The authority claimed in a statement the figures showed Singapore remained the world's busiest port in terms of shipping tonnage.

But spokeswoman Felicia Woo told AFP the authority did not have equivalent figures from its rivals, such as Hong Kong and Rotterdam, to confirm the claim, which she said was based on Singapore's historical number one position.

Singapore port's shipping tonnage numbers have grown steadily from 877.1 million tonnes in 1999 to 910.1 in 2000, 960.1 million in 2001 and 971.7 in 2002.

In terms of container and cargo throughput, Woo said Hong Kong was still believed to have the world's busiest port with Singapore coming in second, although this could also not be confirmed because of a lack of comparable data.

The authority's statement said the port handled a record container throughput of 18.41 million 20-foot equivalent units last year, up 8.7 percent from the 16.94 million in 2002.

Total cargo handled for 2003 was 347.69 million tonnes, up 3.8 percent from 335.12 million the previous year.

The authority said in its statement it had taken a series of measures last year to make Singapore's port more attractive, such as port dues concessions of between 20 and 50 percent. - AFP

S'pore port shatters records

30 Jan 2004

Bunker sales, shipping tonnage, container handling up last year

(SINGAPORE) Despite intensifying regional competition Singapore broke existing records for its bunker sales, shipping tonnage and container throughput for 2003, according to statistics released yesterday by the Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) of Singapore.

Container volumes handled by Singapore's two container terminal operators - PSA Corporation and Jurong Port - topped 18.4 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) for the year, up 8.7 per cent from the year before when box volumes totalled 16.94 million TEUs.

Total cargo handled for 2003 amounted to 347.69 million tonnes, up 3.8 per cent over the year before.

PSA, which handles the lion's share of containerised cargo, moved 18.1 million TEUs, up a respectable 7.8 per cent over the year before.

A spokesman for the up-and-coming Jurong Port confirmed to Shipping Times that the multi-purpose port handled a container throughput for the year of 340,000 TEUs, eclipsing its 2002 tally of 140,000 TEUs.

The Jurong Port spokesman attributed this to the addition of four new shipping lines which, along with existing customers, added eight new services at the fledgling port.

The predominantly bulk handling port currently has a capacity of one million TEUs, and will add a further 400,000 TEUs to its capacity this year.

The overall throughput of the two operators topped the record volumes of 2000 when 17.09 million TEUs of containerised cargo was handled island-wide.

Last year, Singapore ranked second behind Hong Kong in terms of overall container throughput, but comparable data on Hong Kong's performance last year is not yet available.

Despite seven straight months of falling container traffic through Hong Kong's main port facilities in Kwai Chung amid rising competition from the Pearl River Delta ports of southern China, Hong Kong port authorities are optimistic its combined handling will reach 20 million TEUs.

The jump in container volumes also boosted the total tonnage calling at Singapore with a new record of 986.4 million gross tons (GT), representing a 1.5 per cent growth over 2002.

Based on these figures the MPA said it would likely remain the world's busiest port.

The increase was achieved despite a 5.2 per cent drop in vessel calls to 135,386 calls in 2003.

Box ships contributed nearly 37 per cent of this total tonnage with 361 million GT, while tankers contributed the next largest proportion with 311.8 million GT for nearly 32 per cent of the total.

Bunker sales also set new records with 20.8 million tonnes of bunkers sold last year, a 3.5 per cent rise over 2002.

The record bunker volumes appear to indicate Singapore has cleared the fallout from the bunker scandal which rocked the local industry in 2001/2002. The MPA had last year denied that the drop in bunker sales in 2002 was connected to the scandal, but said this year that measures to strengthen the integrity of the bunker trade was behind this year's rising volumes.

These measures included more stringent quality checks and a new requirement for Custody Transfer Sampling for ship-to-ship transfer of bunkers and bunker tankers loading at terminals.

Following suit with the port's rising performance, the Singapore Shipping Registry (SRS) also set a new record with 25.57 million GT from 3,063 vessels, up 8.6 per cent from 2002. The SRS remains the 7th largest merchant fleet in the world and the largest in Asia.

The MPA attributed the increase to the registry's ongoing reputation as a quality flag along with its incentive scheme which gives an 80 per cent discount on the initial registration fee for ship owners registering a group of vessels.

During 2003, the MPA offered a 20 per cent port dues concession for container ships along with a 50 per cent concession on port dues for all cruise ships, regional ferries and passenger-carrying harbour craft as part of a package of Sars relief measures.

In championing Singapore's bid to establish itself as a leading International Maritime Centre, MPA chief executive Rear Admiral Lui Tuck Yew said the MPA would continue spearheading efforts to develop and promote the country's maritime sectors and would 'work closely with the industry to identify new initiatives and promote ourselves more aggressively.'

Quite an amazing performance when Sg lost the (then) two biggest customers to PTP years ago! ;)

2003 Another Record Breaking Year For PTP with 3.5 Million TEUs



JOHOR BAHARU, Jan 14 (Bernama) -- The year 2003 has been another record-breaking year for the Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) with an annual throughput of close to 3.5 million TEUs.

The record, which surpassed the slightly over 3.0 million TUEs expected for the year, strengthens PTP's position as Malaysia's number one container terminal for the second year in a row.

In terms of year on growth, 2003 saw total throughput rise by 31 percent surpassing the growth of 30 percent or 2.66 million TEUs seen in 2002.

A new monthly record was also set in Oct which recorded a throughput of 332,314 TEUs.

In a statement Wednesday PTP said, of the 3.5 million TEUs handled last year, 3.33 million TEUs were transhipment containers, a 32 percent rise from the previous year's 2.54 million TEUs.

It said local cargo volumes have also steadily increased 15 percent to 150,000 TEUs.

Container vessel calls to the port saw a dramatic rise of 26.6 percent from 2,486 calls in 2002 to 3,148 calls in 2003.

Gross crane productivity has also improved from 2002 levels of 31 moves per hour to 32.4 moves per hour, a 4.5 percent rise.

PTP Chief Executive Officer Datuk Mohd Sidik Shaik Osman meanwhile dedicated the excellent achievements as the results of PTP's staff who have worked very hard and diligently to bring PTP to new heights.

"We are particularly proud that despite the increased competition, PTP has reached a remarkable growth level of 31 percent to reach 3.5 million TEUs.

"To maintain PTP's position as a premier regional transhipment hub, we will continue to target aggressive growth especially with the expected completion of an additional 720 metres of wharf early this year."

2003 also saw PTP Free Zone welcoming new customers such as Schenker Logistics as well as BMW Group who will be relocating their Asia Regional Parts Distribution Centre from Singapore to the PTP Free Zone.

Construction of the facility began in the third quarter of last year and should be operational by the middle of this year.

To add icing to the cake, the Southeast Asia's fastest growing port located at the Southwest shoulder of Johor, has been awarded the prestigious ISO 9001-2000 certification by Lloyd's.

"This is indeed an achievement by all employees in ensuring that the continuous improvement process will take PTP to greater heights in the future," the statement added.

-- BERNAMA

Originally posted by huaiwei

Quite an amazing performance when Sg lost the (then) two biggest customers to PTP years ago! ;)

Maybe it seems surprising to us because the media never stopped harping on it since then. Sometimes negative-biased reporting can have its advantages;)

this thread is nice. lots of interesting stuff.

Originally posted by weirdo

this thread is nice. lots of interesting stuff. Too much local bias thou? :D

12 Feb 2004

By Nicholas Fang

RATINGS agency Moody's Investor's Service has upgraded PSA Corp's debt rating by one notch to the highest level, Aaa.

The ratings boost follows a corporate restructuring in which PSA Corp - Singapore's main port operator - moved its riskier international business to a holding company.

The upgrade is also a pat on the back for PSA Corp's adoption of more flexible policies which has enabled it to retain customers amid what Moody's described as 'fierce' competition.

Moody's upgraded PSA Corp's rating from Aa1 last month, and said that the outlook for the rating is stable.

Moody's said in its report: 'We understand that PSA's restructuring programme - intended to realign the group's legal structure to reflect the global nature of its operations - was recently completed.

'The process involved PSA International's elevation to group holding company status, while PSA Corp itself became a subsidiary of PSA International.'

Moody's said that this reduced PSA Corp's exposure to the greater business risk associated with the international plans of the PSA group and reinforced its current strong financial profile.

The restructuring also reinforced the strategic importance of PSA Corp now that it only owns Singapore's port assets, considered one of the Singapore Government's 'critical resources', Moody's said.

It added: 'The rating further reflects the ability of PSA Corp to absorb much of the competitive pressures and industry volatility seen over the past 12 to 18 months.

'While ongoing fierce competition is expected from neighbouring ports, PSA Corp is positioned to withstand this and absorb the consequent pricing pressures.

'In addition, regional rivals still require time to build the capacity needed to challenge PSA Corp in a sustainable and material manner.'

PSA Corp reported on Tuesday that it handled 15.4 per cent more containers last month at all its operations than in January last year.

It handled 2.4 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs), up from 2.1 million TEUs previously. Its Singapore operations contributed 1.6 million TEUs compared to 1.4 million TEUs in January last year, a 13.6-per-cent increase.

PSA sails into new year with changes

It offloads stake in failed Yemen port venture; Changes made to corporate structure, management team

By Nicholas Fang

WITH a year of turbulent sea change behind it, PSA Corp has kicked off 2004 with even more changes. The port operator has reportedly sold its stake in a failed port venture in the Middle East for US$200 million (S$337 million) and made sweeping changes to its management team and corporate structure yet again. Key changes include a new division based in fast-growing India, which is opening its port infrastructure to outsiders.

PSA has already won praise from Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew for introducing changes that enabled it to bounce back amid growing regional competition and other challenges, to notch up record container volumes last year.

As part of the latest changes, a report in trade journal Lloyd's List yesterday said that PSA had offloaded its 60-per-cent stake in Yeminvest, its joint-venture port management company formed with the Yemeni government, last November. The company was responsible for developing and managing PSA's Aden Container Terminal but its fortunes took a dive after a terrorist attack on an oil tanker off the Yemen coast in October 2002 killed off trade in the area.

Before that, the Aden terminal had been one of PSA's top performers, contributing 377,400 standard-sized 20-foot equivalent units in 2001 and maintaining 40-per-cent annual growth. PSA included a $125-million loss provision for the facility in its results for financial year 2002, after business was hit by prohibitive war-risk surcharges imposed by vessel underwriters after the attack. PSA declined to comment on the Lloyd's List report, which said that the 60-per-cent stake had been sold back to the Yemeni government.

Separately, PSA announced that it had implemented a number of organisational changes, including the splitting of its former 'Asia and the Middle East' division into two units - PSA India and PSA East Asia. The changes were part of the ongoing transformation of PSA into a global multinational corporation, PSA said in an internal announcement obtained by The Straits Times.

The new India division, which will be based in Mumbai, had been set up to 'ensure the current intensity and focus required' for its success there. 'Increasingly, India is opening up its borders and encouraging more foreign private sector investments in its infrastructure, including ports,' PSA said. Interim leadership for the new unit will be provided by PSA's global head of business development, Mr Kelvin Tan.

Mr Robert Yap, who headed the Asia and the Middle East division, will now assume the post of chief executive officer of East Asia and will be responsible for PSA's operations in South Korea, Japan, Thailand and Brunei.

PSA also named Mr Aaron Mak as chief executive officer (CEO) of its China division. Before joining the company at the start of the year, he was the CEO of Logistic Information Network Enterprises - PSA's Hong Kong-based rival Hutchison Port Holdings' information technology unit - for 10 years.

Former Singapore Technologies Engineering chief financial officer Kuah Boon Wee will take over the same role at PSA from April, replacing Mr Peter Kwan, who left last year after having been appointed last March.

PSA Singapore chief executive Ng Chee Keong will also assume an added responsibility in the newly created post of global head of technical and operations development and will lead the group's efforts 'in continuing to provide and maintain the highest standards of service and innovations' for its customers.

Mr Vincent Lim will relinquish his duties as group head of corporate development to move to Belgium to become executive committee chairman of PSA's Hesse Noord Natie (HNN) group of companies. His responsibilities for global corporate communications have been transferred to PSA global head of human resource Caroline Lim.

PSA also said yesterday that HNN, its Belgian port operator with operations in Antwerp and Zeebrugge, has been granted the concession for the Port of Antwerp's newest container facility, located in an area in the port known as Deurganckdok West. The new HNN terminal will have a quay length of 2,750m and a surface area of 200ha, and facilities to transfer containers for truck, rail and barge connections.

http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/mnt/media/image/launched/2004-02-14/14money.jpg
PHOTO: ADEN OFFICIAL

PSA to pump $647m into Antwerp facility

SINGAPORE port operator PSA Corp is set to invest 300 million euros (S$647.4 million) in a new container terminal in Belgium's booming port of Antwerp, operated by its Belgian subsidiary, Hesse Noord Natie (HNN).

It said HNN had won the licence to operate the west side of Deurganckdok, Antwerp's newest container facility. To be completed by 2008, the facility is expected to double the handling capacity of Antwerp port, which last year saw container traffic grow by 14 per cent to 5.5 million standard-sized containers.

Deurganckdok West is situated on the left bank of the River Scheldt, outside of the locks, providing direct access to the river and reducing vessel sailing time.

The new HNN terminal will have a quay length of 2,750m and a surface area of 200ha. When fully operational, it will be equipped with more than 100 straddle carriers and 24 quay cranes, capable of handling vessels up to 20 containers wide. It will also have facilities to transfer containers for truck, rail and barge connections.

HNN manages four container terminals in Antwerp. Last March, PSA bought a 20-per-cent stake in the firm from Companie Maritime Belge, giving it full ownership.

Seems that PSA has stakes in many overseas ports and I think they are an extra source of revenue.

24 Feb 2004

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SINGAPORE : The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) will double the number of anchorages for refuelling ships to meet increasing demand.

From March 1, there will be two new facilities on the western side of Singapore.

Singapore is already Asia's biggest marine fuel bunkering centre with nearly 21 million tonnes sold last year. - CNA

1 March 2004

Analysts see pressure from tax exemption on charter income, and PSA's new berths


MALAYSIAN businessmen are not losing sleep over Singapore's Budget measures to enhance its overall competitiveness, but Malaysian port owners could face even keener competition from the region's leading shipping hub across the Causeway, businessmen and analysts said.

'Malaysia is still cheaper than Singapore but they will give our ports a run for their money. The shipping-tax exemption is quite significant,' said a Malaysian shipper.

He was reacting to Singapore's Budget measures announced on Friday that will exempt from tax all onshore charter income received by an Approved International Shipping Enterprise (AIS).

The measure, effective from Year of Assessment 2005, was drafted to help retain and attract ship owners and operators to operate out of Singapore. Currently, the onshore charter income of an AIS company is not tax-exempt, except when the charter income is received from another AIS company.

Two other major points in the Budget are also expected to put competitive pressure on Malaysian port owners.

One is the decision by the Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) to approve port operator PSA Corp's application for land to build five new berths at Pasir Panjang, even though the plan was announced earlier.

The other was MPA's decision not to grant PSA a monopoly on container operations in Singapore. An analyst said the veto will effectively allow PSA to be more flexible in competing with Johor's Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP).

PTP has won over two major liners - Maersk Sealand and Evergreen Marine - from PSA in the last four years. PSA, though, has fought back with a slew of incentives and expansion plans. PTP has felt the pressure from the measures taken by PSA even before the disclosure on Friday of the fresh Singapore incentives. PTP had asked the Malaysian government for assistance earlier last month. The Malaysian government has pledged to help PTP but has yet to announce any incentives.

But Singapore's incentives for shippers are not directed at PTP alone, which is controlled by Malaysian businessman Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary and Maersk Sealand.

'Today, transhipment is an international business. Within our neighbourhood alone, Tanjung Pelepas, Port Klang and Laem Chabang are all vying to replace PSA as the hub port for South-east Asia,' said Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Friday when he presented the Budget.

'Competition in the port industry is not really domestic but takes place on a regional or even global stage,' added Mr Lee, who is also Finance Minister.

1 March 2004


(SINGAPORE) Onshore charter income will be tax exempt from next year for shipowners and operators under Singapore's Approved International Shipping Enterprise (AIS) scheme, who were handed a bonus in the 2004 Budget.

AIS companies here will be exempt from tax on all onshore charter income they earn from Year of Assessment 2005, in a bid 'to retain and attract international ship owners and operators to operate from Singapore', Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lee Hsien Loong told Parliament during his budget speech on Friday.

The expanded tax break affects 49 companies which control more than 800 vessels that operate out of Singapore, according to the latest data available from AIS lead agency International Enterprise (IE) Singapore.

Currently, onshore charter income is only tax exempt when an AIS company charters the vessel to another AIS company here, but the new incentive scraps the current 22 per cent corporate tax on all onshore charter income earned by AIS companies.

The announcement comes as charter rates continue to soar, with many ships chartered out at record high rates amid growing demand for limited available vessel tonnage.

The AIS scheme was launched in 1991 and provides international shipping companies which base regional operations in Singapore with 10-year renewable tax-exempt status.

The exemption can be extended every five years, and is open to resident shipping companies that own and operate fleets of more than four vessels, register at least 10 per cent of those ships under the Singapore flag, and spend a minimum $4 million here annually.

Designed to attract major international ship owners to locate operation bases in Singapore, AIS is one of a raft of government schemes aimed at developing - and furthering - Singapore's international maritime centre status. Key to those ambitions have been efforts to attract more professional shipping services - including brokers and lawyers - which congregate around key shipowning hubs.

9 March 2004

Cargo tonnage and bunker sales also move up


(SINGAPORE) The port of Singapore saw container throughput jump 15 per cent and overall cargo tonnage climb 3.6 per cent in January, signalling another strong growth year ahead.

Singapore's two container terminal operators, PSA Corporation and Jurong Port, collectively handled 1.613 million TEUs in January, up from 1.403 million TEUs in January 2003.

PSA accounts for 1.6 million of the total, leaving Jurong Port with 13,000 TEUs in the first month of the year.

Overall, the port handled 30 million tonnes of cargo, with containerised cargo accounting for 56 per cent and oil 35 per cent.

Bunker sales rose 3.2 per cent to 1.86 million tonnes.

The global trend towards fewer but larger vessels has continued and is reflected in both port calls data and the Singapore ship registry.

In January, a total of 11,448 vessels arrived in Singapore - 624 less than the same month a year earlier - but tonnage was up 1.5 per cent at 85.6 million gross tons. Calls by container ships, tankers and passenger ships were all up, but the port received less ferries, tugs, barges, bulk carriers, coasters and freighters.

Singapore's ship registry had 3,065 vessels flagged at the end of January - down from 3,325 a year earlier - but again tonnage has grown 7.7 per cent to 25.4 million gross tons.

Singapore achieved record volumes in container throughput, cargo tonnage and bunker sales in 2003. The port handled 18.4 million TEUs, 986.4 million gross tons (GT) of cargo, and sold 20.8 million tonnes of ship fuel.

8 March 2004


(SINGAPORE) Singapore has sweetened its ship registry further, slashing the paid-up capital requirements for shipowners and waiving conditions on related companies in an effort to boost the national fleet.

Companies flagging ships in Singapore are now only required to have a paid-up capital of $50,000 - removing the old condition for the lesser of $500,000 or 10 per cent of the value of the ship, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) announced in a circular.

Tug and barge owners' paid-up capital requirements have also been pegged to the lesser of 10 per cent of the value of the first craft registered, or $50,000. The eased conditions have a minimum of $10,000 and maximum of $50,000 - a substantial drop from the old maximum of $250,000.

Non-Singapore shipowners who are bareboat charterers registering ships here through a Singapore company need a minimum paid-up capital of $50,000.

Related companies are no longer subject to any minimum paid-up capital, the MPA said, provided they commit to registering vessels and tonnage on a sliding scale.

The waiver applies to related companies agreeing to register two ships totalling at least 40,000 net tons, three ships at 30,000 tons, four ships with aggregate tonnage of 20,000 tons, of five vessels - with no minimum tonnage required.

The move provides a strong incentive for the Singapore flag, and follows the latest Budget announcement, which extended tax exemptions for onshore chartering income for many Singapore shipping groups.

Boosting Singapore's ship registry has been highlighted as a key tool in government-backed efforts to build Singapore into an international maritime centre, to attract more shipping headquarters and professionals here. The MPA currently flags 3,065 vessels totalling 25.4 million gross tons, and has repeatedly said it wants to boost its registry with 'quality vessels from reputable companies', embarking on international delegations to encourage shipowners to register their fleets here.

But the reduced paid up capital move could face criticism from vocal opponents of open registries - dubbed 'flags of convenience' - who may see it drawing lower-quality tonnage and less reputable owners.

It is in stark contrast to the MPA's decision to double the paid-up capital requirements for bunker suppliers to $200,000 in 2002 - specifically to weed out less reputable operators following a series of corruption scandals.

11 March 2004

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/imagegallery/store/phplsNH4T.jpg

SINGAPORE : Singapore's unemployment may have recently been at record highs, but there is one industry here that just can't find enough workers: the booming maritime sector, where 3,500 skilled jobs are currently vacant.

Singapore's maritime sector is projected to grow by up to around 9 percent annually over the next 15 years.

That means more job openings are on the way.

In fact, the industry could add another 83,200 jobs over the next 15 years, according to a manpower study conducted by NUS Consulting for the Maritime Port Authority of Singapore.

Currently the Singapore's maritime industry employs 116,800 people.

So, how does the port authority hope to fill all these vacancies?

"I think in the longer term we would really like to have more Singaporeans taking up a career in the maritime; hence, we are coming up with our education enhancement programmes," said Rear Admiral (NS) Lui Tuck Yew, chief executive of the MPA.

"We are looking at possibilities of transiting people from mid-career into the industry. I think in the short term, obviously there are possibilities of bringing in people from abroad to fill those jobs if there is an urgent need for them to be filled," he said.

And to do that, the port authority is working closely with local education institutions to bring in more maritime courses here.

For now, Nanyang Technological University and its partner, the Norwegian School of Management, are jointly offering the Bachelor of Science in Maritime Studies - Shipping.

"We are working very hard to grow Singapore as an international maritime centre -- bring in more companies, create more employment opportunities and grow the economy," Rear Admiral Lui said.

"We believe that if we are successful in terms of attracting the kind of companies we want to bring into Singapore there will be tremendous job growth opportunities."

The challenge will be meeting manpower needs so as not to hold back growth.

And if enough locals cannot be found, then more foreign workers may have to be taken in. - CNA

Shipping firms flock to HarbourFront Office Park

20 March 2004

NYK Line, P&O Nedlloyd, and Mitsui OSK Lines are among those attracted by the proximity to port terminals

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THE HarbourFront Office Park, consisting of three towers, is fast becoming a hub for shipping companies, given its proximity to four port terminals. The latest shipping company to head there will be NYK Line, which recently signed a lease for 60,000 sq ft at HarbourFront Tower One, sources told BT. The deal is said to boost occupancy for the 375,000 sq ft building to about 90 per cent.

Only the top floor of the 18-storey tower and some space on the third floor are still available for lease.

Other shipping lines that have relocated to the park over the past year or so include P&O Nedlloyd, and Mitsui OSK Lines. Both are in HarbourFront Tower Two (the refurbished former Cable Car Tower). The 150,000 sq ft building is said to be 35-40 per cent let. Both blocks are majority owned by Mapletree Investments, a fully owned unit of Temasek Holdings.

The third building in the HarbourFront Office park is KeppelBay Tower, which is majority owned by Keppel Group. About 60 per cent of its 395,000 sq ft total net lettable area is occupied. Keppel Corp itself has taken up two floors while other tenants include Canon Singapore and BMW.

HarbourFront Tower One and Keppel Bay Tower, both 18 storeys high, were completed in late 2002 while the HarbourFront TowerTwo was completed in Q1 2003.

Singapore is reeling from an office glut that has seen 17.9 per cent of total office space on the island sitting idle at the end of last year, according to official data. According to Jones Lang LaSalle figures, average islandwide office rents fell 18.5 per cent last year.

The space which NYK Line will occupy at HarbourFront Tower One is understood to be spread over the building's 13th to 16th levels. NYK and its related companies are moving their operations from several existing offices on the island, including Gateway at Beach Road and Suntec City, to the new location.

The shipping line's lease with Mapletree is for five years and the gross monthly rental rate is said to be 'at least $3 psf'.

Other major tenants in the building include Exxon Mobil (occupying about half the tower), Dupont, Power Seraya and the backroom operations of UBS Warburg.

Rival's $8.4b ship order puts pressure on NOL

Despite AP Moeller-Maersk's move, NOLis unlikely to take on the competition by going on a buying spree, say analysts

By Lee Su Shyan

A DANISH newspaper reporting yesterday that AP Moeller-Maersk had ordered 129 ships worth a staggering US$4.9 billion (S$8.4 billion) in the next three years is leaving rivals such as Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) wondering what to do in the face of heightened competition.

Should they keep up with AP Moeller-Maersk or allow the world's biggest container transportation group to grab an even bigger share of the lucrative market?

For homegrown NOL, there is not much room to manoeuvre, analysts say, pointing out that the company is still suffering the effects of incurring huge debts to acquire APL in 1997. The debts were partly responsible for the group suffering a loss of US$330 million in 2002.

However, NOL achieved a big turnaround in fortunes last year, thanks to rising freight rates and volumes on the back of China's surging economic growth. It also managed to reduce its debt further following a US$300-million share placement issue. The result was robust profits of more than US$428 million last year.

Despite the record earnings, analysts say NOL was unlikely to go on a grand expansion trail of mergers and acquisitions. In fact, the company has twice taken pains in recent weeks to deny market speculation that it was in talks to buy over a rival in order to grow its capacity quickly.

Analysts say that these days, NOL's policy is to add capacity in only an incremental fashion. For example, on its website, the company says it will take delivery of an additional seven vessels this year. Another three vessels have been ordered for delivery next year. At its full-year results presentation, it had said that 'capacity will grow through upsizing of vessels, adding tonnage conservatively and acquiring slots in partnership with other carriers'.

A recent report by JP Morgan pointed out that NOL would find it difficult to add much capacity, given that shipyards are unable to deliver capacity any earlier than the 2006 peak season. 'Hence, to build scale or to expand during the uptrend, the company has to consider acquisitions and mergers,' it said.

Meanwhile, NOL's share price is languishing, having fallen by 18 per cent from a peak in less than two months. Yesterday, it closed down one cent at $1.95, from a high of $2.39 in January.

JP Morgan pointed out that NOL was trading at the lowest price-earnings ratio among the regional shipping stocks, which include Orient Overseas Container Line and Evergreen Marine. It added that a part of the counter's underperformance reflects the lack of clarity over whether NOL will go down the acquisition route.

China Aviation Oil, Emirates National to build US$135m oil terminal in Singapore

23 March 2004

SINGAPORE : China Aviation Oil and Emirates National Oil have teamed up to build a US$135 million, or S$229 million, oil terminal on Singapore's Jurong Island.

The two oil firms will form a joint venture called Horizon CAO Terminals, with China Aviation taking a 20 percent stake and Emirates National holding the rest.

Their Jurong Island terminal is slated to start operation on or before January 2006.

The first phase would be a half a million cubic metre bulk liquid terminal for petroleum, chemicals and vegetable oil products.

The terminal might be expanded to handle liquefied petroleum gas, bitumen, lubricating oil and other petroleum, petrochemical and chemical products.

It will have two jetties -- one to handle vessels of up to 85,000 tonnes and the other up to 175,000 tonnes. - CNA

Singapore ports meet new IMO requirement for security measures

24 March 2004

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SINGAPORE : Transport Minister Yeo Cheow Tong said two of Singapore's three ports have met the International Maritime Organisation's (IMO) requirement for new security measures.

The deadline for ports to comply with the new IMO's security measures is July 1 this year.

The third port will likely get its certificate by next week.

Singapore is the world's busiest container port.

Some 136,000 ships sailed through Singapore last year and at any one time there are 1,000 ships in port.

This makes it tempting for terrorists to seize one of the ships and use it as a weapon of mass destruction.

Singapore has been quick to implement the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code drawn up by the International Maritime Organisation.

Mr Yeo said: "We are going to be one of the first countries in the world to be fully compliant. So, for example among our ports we have three ports - PSA, Sembawang Port and and Jurong Port. Of the three ports, PSA and Sembawang Port are already full-compliant. They have received their certificates.

"Jurong Port is at the final stage of getting its certificate. And I expect that probably by next week they should be getting theirs...it means that Singapore will be classified as a secure port and ships coming here will have no problems going to another port."

Among the security measures is the requirement that all ships above 500 tonnes be fitted with an Automatic Identification System.

Singapore is going even further by looking at coming out with a low cost transponder system for smaller ships.

The transponder can automatically send signals that identify the vessel and its position. - CNA

I wonder if being fast in responding to security needs might translate into more business? :)

PSA volumes rise 16.7%

PSA CORP shifted 16.7 per cent more containers last month compared with the same month last year, with volumes also up against February at its local and overseas terminals.

Analysts expect container volumes handled by Asian ports to rise this year, boosted by increased trade partly as a result of the furious growth of China's economy.

The port operator said yesterday that its global container volumes rose to 2.8 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) last month from 2.4 million TEUs in March last year. This was up from the 2.3 million TEUs it moved in February this year.

PSA said it handled 1.7 million TEUs last month at its Singapore terminals, the second-busiest port complex in the world after Hong Kong. The volume was up 13.3 per cent from March last year and higher than February's 1.4 million TEUs.

Its overseas terminals posted a 22.2 per cent rise in volumes handled to 1.1 million TEUs from the same period the previous year. This was also up from the 900,000 TEUs handled in February.

PSA has investments in port projects in Belgium, Brunei, China, India, Italy, Portugal, South Korea and Thailand.

From January to March, PSA handled 7.6 million TEUs, up 16.9 per cent compared with 6.5 million TEUs in the first quarter of last year.

While confronting intense competition from neighbouring Malaysia's Port of Tanjung Pelepas and Port Klang, PSA is seeking to expand its offshore terminal capacity. PSA has expressed interest in the multibillion-dollar Yangshan port project and the Nansha container terminal project in China.

Container traffic at PSA rose 16.3 per cent last year to 28.5 million TEUs, with nearly one-third handled offshore, where volumes last year swelled 35.1 per cent. -- Reuters

PSA profits swell to $683m on global economic recovery

A pickup in world trade and contributions from its Belgian unit boost earnings by 22%

By Hugh Chow

SINGAPORE'S No.1 port operator, PSA International, enjoyed a 22 per cent surge in year-on-year net profits to $682.7 million last year, as the group benefited from a recovery in global economies and trade during the second half of the year.

The PSA group - which used to be called PSA Corporation - saw revenues rise by 15 per cent to $3.4 billion in the 12 months to December, as trade between countries picked up again after the Sars outbreak paralysed businesses in much of Asia early last year.

Profits were also boosted by full-year revenue contributions for the first time from Belgian subsidiary Hesse Noord Natie as well as a stronger euro, which gained 17 per cent in value against the Singapore dollar over the year.

Last year, the group finally managed to arrest an annual decline in net profits since 2000.

In 2000, the group had earnings of $803.3 million. A year later, this figure fell to $732.2 million and in 2002 this had slipped further to $559.9 million.

At a media conference yesterday, PSA's new chief financial officer, Mr Kuah Boon Wee, said: 'The trend here is that the overall economic recovery is coming through to our businesses.'

PSA terminals around the world handled 17.1 per cent more cargo last year compared to the year before, as about 28.7 million standard containers - known as twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) - passed through their hands.

Of this figure, some 18.1 million TEUs were handled by the flagship Singapore operations - which is one of the busiest ports in the world.

The group - which is owned by Temasek Holdings - underwent a painful belt-tightening exercise last year when about 800 staff were laid off since February and wage levels were overhauled and linked more closely to individual performance.

In addition, PSA sold off supplementary businesses in airport-handling, cruise terminals, exhibitions and cable cars in a further attempt to cut costs.

In a statement, PSA International chief executive Eddie Teh said: 'We have had to make tough decisions to reduce costs to stay competitive, and to rationalise our portfolio of investments by divesting non-core assets.'

Along with these changes came a change in name to better reflect the group's overseas ambitions.

In December last year, the group became known as PSA International. PSA Corporation currently refers to only the domestic Singapore business.

Revenues from the domestic business - PSA Corporation - grew 1 per cent last year to $1.5 billion, while net profits increased by 7 per cent to $694.3 million.

Mr Kuah explained that even though the overseas operations had been profitable, the company's management had seen it fit to set aside large provisions which meant that in accounting terms they were money-losing.

This dragged down the group's bottom line to a level which was below the net profits made by the Singapore operations on a stand-alone basis.

Better bonuses on the cards after good PSA results

Last year's decision to 'swallow the bitter pill' of wage restructuring was the right thing to do, says union chief

By Sue-Ann Chia

LOOKING back, port workers' union chief Lee Mun Hou said last year's decision to 'swallow the bitter pill' of wage restructuring was the right thing to do.

It means members of his 4,000-strong union can look forward to better bonuses this year after the sterling financial results posted on Thursday by PSA International.

'The decision to implement wage restructuring reaped positive results. The lower fixed costs allowed PSA to quote competitive rates, and this has resulted in more business,' the Singapore Port Workers' Union (SPWU) president said yesterday.

'PSA has made profits and the workers now enjoy a higher income.'

Yesterday, a PSA Corp spokesman said that under an incentive scheme, top performing employees can look forward to up to four months of bonuses, while competent performers can expect bonuses of one to two months. The wage agreements 'allow our staff, especially those who contributed more, to have a share in PSA's success'.

He was reponding to an SPWU statement yesterday saying the improved results meant that more money can be set aside for bonuses in the 'performance incentive pool', which will be distributed to employees according to individual performances.

Workers, the statement added, can also count on receiving another variable payment later this year, under the 'gain sharing incentive scheme', which is linked to the company's cost savings.

'Once a company achieves the target, the savings are ploughed back and shared among all the workers,' said Mr Lee, adding that 'we are on target'.

The maximum workers can receive under this is an additional 0.8-month payout.

PSA International's year-on-year net profit had surged 22 per cent to $682.7 million last year, and the PSA group saw revenues rise 15 per cent to $3.4 billion in the year ending December.

While the turnaround was attributed to a recovery in the global economy and trade in the second half of last year, the SPWU said credit should also be given to workers who endured a belt-tightening exercise last year. Mr Lee said: 'The decision is now bearing fruit and we are glad that PSA is now back on the right track to good health.'

About 800 staff have been laid off since February last year, and wages overhauled and linked more closely to individual performance.

Said PSA International chief executive officer Eddie Teh: 'Our staff and union in Singapore rallied steadfastly behind the company in 2003, and we succeeded in rising to the challenges posed by our competitors.'

Port Officers Union president Tan Hoon Kiang said this year's bonuses should put to rest initial fears that workers would receive less after a wage revamp. 'Returns to staff should be quite good. For those performing well, the gains are actually greater.'

I wonder if being fast in responding to security needs might translate into more business? :)

I guess it would be a long-term benefit or an advantage for shipping to places that enforce this requirement.

NOL unit counters talk of plunge in freight rates

APL chief challenges recent bearish forecasts, noting that analysts have underestimated the growth in demand for shipping services in the past

By Hugh Chow

RUMOURS of an imminent demise in shipping freight rate hikes have been greatly exaggerated, reckons Mr Ron Widdows, head of Neptune Orient Lines' (NOL) container shipping arm APL.

APL's chief executive officer (CEO) is keen to counter recent warnings from industry-watchers who see a sharp drop in freight rates as early as next year as the supply of new ships threatens to outstrip demand for cargo transportation.

The dramatic recovery of freight rates - the price charged by shipping companies to transport goods - had been an important factor behind NOL's dramatic return to profitability last year after two consecutive years of losses.

Average freight rates increased 20 per cent last year as improving economies stimulated greater consumer demand for goods as well as the services of marine transport firms.

Many shipping lines, including Hong Kong-based OOCL and indeed NOL, have ordered new ships in efforts to take advantage of rising rates and greater levels of trade between countries.

Citigroup Smith Barney analyst Charles de Trenck said in recent reports that the industry is now ordering a number of ships equivalent to 42 per cent of current capacity.

This is usually a precursor to downturns, he wrote.

But Mr Widdows, who heads a division that accounted for nearly 76 per cent of NOL's turnover worth US$5.52 billion (S$9.32 billion) last year, is unmoved by the pessimistic predictions of such industry-watchers.

He said: 'The one thing that has been true over the past three years, and maybe going forward, is that nobody has been able to project the growth in markets.

'You know the ships are coming, but there's no way to project with certainty exactly what trade routes those ships are going to be deployed, or exactly the time horizon.'

Analysts have consistently underestimated the growth in demand for shipping services, said Mr Widdows.

His 30-year career in the shipping industry has taught him to be sceptical of many forecasts.

'If you were to cycle back a year ago, people were projecting excess capacity in 2004.

'Not only is there no excess capacity, but also the world's supply of container ships that exists today is fully employed,' he said.

Long-term factors such as the growth of trading activity around the world, the transfer of cargo traditionally moved by bulk carriers to container ships and the shift of manufacturing activities to Asia have driven the expansion of container volumes in this region.

Economic recovery driving consumer demand in the United States and Europe is also helping to boost business.

Moreover, Mr Widdows highlighted the disparity between nominal capacity - the number of ships and how much they can carry in theory - and how much this capacity can be used effectively.

For example, draught limitations - how deep in the water you can load a ship - mean that ships beyond a certain size cannot be loaded to their full capacity.

This is the case with ships passing through the Panama Canal or those docking at ports such as Shanghai and New York because of the limited water depth. 'So you get physical limitations which affect how much of the physical capacity of a ship you can use,' he said.

This is why he reckons that it will be smooth sailing for the industry for at least this year and the next when he expects demand for container shipping to continue outpacing supply.

He said: 'At some point in time there will be a softening of demand, but it's a little further out than some folks have predicted.'

Business Times - 06 May 2004

By BETH JINKS

(SINGAPORE) The Port of Singapore enjoyed strong first quarter growth in cargo throughput and bunker sales, the latest statistics released by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) reveal.

Total cargo for the three months ended March was up 9.1 per cent over Q1 2003, at 90.7 million tonnes, while container throughput rose 13.8 per cent to 4.8 million TEUs. Bunker sales grew 6.3 per cent to 5.5 million tonnes.

Vessel arrivals fell one per cent to 34,054, but calling ship tonnage was 2 per cent higher at 251.8 million gross tons.

In March, total cargo soared 18.2 per cent over March 2003, with 33.3 million tonnes handled, while container throughput climbed 14 per cent to 1.74 million TEUs.

Dominant terminal operator PSA Corporation handled about 1.7 million TEUs of the total, while Jurong Port claimed about 49,000 TEUs in March, based on earlier breakdowns released by the commercial ports.

Bunker sales were up 6.1 per cent in March, with 1.9 million tonnes of ship fuel sold.

The Singapore ship registry stayed relatively stable, with 3,075 vessels totalling 25.85 million gross tons at the end of March.

Singapore terminals collectively handled 18.4 million TEUs in 2003, setting a new port record as the container shipping industry staged a strong recovery world wide.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

PSA and Jurong Port enjoy higher volumes

8 May 2004

PSA handles record-matching 1.7m boxes here last month; Jurong Port chalks up 129% year-on-year growth

By Nicholas Fang

PSA CORP has done it again.

After March's record monthly volumes of 1.7 million shipping containers, the port operator matched that by handling 1.7 million containers at its Singapore operations again last month.

Not to be outdone, Singapore's No. 2 port - Jurong Port - turned in year-on-year growth of 129 per cent last month with 48,000 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs), or standard containers, handled.

PSA's 1.7 million TEUs handled in March and again last month represented the highest monthly volumes since the containerisation of its operations in 1972.

Last month's volumes were also 21.4 per cent higher than the 1.4 million TEUs handled in April last year.

Volumes at PSA's overseas operations surged 22.2 per cent from 900,000 TEUs in April last year to just below 1.1 million TEUs last month.

Analysts attributed the strong performance to good trade flows and the growth of the world economy in recent months. As a result, most ships have been carrying full loads of cargo and shipping rates have risen.

Combining Singapore and overseas operations, PSA handled 2.7 million TEUs last month, a 17.4 per cent increase over the corresponding period last year.

For the first four months of this year, the group handled 10.4 million TEUs, which was 19.5 per cent higher than the 8.7 million TEUs in the previous corresponding period.

PSA last month reported a 22 per cent surge in year-on-year net profits to $682.7 million last year.

Its revenues rose 15 per cent to $3.4 billion in the 12 months ended Dec 31, as trade between countries picked up again after the Sars outbreak paralysed businesses in much of Asia early last year.

Jurong Port also announced yesterday that its volumes last month had surged 128.6 per cent to 48,000 TEUs.

This brings its year-to-date volumes to 182,000 TEUs, or 133.33 per cent higher than the 78,000 TEUs recorded in the first four months of last year.

A Jurong Port spokesman said that the strong growth was due to new services and shipping lines calling at the port since last year.

She declined to disclose the new lines that were calling at the port, but The Straits Times understands that French shipping line Delmas and Singapore's New Econ Line have begun using Jurong Port.

Separately, recent statistics released by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore showed that the Port of Singapore as a whole enjoyed strong first-quarter growth in cargo throughput and sales of shipping fuel.

Cargo for the three months ended March was up 9.1 per cent over the same quarter last year, at 90.7 million tonnes, while container throughput rose 13.8 per cent to 4.8 million TEUs. Shipping fuel sales grew 6.3 per cent to 5.5 million tonnes.

Business Times - 10 May 2004

JOHOR

Move triggered by higher freight rates, proposal to raise port charges

SEVERAL shipping lines which call at Johor port seem to be scurrying away from its waters as a result of higher freight rates and a proposal by the port to hike charges, The Star reported.

With freight rates hitting historical highs, the shipping lines have started bypassing some of the smaller ports and reducing the number of less lucrative services, in the hope of reducing costs.

Most of Johor Port's cargo is import and export-based, which could result in its clients opting for their containers to be transported by feeder ships to, or from Singapore, before being distributed, the report said.

'The longer a vessel is chartered the more expensive it is. Thus only the larger, more important ports are included on a charter trip these days, leaving the smaller terminals for feeder lines. This is the drawback of strong freight rates,' an official from a shipping company explained.

Analyst Daniel Griffin from Avenue Securities, however, says that this may just be a knee-jerk reaction to the high freight rates and proposed increase in port charges.

The Star quoted a Johor Port official saying: 'Shipping is a cyclical business, services leaving and new ones coming are part and parcel of the business, we don't actually view it in a negative manner... it's just business.'

But looming in the horizon is Johor Port's proposed 25 per cent rate hike, which is still under discussion, The Star report said. As it stands, the port's charges of RM180 (S$81) per 20-ft equivalent unit (TEU) and RM270 per 40-foot equivalent unit are among the cheapest in the region, the report added.

'Johor Port would have definitely taken into consideration the negative impact of a rate hike. But the rationale behind the move is to increase efficiency and acquire more quay cranes.

'After all, its current rates are among the lowest in the region. Bear in mind, that the rate hike is merely a proposal and has yet to become a reality,' The Star quoted an industry observer as saying.

Even so, some main line operators seem to have already decided to move. Industry sources told The Star that come May 17, Japan-based Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Lines plans to halt its Japan service from Johor.

It is further believed that by June, a consortium of Korean shipping lines led by Hyundai Merchant Marine, is also looking to cut down some of the services provided through the port.

'It does not make economic sense to call at both Johor Port and Singapore. It's cheaper to just transport the boxes to or from Singapore,' the shipping official added.

Johor Port registered net profit of RM83.59 million on the back of RM312.14 million in sales last year.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Venture partner sues PSA and P&O Australia

By Elena Chong

A SINGAPORE businessman who teamed up with two major port operators during the dot.com boom has now taken the pair to the High Court, for alleged oppressive conduct.

PSA International and P&O Australia Ports took equal stakes in P-Serv Technologies (PST) in September 2000, investing nearly $30 million so that the firm could develop and market a real-time track and trace system for container boxes globally.

Users of the track and trace system would be given up-to-date information on their containers, including the location and status of the containers.

But PST founder Ng Sing King, better known as Mr Paul Ng, 41, along with six associates, now claim that as minority shareholders, they have been oppressed and want a buyout at a fair value by PSA International and P&O.

After the deal with PSA International, a subsidiary of PSA Corp, and P&O, PST's name was changed to eLogicity International.

Mr Ng was eLogicity's chief executive officer (CEO) until he was removed on April 12, 2002, together with the senior vice-president corporate, Mr Lim Koon Hock, 48. Both men remain as directors.

The plaintiffs claim that the affairs of the company have been conducted in a manner prejudicial to them and disregarding their interests as shareholders. They now want their shares in the company to be bought from them at a fair value by the two port operators or either one of them.

PSA International has counter-claimed against the plaintiffs for alleged misrepresentations contained in the company's business plan given to its parent company, PSA Corp.

The counter-claim is for the difference between the purchase price and the present value of PSA International's shares in the company.

P&O has petitioned that eLogicity be wound up on the grounds that the shareholders cannot work together and the business is not viable.

In his opening statement yesterday, the plaintiffs' lawyer, Mr Andre Maniam, claimed that the defendants and their nominee directors collaborated with competitors of the company to the exclusion of the plaintiffs.

He also alleged that they usurped the role of the company's management. The plaintiffs also alleged that the defendants had diminished the value of the company.

The defendants will argue that the action is misconceived. They will allege that the company's poor financial showing is a direct result of Mr Ng's mismanagement as CEO of the company.

An offer was made to the plaintiffs in July 2002 to wind up the company, and for all the shareholders to go their separate ways but instead, the plaintiffs commenced proceedings against the defendants.

The hearing is fixed for four weeks before Justice M.P.H. Rubin.

Mr Maniam is assisted by Mr Melvin Chan. Senior Counsel K. Shanmugam and Dr Stanley Lai act for PSA International while Mr Thio Shen Yi and Mr Collin Seah represent P&O.

Business Times - 11 May 2004

(SINGAPORE) Jurong Port more than doubled its container throughput in April, handling 48,000 TEUs, compared to just 21,000 TEUs in the same month a year ago. The fledgling port has seen its box throughput soar 133 per cent in the first four months of 2004, handling 182,000 TEUs.

Jurong Port, being promoted as a local competitor and alternative to PSA Corporation, will expand its annual container capacity to 1.4 million TEUs by year's end. It is also expected to double its 2003 throughput of 340,000 TEUs this year.

PSA's April throughput was up 21 per cent to 1.7 million. Singapore's dominant container terminal operator has handled 6.1 million TEUs here in the first four months of 2004, up 14 per cent. Singapore terminals handled a record 18.4 million TEUs last year.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Business Times - 10 May 2004

'It does not make economic sense to call at both Johor Port and Singapore. It's cheaper to just transport the boxes to or from Singapore,' the shipping official added.


Strange but 2 years ago, it sounded the other way round huh ;)

Strange but 2 years ago, it sounded the other way round huh ;)

Perhaps it shows that those rate cuts and restructuring actually works?? :D

What goes round...comes around? :D

What goes round...comes around? :D

Hopefully your prediction is correct.....haha.....:D

But seriously speaking, so long as they keep a tab on cost....it will be a good strategy......:D

Hopefully your prediction is correct.....haha.....:D

But seriously speaking, so long as they keep a tab on cost....it will be a good strategy......:D
In the end...it seems like a measure of who has deeper pockets to sustain price cuts longer?

In the end...it seems like a measure of who has deeper pockets to sustain price cuts longer?

I guess so or maybe it's who is able to satisfy the customer more.....:D

I guess so or maybe it's who is able to satisfy the customer more.....:D
It takes time to offer excellent service, which includes the world's fastest turnaround times, excellent logictical support, as well as countless other related factors. All that at a competitive price? :D

It takes time to offer excellent service, which includes the world's fastest turnaround times, excellent logictical support, as well as countless other related factors. All that at a competitive price? :D

So long as those edges are maintained at a competitive price, customers will be more than satisfied.......:D

I agree it takes time to offer an excellent and ultra efficient service.......but we have to move with times too....:)

Business Times - 12 May 2004

By BETH JINKS

(SINGAPORE) Malaysia's Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) says it set a new world record for berth productivity yesterday with 340 moves an hour, loading and unloading the Maersk Sealand vessel AP Moeller.

The Johor port said the achievement eclipsed the former world record of 336 gross berth moves set in 2001. PTP's former productivity record was 302 moves an hour, set in February.

The port said it used eight super post panamax cranes on the AP Moller after it arrived from Algeciras, Spain, allowing operations to wrap up in 13 hours.

Maersk Singapore's Henrik Jorgensen described the performance as 'a fantastic achievement', PTP said in a statement. The world's largest container line had earlier praised PTP's strengthening productivity, which has been partially attributed to its ability to focus equipment on two major customers.

PTP currently operates six berths along a 2.16 km quay and handled 3.5 million TEUs last year - up 31 per cent on 2002, and continues to enjoy strong volume growth this year, notching up a 27 per cent increase in the first quarter.

The port has embarked on an ambitious second phase expansion of dredging and reclamation works, which will boost its annual handling capacity to about six million TEUs by mid-2004. The expansion will eventually add eight new deepwater berths along an additional 720m quay.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

MAY 14, 2004
PSA and Jurong clinch best port operator awards
By Nicholas Fang

SINGAPORE'S two port operators have beaten competitors in the region to yet again clinch top awards at the annual Asian Freight and Supply Chain Awards (AFSCA) held in Shanghai.

PSA Corp was voted the best container terminal operator in Asia for the 15th time in 18 years, while Singapore's No. 2 port, Jurong Port, bagged the award for best emerging container terminal operator in Asia.

This is the second consecutive year that Jurong Port has received the accolade, it said in a news release yesterday.

The awards, held on Wednesday, were organised by Hong Kong-based cargo trade journal Cargonews Asia and the results were determined by a survey of Cargonews readers across the region.

Separately, Jurong Port yesterday said that it has been selected by recently formed joint-venture firm Pacorini SembLog to be its transhipment hub port for metals traded on the London Metal Exchange (LME).

Pacorini SembLog is a 50:50 joint venture between SembCorp Logistics and Italian metal logistics company B. Pacorini and provides logistics solutions for the metals industry and other products and commodities.

Jurong Port is accredited by the LME as a 'good delivery point' for the storage of non-ferrous metals.

It will provide warehouse and berth facilities to Pacorini SembLog, the port operator said.

The first shipment is expected to arrive in the second quarter of this year.


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Copyright @ 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

Time is GMT + 8 hours
Posted: 13 May 2004 1405 hrs

By S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia

SINGAPORE : The government's calls to take maritime and port security seriously have not fallen on deaf ears.

A special security device used by the US Department of Defence to track nearly 800 ships in 60 countries is now being tried out by logistics companies in Singapore to keep track of their containers.

The device is aimed at ensuring terrorist do not get their hands on cargo containers out at sea.

Singapore's port has been ranked the busiest in the world time and again.

With thousands of containers passing through its port each day, it is no surprise that security is a major concern, especially with the global concerns over weapons of mass destruction and dirty bombs.

Among the latest security devices being tested out at Sembcorp's logistics centre is the Smart and Secure Tradelane, a gadget which the US Defense Department has been using for ten years already.

It is a lock which uses an e-seal.

Once this container is sealed with a lock at the logistics centre, information about what goods it contains is entered into a PDA.

Once the container leaves Singapore's ports, it is closely monitored wherever it stops until it reaches its destination.

This is done with the help of radio frequency identification.

The logistics centre which loaded the goods, is then able to track the movement of the container at every port the cargo stops at.

Any attempt to tamper with the seal will automatically be relayed to the PDA, triggering an alert.

"Besides just securing it with the lock, (the intention) is to incorporate it with light, motion as well as temperature sensors. With the sensors incorporated and built in place, you could now even determine if someone has drilled a hole in the container wall," said Lim Chee Kean, President, Savi Technology.

This smart and secure device has so far been tried out in ports like Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore.

And it has reported 100 per cent success - even if the container was just shaken slightly while unloading it.

Said Winson Heng, Managing Director, Bearing Point: "Because of advanced clearance requirements, using the appropriate technology as well as the solutions will actually result in more cost benefit to the organisation and alternately to the customers." - CNA

Copyright © 2004 MCN International Pte Ltd

MAY 14, 2004

Strong demand and higher freight rates help shipping line improve first-quarter results, with revenue growth of 16%
By Nicholas Fang

SINGAPORE shipping line Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) has turned in sparkling results for the first quarter, with a 705 per cent surge in net profit to US$163.2 million (S$282 million) from a year earlier, due to strong demand and higher freight rates.

The company said that its core liner business and its logistics unit had both achieved good results in the first three months ended April 2.

NOL chairman Cheng Wai Keung said at a results briefing yesterday: 'The management team is not resting on its laurels after the record results of last year.

'They have maintained fiscal discipline and a tight control on costs to keep the momentum going. The result is that we have performed better than many others in the industry at this point in the year.'

NOL posted a 16 per cent rise in revenue to US$1.55 billion from US$1.34 billion for the first quarter last year. Its net profit included exceptional items such as US$8 million from the sale of its smaller product tanker division, Neptune Associated Shipping, in March; and US$3 million from the sale of other small assets and some write-backs.

NOL's liner unit, APL, saw sales rising 29 per cent to US$1.2 billion, contributing 72 per cent of the group's total turnover.

The shipping line's APL Logistics business registered a 25 per cent increase in turnover to US$288 million, or 17 per cent of total turnover.

NOL said that it had seen stable freight rates across the major trade lanes.

Group president and chief executive officer David Lim said at the briefing yesterday that the growth in liner volumes in the traditionally slower first quarter also reflected a number of initiatives put into effect by the liner team. 'They worked hard to secure cargo to keep our ship utilisation at a high level, and to maximise the use of our assets by careful management of our networks.

'The tight supply in the charter market and rising oil prices have put pressure on our costs. Nonetheless, we managed to reduce costs in our liner operations by US$17 million in the first quarter and are on track to achieve our target of reducing costs by US$100 million for the whole year,' he said.

Elaborating on the impact of rising oil prices in recent weeks, Mr Lim reckoned that higher bunker fuel prices could add US$10 million to fuel costs for the full year, after offsetting part of the price hikes through fuel surcharges and hedging strategies.

Earnings per share for the group surged to 11.41 US cents from 1.72 US cents previously, while net asset value per share rose to US$1.03 from 91 US cents as at Dec 26 last year.

Mr Lim said that the company would be able to grow both volumes and profits for the rest of the year on the back of robust growth trends in global trade and the rapid development of markets in Asia, Europe and elsewhere.

'Ocean transport will remain our core capability, but we will add to this by building up other capabilities in the supply chain to deliver higher value to our customers.'


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Copyright @ 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

MAY 13, 2004

SINGAPORE'S seaport was named the best in Asia for the 16th time at the annual Asian Freight and Supply Chain Awards (AFSCA) held in Shanghai yesterday.

Singapore has won the award, organised by Hong Kong-based industry journal Cargonews Asia, 16 times over the past 18 years.

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said that this accolade once again attests to the strong vote of confidence that the international maritime community has in the Republic as a premier port and international shipping hub.

MPA also said that the awards recognised and honoured outstanding organisations which had shown leadership in the cargo transport, freight and supply chain sectors.

Going forward, MPA said it would be working with industry partners to identify ways to improve the services offered at Singapore's port further.


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Copyright @ 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.
Whoops.....an award?! :D

Whoops.....an award?! :D

Haha.....another attempt at "wild" thinking?? :D

Business Times - 15 May 2004

At the helm of NOL

Ten months after his closely followed appointment to the hotseat of one of Singapore's corporate icons, NOL chief David Lim can let results speak for themselves. GEORGE JOSEPH talks to the former minister

IT'S just 10 months since David Lim took over the reins at the NOL Group, one of Singapore's corporate icons.

But after an uneasy calm, when analysts and the media attempted to portray him as someone new to the container shipping business, the former government minister, who once also headed port operator PSA Corporation, can now let the results speak for themselves.

NOL is riding a wave of success, brought about both by surging freight rates and a slew of management actions taken to realign the way the company did its business.

When Mr Lim, 48, agreed to take over as group CEO at the listed ocean transportation group in July last year, he was not really tracking the company and was not very much aware of the difficulties NOL was facing. But the former Colombo Plan and President's Scholar just saw it as another challenge.

'The difficulties in the company did not factor a lot in my thinking about whether or not to accept the job. I thought the job was a challenge, and fitted well with my experience and interests,' he said in an interview with BT at his 25th floor office with a commanding view of the PSA container terminals.

'Most of my career, outside politics, has been in the economic and industrial sectors. So the NOL opportunity was something that I would have considered before I took up political office, and it was something natural to consider when returning to the private sector,' said Mr Lim, who was trained as a civil engineer and began his career with the Ministry of Defence developing computerised logistics systems for the Air Force and Navy.

The bigger concern for him when joining NOL, however, was if people would think that this was a shoo-in, a pre-arranged move to ease his return to the private sector. For, after all, he was leaving the government front benches just after over five years in politics. He was then acting Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts.

'I told the chairman (of NOL) that I would not take the job if he had been asked to offer it to me. And I insisted that I meet with the outside directors of the selection committee, and unless they felt I was the right person for the job, I was not going to take it,' he said candidly.

'I was actually planning to take a break before starting work in the private sector, but when the offer came, NOL could not wait. And given the problems they were facing, I could not delay my start date to suit my own personal preferences. So I only took a short break after accepting the job, and I've been busy since.'

Busy, he had to be. The corporate sector will remember the time when Mr Lim plunged into the scene, and onto a hotseat.

Singapore media and the international maritime press had been churning out story after story, analysing the sudden departure in January 2003 of Flemming Jacobs, the Danish shipping executive who only about three years earlier was recruited in a high-profile induction of foreign talent, to head the then-ailing and highly leveraged NOL Group.

The dreaded red ink was flowing and the company was straddled with US$2.8 billion in debts with no dividend payments to shareholders since 1997.

Learning the ropes

Mr Lim realised that he had to sit down and peel the onion. It has not been easy, but there has been no lacking in determination to master the business as quickly as possible.

Over the last 10 months, he acknowledged, he gained a better sense of the shifts in the industry and the opportunities that are really out there to be worked on.

'I think it is a very interesting and exciting industry to be in. It is full of growth. Container shipping has been around for 30 years and ships have been around for hundreds of years, so it is an old industry, seen as a bit stodgy.

'But we see opportunities really everywhere within the industry, in our traditional segments, in new segments as the global customers demand new solutions, in our existing geography as well as the new geographies.'

To move the group forward, the newly-appointed group president and CEO made several trips to the company's business locations all over the world and also had executives fly in regularly for brainstorming in Singapore.

Having grasped the container and logistics business trends and gained an understanding of the different phases of development NOL went through over the past six or seven years, Mr Lim focused his mind on where to take the group over the next six or seven years.

Taking a step back into shipping history, Mr Lim said the industry saw two or three major developments over the last cycle - over the last five or six years.

'One, we had new players coming in and some players expanding very rapidly. For example, China Shipping is a company that was not there when we first started exploring the position of APL, NOL's container arm. It started in 1997, about the same time as we bought APL. That's grown to a company the size of NOL combined with APL. So it has grown very rapidly.

'Second, the industry is beginning to become more competitive, in a different way compared to its earlier beginnings when it relied on US anti-trust provisions to do business.

'The anti-trust provisions have weakened over the years, or rather, the anti-trust protections have weakened. Business is entering into a different phase where we are more focused on cost and service as a basis to create business, to attract customers and to grow.

'Through the last cycle, we had a very bad year in 2002 where business was expanding, volumes were high, supply was tight and yet the industry was losing money. We lost a lot of money that year. Many companies, good companies, either made very little money or also lost money. And I think the industry has responded to it since then. It has become more aware of the need to focus on fundamentals, to take a more disciplined financial approach, looking at how we ought to structure pricing, how we ought to respond to market conditions in a sensible, rational, logical way.

'This doesn't mean the end of cycles, but I think it does signal perhaps a different thinking on how we ought to approach the inherent cyclicality that is within the industry.

'So as I talk to the CEOs who are the leaders of other shipping lines, I sense there are ambitions to grow. There is also a greater cognizance of the importance of dealing with market forces and responding appropriately.

'But it is globalisation that is gaining greater traction now and the effect it is having on customers is being increasingly felt,' he adds, as he articulated his thoughts on the shipping and logistics industry.

Mr Lim sees a need by customers for more than just ocean transportation - they need freight management across the entire supply chain.

'The need of customers today is really to bring a box (container) from their 50 or 100 different factories scattered around the world to the 20 different distribution points in their market locations.

'And their market locations are more than North America or Europe today - they are very rapidly changing also to the markets that are producing the goods. So more companies are moving into China, into the developing countries.

'So, it's no longer just an ocean transportation need anymore. Companies are beginning to say, how can I better deal with the complexity, and is there more value to be counted out from the entire logistics and transportation function than looking at the pieces?

'It's very much like saying, do I just relocate a factory to a cheaper location, or do I re-engineer my entire production line so that I am not taking just one factor into account - the cost advantage of moving a factory overseas - but rather thinking of my entire production, so that I am manufacturing on a global basis. And that means putting things together in the most cost effective way to supply the markets.

'So, as much as it has happened in manufacturing, it is also beginning to happen in transportation and logistics which supports the manufacturing.

'This is, I think, something that the shipping lines are beginning to be more aware of and certainly the logistics suppliers are very aware of.

'Supply chain concepts have been around for a long time, except that in terms of implementation, it tended to be more piecemeal rather than truly across the entire supply chain. A number of companies do it, but I think it is still fairly early in terms of meeting their customer needs.

So, it's both the customer need that is growing as well as the companies that recognise this and which are moving into this space, he says.

Shifting waters

'The shipping industry itself is shifting, is maturing, is moving away from the tradition of relying on a certain old way of doing business, becoming much more market-oriented and market-force driven.

'And then the positioning of ocean transport within the larger sphere of freight movements and freight management is the second trend that I see. So we sit at a confluence of these forces.

The NOL Group, he says, is well positioned to respond to what's happening broadly within the transport and logistics industry, by building on the framework of strategic moves made earlier.

The way to do this, he thinks, is to build up existing capabilities, both in shipping as well as what is traditionally called logistics.

'But I think over time, that hard demarcation over the liner (shipping) operations and logistics operations will give way to a broader view on how the business is constructed.'

He says once you change the orientation, over time the mix of business and revenue sources will also shift, but it is not going to be sudden or overnight.

Tracking the needs of customers is like tracking the sun, he elaborates, using the analogy of a growing plant and the sun.

'If you take a plant and turn the pot, the plant continues to grow as it grew before, but over time, you notice that the new branches are growing in a slightly different direction as it grows towards the sun.

'So the shape changes over a period of time, but you have grown from the same foundation. You are not uprooting something or planting a completely new tree. It is basically the same organisation and it is now re-oriented because the world has changed around us.

'We need to orientate ourselves to always be tracking the sun. So we will always be tracking the customer.'

While customer service is crucial like in any other business, the container shipping industry is vulnerable to an 'inherent cyclicality'. Many things could go wrong.

You must have strategies to prepare yourself to cope in an uncertain world, Mr Lim adds.

'So it is not so much predicting when the next downturn will happen but learning how to cope with the cyclicality that is inherent in this as well as in other industries. If you know that the tides will rise and the tides will fall, you learn to accept that, you learn to cope with it and you don't build your house when the tide is down and have it flooded when the tide comes up.

'You mark the high water line and say, we build above this, then we will be okay.'

NOL has turned the corner, producing a record US$429 million profit last year and paring its liabilities by more than half. On Thursday, the group reported sparkling first-quarter results with a US$163.2 million gain.

Flush with another quarter of good results, Mr Lim is hopeful that this would be a longer cycle than before for the industry 'if everything goes as planned'.

'But what we do know is that when the market does turn, we will be prepared. That we are very clear about. So we are not intoxicated by the good numbers we see. This is not the time to let our guard down.'

For, after all, this is not magic - results at the wave of a wand.

'It is just a lot of hard work and the numbers speak well of the efforts that have been put in by all our people,' he said with some pride, and a lot of satisfaction.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Time is GMT + 8 hours
Posted: 19 May 2004 2316 hrs

By Ken Teh, Channel NewsAsia

SINGAPORE : The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore has won a prestigious international maritime award for enhancing safety at sea.

MPA received the Seatrade Award for "Safety at Sea" for its system, called "Enhancing Pilot-Master Information Exchange Onboard Vessels".

The system allows for navigational plans to be sent in advance thereby enhancing safety in port waters. - CNA

Copyright © 2004 MCN International Pte Ltd

Time is GMT + 8 hours
Posted: 19 May 2004 2316 hrs

By Ken Teh, Channel NewsAsia

SINGAPORE : The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore has won a prestigious international maritime award for enhancing safety at sea.

MPA received the Seatrade Award for "Safety at Sea" for its system, called "Enhancing Pilot-Master Information Exchange Onboard Vessels".

The system allows for navigational plans to be sent in advance thereby enhancing safety in port waters. - CNA

Copyright © 2004 MCN International Pte Ltd
They seem to be winning every single conceivable award, dont they? :D

They seem to be winning every single conceivable award, dont they? :D

Haha....I hope they continue that stint and lead the way in port's standard!!!!!!!:D

Haha....I hope they continue that stint and lead the way in port's standard!!!!!!!:D
Yeah lah...but for ports, the standard is not tt important lah..keep the ships coming can liao. :)

True true, and keep the prices competitve :cool:

MAY 25, 2004

SINGAPORE - Only a tiny fraction of the world's seaports and ships now comply with a security code aimed at blocking terrorist attacks, but that is about to change, the head of the UN's maritime agency said on Tuesday.

The UN's International Maritime Organisation said it would begin enforcing the International Ship and Port Security, or ISPS, code when in takes effect on July 1 - a situation that could disrupt shipping.

'Ships will be detained,' said the secretary-general of the maritime agency, Mr Efthimios Mitropoulos. 'There will be disruption.'

The UN security code, adopted after Sept 11, 2001 to protect ports and vessels from terrorists, requires port staff and ships' crews to conduct regular anti-terror drills, restrict the number of weapons and visitors aboard vessels, and have attack contingency measures in place.

Commercial vessels are also required to submit security plans to the maritime agency.

Singapore already complies with the code. The country's Maritime and Ports Authority says it will turn away noncompliant ships.

Mr Mitropoulos said only 301 of about 5,500 port facilities - fewer than 6 per cent - comply with the security code's conditions. And the agency has accepted just 1,933 security plans out of 12,283 submitted by commercial vessels, he said, adding that the July deadline won't be extended.

He was on a two-day visit to Singapore to watch an anti-terror exercise in the country's port. The US Coast Guard and China's maritime authorities also observed Tuesday's simulated terror attack on a container ship in Singapore. - AP


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Copyright @ 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

Singapore port to get new generation super cranes: terminal operator

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/imagegallery/store/phpsm1zCD.jpg

27 May 2004

SINGAPORE: Singapore's Pasir Panjang port will install 12 super cranes worth 120 million Singapore dollars (70 million US dollars) that are capable of serving the latest generation of container ships.

PSA Singapore said the super post-Panamax cranes, with a lifting capacity of 60 tonnes and lifting height of 38 metres (125 feet) each, are capable of serving ships with more than 8,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of cargo.

"These giant cranes are geared for the newest generation of container ships," PSA said in a statement posted on its website.

"The new equipment will improve the operational efficiency and thus the competitiveness of the port."

PSA said the new cranes will be installed at two of five new berths being constructed at the Pasir Panjang Terminal and which are expected to begin operations next year.

State-owned PSA currently has 37 container berths in Singapore at Pasir Panjang and three other terminals, and is expanding to 42 to prepare for forecast strong growth over the next few years.

- AFP

Business Times - 03 Jun 2004

Republic broadening the breadth and depth of services to meet the needs of international maritime community

(SINGAPORE) Many shipping vessels outline the seascape of modern day Singapore. The coast is dotted with numerous shipyards, container terminals, jetties that lead to the world's third largest oil refinery and a thriving petrochemicals cluster.

These bear testimony to the importance of the maritime sector to Singapore's economy. Its ideal location as the natural meeting point of major sea routes has contributed to Singapore's transformation from a fishing village to the bustling International Maritime Centre (IMC) it is today.

Singapore today connects some 200 shipping lines to more than 600 ports in over 120 countries. Its connectivity is further enhanced by 60 international airlines that link Singapore to 140 cities in 50 countries.

This also means that Singapore has a 2.8 billion market catchment, including economic powerhouses such as China and India, within a seven-hour flight radius.

Its excellent communications network enables linkage to the rest of the world via satellite and 24-hour telegraph and telephone systems. There is political stability and transparency, first-rate infrastructure and a pro-business fiscal regime.

As an IMC, Singapore offers a wide range of maritime facilities and services, from ship repairs and conversion, bunkering, ship registration, ship management, ship broking and financing, to maritime training, R&D initiatives and programmes, and international names in the maritime legal and P&I clubs/insurance fields.

The Republic's ideal location and integrated maritime ancillary services are backed by an attractive corporate tax regime, a quality workforce and the various free trade agreements, bilateral shipping agreements and more than 46 double taxation treaties that Singapore has sealed to promote greater access into other key markets, and enhance trade and investment flows. But the push for Singapore to gain greater prominence as an IMC continues.

The past months have seen increasing industry focus on Singapore's maritime sector as the Republic announced initiative after initiative aimed at further boosting its status as an IMC. One key announcement was made in October last year, when Singapore Transport Minister Yeo Cheow Tong gave details of a widely expanded role for the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA). It was appointed the 'champion agency' and entrusted with the responsibility to promote Singapore as an IMC. With this task ahead, the MPA has embarked on a three-pronged approach.

Aside from attracting a core group of shipowners and operators to set up bases in Singapore, the MPA is also looking at broadening the breadth and depth of maritime ancillary services in Singapore, and continuously improving the business environment for the maritime industry.

The maritime sector contributes some S$12.4 billion to Singapore's gross domestic product and employs over 115,000 people. In its new role, the MPA is expected to lead efforts to further grow the sector over the coming decade. The MPA is drawing on Singapore's well-established network of shipping lines and shipowners and coordinating government efforts to foster the development of a host of shipping-related services here, while remaining responsive to the needs of the industry.

Public-private sector partnership

As the IMC champion agency, the MPA has adopted a conscious and consistent strategy of partnership with the maritime industry, related organisations and institutions, as well as other relevant stakeholders.

The partnership approach extends to discussions on technical issues or collaborations on specific projects with the industry as well as to broad policy and strategy formulation and implementation. This has resulted in the development of better balanced and more cohesive policies, innovative measures to give effect to the policies, and a more efficient pooling of public and private sector resources towards the common goal of growing Singapore into a leading maritime centre of the world.

In March this year, more details were presented on how the MPA would engage the private sector to help in attaining this goal. A public-private sector partnership known as the Singapore Maritime Foundation (SMF) was formed, and it is the first collective body to represent all facets of Singapore's maritime industry.

The SMF has three central functions: a forum for the exchange of ideas for the development of the maritime sector; a catalyst for cooperation among the various segments of the country's maritime industry, and a partner for the government in promotional, training and manpower development efforts in the industry. Headed by the Singapore Shipping Association (SSA) president Teo Siong Seng, the new body includes a high-profile six-member board drawn from the private sector, government-linked maritime companies and the MPA. It also includes a nine-member expert advisory panel and a permanent secretariat. The SMF has already started work with the setting up of two task forces, one to look at ship financing and the other focused on arbitration.

Seal of quality and attractive packages

An overriding function of the MPA is also to attract shipowners and operators to set up their Asia bases in Singapore. The recent months have seen the MPA introducing a number of concrete initiatives to expand Singapore's ship register.

Over 3,000 ships with a total tonnage of 25.4 million GT currently fly the Singapore flag, making the country the sixth largest register in the world, and the largest in Asia. But the MPA aims to grow this number by offering what it considers to be a package that competes well with any other register in the world.

Initiatives introduced to attract more ships to the registry include lowering the paid-up capital requirements for shipowners and a waiver of conditions for related companies. The paid-up capital for companies flagging ships in Singapore has been reduced from the lesser of S$500,000 or 10 per cent of the value of the ship, to just S$50,000. Related companies are no longer subject to any minimum paid-up capital they commit to registering vessels and tonnage on a sliding scale.

The Singapore Registry of Ships (SRS) has much to offer. If a shipowner comes in under the Block Transfer Scheme, BTS (a special package for companies bringing in several ships), he is able to enjoy some of the lowest rates in the world, because the SRS has capped the maximum amount that the shipowner has to pay on the registration as well as the annual tonnage tax.

And since November last year, ships registered under the BTS have enjoyed automatic exemption from withholding tax on interest payments for offshore loans. The SRS is especially competitive for larger vessels, which accounts for the good mix of large tankers, bulkers and container ships on its register.

While efforts are being made to expand the Singapore ship register, equal attention is also paid to ensuring the quality of the register. The recent awarding of the US quality shipping standards, or Qualship21, to the SRS bears testimony to the success of initiatives introduced to maintain the quality of the Singapore fleet.

These include the presence of a full-time Flag State Control (FSC) Unit, which carries out targeted and routine flag state inspections to ensure that Singapore ships enforce stringent quality standards. This robust system of checks has helped to develop a safety culture among Singapore ships.

According to the US Coast Guard's 2003 Port State Control Annual Report, the SRS' annual detention ratio in 2003 was 0.76 per cent, based on 264 distinct vessel calls at US ports, as compared to the 2001-2003 average detention ratio of 0.95 per cent.

Singapore has in place various other programmes tailored to the needs of the shipping community. The Approved International Shipping Enterprise (AIS) is designed to attract shipping companies to set up operating bases in Singapore.

Companies under the AIS scheme enjoy tax exemption on profits derived from the operation of non-Singapore flag vessels. More than 40 shipping groups, including the IMC Group, Cosco, NYK, K Line, AP Moller and ANL, have joined the AIS scheme.

In addition, ship managers and ship agencies can apply for the Approved Shipping and Logistics Scheme. Qualifying companies can look forward to enjoying a concessionary tax rate of not less than 10 per cent on qualifying incremental income.

This article is contributed by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Business Times - 03 Jun 2004

MPA leads Posidonia mission to boost the market profile of Singapore as an International Maritime Centre, reports DAVID HUGHES

SINGAPORE is pulling out all the stops to be noticed at this year's Posidonia Exhibition in Piraeus, Greece. Going to Posidonia marks a further stage in the active promotion of Singapore as an International Maritime Centre (IMC) which was initiated last October when the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) was appointed its 'champion agency'.

The MPA's task is to further Singapore's vision to be an IMC by building a vibrant maritime services cluster, based on the traditional strengths of its hub port and shipyards.

To do this, the MPA is pursuing a three-pronged approach. As well as attracting a core group of ship owners and operators to set up operations in Singapore, it is keen to increase the breadth and depth of the maritime ancillary services offered here. It is also continuously looking to improve the business environment for the maritime industry.

Taking part in a major global shipping industry event, other than those staged in Singapore, is an obvious course. But it does take the commitment and resources from not only the MPA, as lead agency, but also the participating Singapore companies and organisations.

An MPA spokesman said: 'Our participation at international exhibitions such as Posidonia is an excellent opportunity for the MPA to bring together a group of Singapore maritime companies to jointly promote our maritime services. 'We aim to showcase these services as a comprehensive package.

'Such participation not only allows us to meet a large number of potential customers in one location, it also facilitates networking and provides opportunities for us to build up business contacts.' She added: 'It is a good means for us to keep abreast of shipping developments in the European region and, at the same time, increase the market profile of Singapore as an IMC to these overseas markets.'

Minister of State for Health and Transport Balaji Sadasivan will lead the 30-member business delegation to Posidonia. He will be accompanied by MPA chief executive Rear Admiral (NS) Lui Tuck Yew, as well as other key industry representatives from Singapore. Dr Sadasivan plans to meet Greek maritime officials as well as key representatives of the major Greek shipping associations such as the Union of Greek Shipowners.

The MPA officials hope to establish and strengthen maritime relations with their Greek counterparts and explore areas of maritime cooperation. The MPA has teamed up with the Association of Singapore Marine Industries (ASMI), the Singapore Maritime Foundation (SMF) and 10 maritime companies to promote a good cross-section of the Singapore maritime services clusters in Posidonia.

This approach to collectively market Singapore as an International Maritime Centre is designed to raise the profile of the country as a dynamic IMC to the European market. The MPA spokesman said that the collective approach is consistent with the work of the MPA as the 'champion agency' to promote Singapore's maritime services as a seamless suite, from cargo handling to shore-based ancillary services.

The MPA is pushing hard the message that Singapore's ideal location and integrated maritime ancillary services make it the business location of choice for companies that are keen to expand into Asia.

The spokesman said: 'We hope our European trade visitors will leave with a greater understanding of Singapore's pro-business policies and maritime operating environment for shippers, shipping lines, and other maritime service providers alike. 'If the trade visitors go away with the knowledge that in Singapore, their cargo will not only be handled efficiently by our port, but that they will also have convenient access to a strong maritime service cluster offering legal services, financing arrangements, insurance advice and charter deals among others in Singapore, this would be a gain for us.'

The Singapore-IMC Pavilion will feature ship registration, ship repair and conversion facilities, bunkering, ship management, broking and financing, maritime training, R&D programmes, and maritime legal services. The 10 maritime companies participating are: bunkering specialist Global Energy (Asia), shipping lawyers Joseph Tan Jude Benny, shipyards and builders Jurong Shipyard, Keppel Shipyard, and Kwong Soon Engineering Co, Neptune Shipmanagement Services, Pan-United Marine, Singapore Technologies Marine, ST Education & Training and Tru-Marine. Building on this year's pioneering trip to Posidonia, there are plans for Singapore to participate in Nor-shipping in 2005. A strong Singapore presence is on the cards at other big global shipping industry shows with the MPA saying that it will continue to work with its industry partners, such as the SMF and the ASMI, to identify more international trade exhibitions to promote Singapore's maritime service offerings and facilities.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Time is GMT + 8 hours
Posted: 07 June 2004 2151 hrs

By Channel NewsAsia's China Correspondent Maria Siow

SHANGHAI : Singapore's Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew has begun a trip to China by meeting city officials in Shanghai and hearing about their plans for a mega new port.

China is constructing a US$16 billion deepwater port at Yangshan Island, about 30 kilometres south east of Shanghai's city centre.

Singapore's PSA Corp has previously signalled its interest in potentially investing in the development.

Shanghai now has the world's third largest container port and the fourth largest port overall.

Shanghai port authorities told Mr Lee that the city's port development is driven by the rapid development along the Yangtze Delta.

Under the first phase, five berths will be completed by the end of next year, with a further four being finished by the end of 2006.

By 2020, it is expected to have 30 berths serving not just Shanghai, but also China's vast hinterlands, including Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui and Sichuan provinces.

The city has given the go-ahead to Shanghai International Port to operate the first five berths at Yangshan Port.

Once complete, Yangshan is expected to the world's largest container port.

Local port authorities have also said that the development of Yangshan port will not be monopolized, and public tenders will be called for, both from domestic as well as international companies.

Mr Lee also met Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng, who briefed him on the city's developments.

Mr Han said as Shanghai develops and becomes more mature and sophisticated, new problems are created.

This, he says, requires people to change their mindsets, and for authorities to re-think the role of government.

In China, the post of Shanghai major has traditionally been a springboard to senior leadership positions.

Former President Jiang Zemin and former Premier Zhu Rongji both served as mayors of Shanghai. - CNA

Copyright © 2004 MCN International Pte Ltd

This story was printed from TODAYonline

$1.07b contract for Jurong Shipyard
Tuesday • June 8, 2004

SembCorp Marine's wholly-owned Jurong Shipyard has secured a letter of intent to convert a giant tanker into a floating oil production and storage facility for US$628 million ($1.07 billion).

The Singapore marine engineering group said that Jurong Shipyard obtained the letter from Petrobras Netherlands, a unit of Petrobras, Brazil's state oil company.

The turnkey contract entails converting the 280,000-dead-weight-tons very large crude carrier, Barao De Maua, into a floating production storage offloading unit, or FPSO, to be renamed Petrobras 54, in 38 months.

Work on the project is expected to commence in August, SembCorp Marine said.

It added that the Petrobras contract is expected to have a positive contribution to earnings.

However, the deal will not materially affect net tangible assets and earnings per share in the financial year ending Dec 31, 2004. — Dow Jones

Copyright MediaCorp Press Ltd. All rights reserved.

Business Times - 08 Jun 2004

Shanghai keen to partner S'pore in port project
City's mayor hopes to tap Republic's experience

By LOH HUI YIN
IN SHANGHAI

SHANGHAI wants to deepen cooperation in port management with Singapore, which, in the view of the Chinese city's mayor Han Zheng, has mature practice in this area.

'Singapore has rich experience and also enjoys sound management mechanism, but in Shanghai, we have just started to become a major port,' he said.

'We hope we can carry out cooperation with the Port of Singapore in a concrete manner,' said Mr Han during a meeting with visiting Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew.

Mr Lee kicked off his visit to China yesterday, during which he was briefed by the Shanghai Port Authority, and also met Shanghai party secretary Chen Liang yu and the Shanghai mayor.

Mr Han said that although the two ports already have a cooperative relationship, he hopes to deepen it by undertaking a substantive project together.

Shanghai is now developing a new port on the Big and Little Yangshan islands. When the massive project is completed in 2020, it will have a total of 30 berths. The first five berths under phase one will be ready at the end of next year. Another four berths will be ready in 2006.

PSA is keen on managing Yangshan port and is believed to be teaming up with international shipping group AP Moller and Cosco Pacific - China's terminal and container shipping operator - to make a bid for the contract.

But competition is expected to be keen, as other international operators are also eyeing the management contract.

Apart from the interest in Yangshan, PSA is one of four major partners which will develop the US$600 million second phase of the Dalian Container Terminal (DCT). The other three partners in the terminal, in north-east China, are AP Moller, the Dalian Port Group and Cosco Pacific.

This is not the first time that Mr Han has talked about port cooperation between PSA and Shanghai.

Last year when a Singapore delegation visited Shanghai, he mooted the idea of PSA taking a stake in Yangshan in return for a Chinese stake in the Singapore port operator.

Mr Han, who said he had visited Singapore three times on study trips, pointed out that he counts Singapore investors in Shanghai among his friends.

'Many of these businessmen are some of the earliest investors in Shanghai,' said Mr Han, who became mayor about 18 months ago. He was one of the vice-mayors of the bustling city before his latest promotion.

At the Shanghai Port Authority, Mr Lee was briefed by its director-general Xu Peixing on the port's ambitions to serve the Yangtze River hinterland.

Mr Lee and his delegation leaves for Suzhou today to take part in celebrations to mark the 10th anniversary of the Suzhou Industrial Park, which Singapore has a stake in.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

JUNE 15, 2004
S'pore plans $50m shipping system overhaul

SINGAPORE - The Government is investing up to $50 million (US$29 million) to overhaul the computer systems used by the shipping industry in the Republic, Dr Lee Boon Yang, Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts said on Tuesday.

The funds will be used over five years to boost efficiency by tying together disparate government-linked networks, he said.

Dr Lee said at an industry conference: 'More efficient information flows among shippers, freight forwarders, carriers and financial institutions will facilitate the flow of goods within, through and out of Singapore.'

Singapore hosts the world's second-busiest port and logistics accounts for 8 per cent of the local economy.

Dr Lee said a slew of different technical systems handle aspects of Singapore's shipping business that range from handling dangerous goods to submitting trade declarations.

'There is potential to join up these islands of computerisation into a more powerful network,' he said, adding that Government funds would be used to develop the software and encourage its adoption.

'The project will consist of a core information technology system that will automate the creation and exchange of commercial and regulatory information necessary to facilitate trade,' he said.

Dr Lee said the new system would boost profits by saving companies time in moving goods to the market. -- AP

Copyright @ 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

Business Times - 15 Jun 2004

WWL eyes Singapore as vehicle logistics hub for the region

It also signs major deal with BMW for transporting cars to Australia and New Zealand

By DAVID HUGHES
IN LONDON

OSLO-HEADQUARTERED ro-ro and vehicle logistics specialist Wallenius Wilhelmsen Limited (WWL) is considering making Singapore its South-east Asia hub.

A senior Europe-based WWL executive told Shipping Times that although no firm decision has been taken, Singapore is under consideration as regional hub for its burgeoning vehicle logistics business.

It is understood that the company reviewed several options in the region, including the Port of Tanjung Pelepas.

Last September, the company renewed its terminal services agreement with PSA Corporation for another three years, noting Singapore's prime position as a ro-ro hub for the growing vehicle manufacturing in Thailand, India, Indonesia and China. At the time, its Asian region head Anders Boman said the company expected its Singapore volumes to grow by 10-20 per cent.

For its part, PSA committed to spending an unspecified amount to expand and upgrade Pasir Panjang Wharf's ro-ro capabilities which, along with Sembawang Wharfs, handles around 400,000 vehicles annually.

WWL's chief operating officer, logistics management division, Steve Cadden, also unveiled last week a major logistics deal with car manufacturer BMW for transporting vehicles from factories in Germany, South Africa, the UK and the US to dealers in Australia and New Zealand.

The five-year pilot agreement worth about US$50 million to WWL, which envisages 170,000 vehicles being delivered to the Australasian market, is a further extension of the company's diversification into the vehicle logistics business.

WWL has now completely withdrawn from the container market formerly served by its Wilhelmsen Line container/ro-ro (conro) ships which will have all been converted to pure car and truck carriers by the end of this year.

The company, which is 50-50-owned by Sweden's Wallenius Lines and Norway's Wilh Wilhelmsen, operates over 60 ro-ro ships.

Its main cargoes are new cars, 'high and heavy' rolling cargo such as agricultural and construction equipment and specialist and project static cargoes, including yachts and generators.

Presenting an upbeat picture of the company, which had revenues of US$2 billion last year, chief executive officer Nils Dyvik told a press briefing last week that the BMW deal was 'a milestone for WWL Logistics' while the strong ro-ro vessel market was expected to continue throughout 2004.

He also pointed to 'positive operational cooperation' with Eukor in which Wallenius and Wilh Wilhelmsen also have major stakes. The tight ro-ro supply market is holding back a major new service.

Chief operating officer and head of ocean services, Christopher Connor, said WWL is looking for a ship to start a shuttle service between China and Japan. He said the new service would start as soon as the company could locate a suitable vessel to charter.

The very tight supply situation for ro-ro tonnage has made finding a suitable ship difficult and the company might take a conro ship for the service even though it has withdrawn from the container shipping market.

The new service would carry cars to China and other cargoes on the return leg. The shuttle will form part of a major expansion programme at WWL whose fleet is in the final stages of being converted to carrying rolling cargoes only.

Other developments include increasing sailings from Europe and North America to Oceania and increasing capacity on sailings between Asia and North America. Mr Cadden said that since less than 20 per cent of vehicle logistics is currently outsourced and there is a trend towards outsourcing, offering logistics solutions to vehicle manufacturers is a major opportunity for WWL.

He said the company is working on 10 new target projects and hoped to be able to announce more major logistics deals this year.

As well as the BMW deal, signed on April 5 this year, WWL also has vehicle logistics deals with Renault, Peugeot Australia, Case New Holland Australia, Ford, GM & DC Mexico, Porsche Australia and Nissan.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

JUNE 15, 2004
Shanghai port to open ahead of schedule

SHANGHAI - Shanghai's new deepwater port - key to the city meeting its ambition to overtake Hong Kong and Singapore as the world's largest shipping centres - is preparing to open tenders for foreign terminal operators following faster-than-expected progress in its construction.

The city is rushing to complete the first stage of the port by late next year to keep up with an explosion in container traffic, which doubled in the past three years to 11.3 million 20-foot equivalent units per year.

The port is being built on reclaimed land along a string of craggy islands connected to the mainland by a 31km bridge across open seas.

By the time it is finished in 2020, the port will have capacity for 50 large container berths and have cost at least US$10 billion (S$17.2 billion).

Mr Zhang Huimin, the vice-director of the Yangshan port project, said that a team of several thousand workers was living on boats to allow them to toil around the clock on building the bridge and the first terminal.

'If the gods give us good weather, we will have no rest,' he said.

Despite rough seas and strong offshore winds, Mr Zhang said the bridge would be completed slightly ahead of time by October next year and the first terminal open in 2006. -- Financial Times

Copyright @ 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

JUNE 29, 2004
Booming Traffic At PSA Terminals
Shipping lines face berthing delay
By Nicholas Fang

TRADE is booming - so much so that ships calling at PSA Corp's Singapore terminals have been hit by unprecedented delays. Instead of being able to berth immediately, they have had to wait up to a day to load and unload their cargo.

The delays, which have been felt since the end of last month, are being experienced by ports all over the region and are caused by surging global trade volumes and a booming Chinese economy.

Shipping lines told The Straits Times yesterday that their ships have had to wait for berths at PSA's Tanjong Pagar, Brani and Keppel terminals for between two and 24 hours, compared to the on-arrival berthing they are used to.

Peak-period volumes normally seen during the four months between July and October had arrived early, they said.

PSA Singapore terminals chief executive officer Grace Fu backed this up.

She told The Straits Times yesterday that the port operator had experienced a 17 per cent surge in average daily volumes handled in the first three weeks of June - from over 50,000 standard containers this time last year - to more than 60,000.

'I don't think anyone could have predicted this unprecedented increase in volumes, including the shipping lines,' she said.

'Some lines have also been adjusting their services in the region ahead of the peak period which starts next month, and this has resulted in services being switched in and out of Singapore and increased volumes in some cases.

'Because of the overall congestion in the region, a lot of ad hoc volumes are also making their way here, and we have a policy of not turning any of these away.'

PSA has hired more operations staff such as prime mover drivers and crane operators, and more private contractors to carry out services such as moving containers between its terminals by road, she said.

'We have also increased the manning levels at our terminals by extending the shifts worked by our staff up to 12 hours in some cases.

'Our people are also coming back on their days off and working on weekends to help deal with the extra volumes'.

An executive with a consultancy specialising in the shipping industry said that the increase in volumes was due largely to increasing traffic in and out of China.

And while this may put smiles on the faces of PSA Singapore's executives, it has caused a major headache among mainline operators and feeder shipping lines.

Feeder lines specialise in bringing cargo from smaller, less accessible ports to main hub ports, where the cargo is consolidated for loading on larger mainline carriers to transport to other major markets.

An executive with a local feeder line, who declined to be named, said yesterday that services operated by his line had been badly hampered.

'The main congestion appears to be at Brani, Tanjong Pagar and Keppel, which are all bunched together. The services using PSA's Pasir Panjang Terminal don't seem so badly affected,' he said.

'Lines have traditionally planned our services calling at PSA based on the assumption that we will get either berthing on arrival, or rapid berthing at least, and we were willing to pay a premium for that.

'Now we're having to wait up to one day. What is more, PSA enforces punitive charges on ships that are late in arriving at their terminals to recoup costs for having equipment on standby and other charges, but it does not work the other way when we are faced with delays.'

PSA's Ms Fu said the port operator had been waiving some charges for customers which have been inconvenienced, but did not elaborate.

P&O Nedlloyd general manager Paul Hoogwaerts said that his company's ships had been experiencing delays of between two and 12 hours, but added that PSA had been working to keep shipping lines informed of potential delays before their ships arrived at Singapore.

'PSA will try to inform ships, including those which have set sail from the previous port, if there will be delays in berthing a day before they arrive.'

Another shipping executive with an Asian mainline operator, who requested anonymity, said: 'Our ships are experiencing average delays of between two and five hours, with only one or two out of every 25 vessels facing longer delays of between 10 and 16 hours.

'But PSA is trying its very best to cut down the impact of the congestion for us.'

The shipping consultancy executive said that a possible concern for PSA would be if groups of feeders or mainline operators decided to impose a congestion surcharge to recoup lost earnings.

These surcharges would fall on whichever party pays for the freight, which could be the mainline operators or their customers or shippers, and would increase the cost of calling at Singapore, he said.

Meanwhile, PSA's Ms Fu noted that the port operator would add three new quay cranes by the end of this year, and that two of its planned five new berths would come into operation next June and July.

'This is a situation that we are apologetic about, but we hope our customers won't judge us on this basis,' she said, adding that service levels at PSA's operations had been maintained in the first five months of the year.

On when she believed the congestion might ease, Ms Fu said that it depended on the volumes being generated by the shipping lines and any further adjustments made to their services in the coming months.

PEAK-PERIOD VOLUMES

The port operator has experienced a 17 per cent surge in average daily volumes handled in the first three weeks of June to more than 60,000 containers, says PSA's Ms Fu

Copyright @ 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

Business Times - 02 Jul 2004

All our terminals are compliant, says PSA Int'l

By DONALD URQUHART

(SINGAPORE) PSA International announced yesterday that it is still awaiting certification for nearly half of its terminal facilities around the world although all fully comply with the ISPS Code requirements. With all ships and port facilities required to obtain a certificate of compliance from their respective government authorities by July 1, PSA said it has been 'working closely and actively with the local port authorities to ensure all its 17 ports around the world are fully compliant with the ISPS Code.'

PSA said in a statement that eight of its facilities, including its flagship terminals in Singapore and Belgium, achieved full certification ahead of the July 1 deadline. Other PSA-operated ports that met the deadline include: Voltri Terminal Europe in Italy, Tuticorin Container Terminal in India, Fuzhou Qingzhou and Fuzhou-Jiangyin Container Terminal in China, Incheon Container Terminal in Korea and Muara Container Terminal in Brunei.

'The remaining ports have all been appraised by the port authorities to be fully ISPS compliant and are awaiting official issuance of the certificate,' the global terminal operator said but did not indicate when this would conclude.

'Close cooperation with local port authorities was key in enabling PSA to achieve compliance at all its ports today,' said Eddie Teh, PSA group CEO. 'The ISPS certification process is a demonstration of our dedication and commitment to provide a safe and secure environment for all port users.'

The PSA statement said: 'PSA will continue to work closely with local port authorities to integrate security requirements with its operational processes to ensure cargo flows through its ports are as smooth and seamless as possible when complying with the Code.'

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Can see that PSA is busy investing in other ports.......:)

Business Times - 05 Jul 2004

PSA joint venture Incheon terminal opens

By DONALD URQUHART

(SINGAPORE) The first phase of PSA International's US$200 million joint venture Incheon Container Terminal (ICT) opened with its first vessel call over the weekend.

The Wan Hai 211 belonging to Wan Hai Lines called on Saturday at the greenfield terminal located 30 km from Seoul in which PSA has a joint venture with Korea's Samsung Corporation.

PSA said in a statement that it was actively working with other shipping lines including Hyundai Merchant Marine and Dongnama Shipping to generate more vessel calls 'in the near future'.

In 2001 ICT was awarded the concession to build, transfer and operate the terminal over three phases that will ultimately see a total quay length of 900 metres with a 1.2 million TEU annual capacity.

Phase 1 of ICT has a berth length of 300 metres with a 14 metre draft and an annual capacity of 400,000 TEU.

The terminal is also equipped with two post-panamax quay cranes, six rubber-tyred gantry cranes and a reach stacker.

Aiming to 'grow ICT into a major gateway port,' PSA said it had a close working relationship with the Korean Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries.

The Incheon port is the country's third busiest container port handling 760,000 TEU in 2002 compared with the country's largest port of Busan which handled 9.33 million TEU and Gwangyang Port which handled 1.08 million TEUs.

Incheon is also home to the recently opened international airport serving Seoul, built on reclaimed land.

The government plans on building more container terminals at Incheon with the idea to mesh air and sea cargo handling more closely as an overall cargo transhipment centre, part of the government's intention to make Korea a regional transport and logistics hub for North-east Asia.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Business Times - 07 Jul 2004

PSA Int'l may be quitting Indian port partnership
Official confirms Pipavav stake sale, but APM Terminals CEO says status quo remains

By DONALD URQUHART

(SINGAPORE) PSA International could be bowing out of its Pipavav partnership as AP Moller seeks to increase its shareholding in the emerging Indian container port, a move that would pare PSA's India interests down to only one terminal.

The AP Moller Maersk group, along with its APM Terminals and Maersk India units, is said to be planning a buy-out of its original partners in the Gujarat Pipavav Port (GPP), according to Indian press reports.

This includes a 21.8 per cent share held by PSA International since 1999 and a 16 per cent stake held by Sea King Infrastructure Ltd.

Although PSA International's head of communications, Fei Che, confirmed the sale of PSA's stake in an interview with Bloomberg, saying the move was a 'very strategic exit', APM Terminals CEO Peder Sondergaard told Shipping Times late yesterday that the Maersk India stake remained at 14 per cent.

'At this point in time we are the shareholder we have been for a while which is a minority shareholding and that's the current status,' Mr Sondergaard said in a telephone interview.

Declining to comment further on APM Terminals' plans for Pipavav, Mr Sondergaard added: 'As a principle we try not to publicly comment on potential projects or potential developments because it does give a lot of uncertainty in the market and very often it doesn't materialise.'

'Right now we're the size that we have been for quite awhile,' he reiterated.

PSA International did not respond to Shipping Times' queries yesterday.

Senior shipping executives familiar with the Indian container terminal business said Maersk is keen on increasing its equity and management stake in the Gujarat port because of the port's potential to draw cargo from the New Delhi and larger northwest region.

This move potentially conflicts, however, with its recent tender award to build and operate the third container terminal at the booming Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNP) near Mumbai, which is currently a key gateway for New Delhi import/export cargo. But industry watchers say there is likely enough cargo to fill both the west coast terminals for some years to come.

PSA International was also a bidder for the third JNP terminal but was unsuccessful. Although Pipavav is primarily a feeder port currently - with Maersk Sealand running feeders to its main Middle East hub in Salalah, Oman - the idea is to turn it into a mainline container port, said one shipping executive. Container throughput at the terminal is estimated to be about 140-150,000 TEUs annually.

On why PSA would want to sell off its share in a port with some potential, an industry source speculated that the successful global terminal operator may be disenchanted with the poor performance of its limited forays into India.

PSA's only other terminal venture in the country is a green-field project at Tuticorin, in India's southeast, where it has a 57.5 per cent stake in PSA-Sical container terminal which handled 235,000 containers last year. The source said that while operationally the terminal has been successful, volume growth has not been up to expectations.

The Pipavav terminal, which recently acquired three gantry cranes that are now up and running, is now a fully containerised terminal with regular vessel calls. The port also has a new direct rail connection with the main rail grid into the large northwest and New Delhi markets. Further development will include container yard expansion, possibly by year-end.

Other Pipavav shareholders include CDC UK, AMP Australia, New York Life, Industrial Development Bank of India and Unit Trust of India.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Wednesday July 7, 8:19 PM
Container shipping volumes surge at Singapore's PSA

SINGAPORE, July 7 (Reuters) - Singapore state-owned port operator PSA International Pte Ltd said on Wednesday the volume of containers it moved at its local and overseas terminals jumped 19.3 percent in the first half of 2004 on a year ago.

The port operator said its global container volumes reached 16.1 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in the first six months from 13.5 million TEUs in the same period last year.

Asian ports are expected to show stronger growth in container volumes handled this year, boosted by booming regional trade as a result of China's economic growth, analysts said.

PSA, which operates the world's largest trans-shipment hub in Singapore, said its local terminals handled 15.1 percent more containers in the first half of the year, totalling 9.9 million TEUs, which is about 60 percent of its total volumes handled worldwide.

PSA, which has investments in port projects in Belgium, Brunei, China, India, Italy, Portugal, South Korea and Thailand, said it shifted 26.5 percent more by volume from its overseas terminals, totalling 6.2 million TEUS, in the six months.

In Singapore PSA has invested S$120 million ($70.13 million) in cranes for its new berths to help meet an expected rise in volumes.

The port operator is speeding up the construction of five new berths in the city state to meet an expected annual growth of about one million TEUs over the next few years.

Another Singapore port operator, Jurong Port, said it more than doubled its container throughput in the first half, to 288,000 TEUs from 119,000 TEUs in the first six months of 2003. ($1=1.711 Singapore Dollar)

Copyright © 2004Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of Reuters Limited

Wednesday July 7, 8:19 PM
Container shipping volumes surge at Singapore's PSA

PSA, which operates the world's largest trans-shipment hub in Singapore, said its local terminals handled 15.1 percent more containers in the first half of the year, totalling 9.9 million TEUs, which is about 60 percent of its total volumes handled worldwide.


9.9 million teus for the first six months??? Does that mean container traffic might exceed 20 million teus this year??? ;) :cheers:

Strangely, it says 60%....dosent that make it bigger then any other port on earth?

Anyway..how much did we handle last yr?

Strangely, it says 60%....dosent that make it bigger then any other port on earth?

Anyway..how much did we handle last yr?

Aiyah it's 60% of PSA's traffic worldwide, not 60% of the worldwide traffic..... :bash: :D

If i dun remember wrongly, last year was 18.4 million TEUs.......:)

Aiyah it's 60% of PSA's traffic worldwide, not 60% of the worldwide traffic..... :bash: :D

If i dun remember wrongly, last year was 18.1 million TEUs.......:)
Whoops!! :D

Hmmm....I wonder how that compares to other competiting posts in the region, if not the world?

Whoops!! :D

Hmmm....I wonder how that compares to other competiting posts in the region, if not the world?

Emm the region ports have also experience a surge in volume.....here's one article to show the volume surge in China ports.....

Business Times - 06 Jul 2004

Shenzhen container traffic soars 32% in H1
The second largest container port in China aims to ship 13m TEUs this year

(HONG KONG) Sea container traffic in the southern Chinese town of Shenzhen grew more than 32 per cent in the first six months from the same period in 2003, the Shenzhen Municipal Port Authority said yesterday.

Shenzhen port handled 6.06 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of goods from January to June, as south China's export engine continued to hum despite central government moves to cool red-hot economic growth.
Throughput in the city's three major container terminals - Yantian, Shekou and Chiwan - rose between 20 per cent and 64 per cent in the first half of the year.

'The growth of traffic was good in the first half and is in line with expectations,' a port official said.

The city expects to move 13 million TEUs of goods this year. 'The peak season falls in the second half, so we should have no problem achieving our target,' the official added.

Shenzhen handles a big chunk of the goods made in the Pearl River Delta and shipped to the rest of the world. The city borders Hong Kong, the world's busiest container port.

Analysts say Shenzhen has attracted many price-sensitive shippers who want to export directly from the mainland instead of trucking their goods to Hong Kong for export. Shenzhen is the second-largest container port in mainland China after Shanghai.

In Shanghai, first-half throughput rose 29.3 per cent from a year earlier to 6.75 million TEUs, according to preliminary figures.

Hong Kong's Hutchison Whampoa Ltd is the major foreign investor in Shenzhen's Yantian International Container Terminals phase one, two and three.

Beijing-backed China Merchants Holdings (International) Co Ltd owns 32.5 per cent of Shekou Container Terminals phase one and 51 per cent of phase two. It also invested in Chiwan Container Terminals.

Hong Kong's Wharf (Holdings) Ltd's Modern Terminal Ltd has a 10 per cent in the first phase of Shekou Container Terminals and 9.8 per cent of phase two. It also owns an 8 per cent stake in Chiwan Container Terminals.

Neptune Orient Lines' container shipping arm APL recently signed a long-term terminal agreement with Chiwan Container Terminals.

The 20-year deal better positioned APL to take advantage of surging container trade out of South China and the industrial and manufacturing concentration in the Pearl River Delta region particularly as berthing windows become increasingly scarce. - Reuters

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

PSA's total container volumes rise 19.3%

8 July 2004

By Nicholas Fang

WITH its Singapore terminals seeing unprecedented volumes and queues of ships waiting to berth last month, PSA Corp has again turned in a stellar month of growth in June with 1.8 million containers handled at its local terminals.

This represents a 17.7 per cent increase over the 1.53 million containers recorded in June last year and is also an improvement on May's 14 per cent year-on-year growth.

For the first six months of this year, 16.1 million standard containers or 20-ft equivalent units (TEUs) were handled at PSA's local and international operations.

This was a 19.3 per cent improvement over the 13.5 million TEUs recorded in the corresponding period last year, PSA said on its website.

Shipping lines said recently that since the end of May they had faced delays at some of PSA's Singapore terminals because of booming trade, with some of their ships having to wait up to almost a day before berthing.

The delays were experienced by ports all over the region and were said to have been caused by surging global trade volumes and a booming Chinese economy.

PSA Singapore terminals chief executive officer Grace Fu said last month that the port operator had seen a 17 per cent surge in average daily volumes handled in the first three weeks of June, from over 50,000 standard containers this time last year, to more than 60,000.

She added that it had been waiving some charges for customers inconvenienced by delays.

Industry insiders say PSA has now managed to ease most of the congestion and delays, with berthing-on-arrival being experienced by 70 per cent of the shipping lines calling here.

Separately, Singapore's No. 2 port operator, Jurong Port, also experienced surging volumes last month.

In an e-mail statement, the port said that it handled 56,000 TEUs last month compared with 18,000 TEUs in June last year, representing an improvement of 211 per cent.

This was the highest level of monthly growth recorded this year. For the year to date, the port has handled 288,000 TEUs or 141 per cent more than the same period last year.

JULY 9, 2004
Berthing delays at PSA ports under control
Waiting time has been cut drastically in past 3 weeks; PSA and industry body looking at measures to handle the spike in volumes

By Nicholas Fang

EXTRA staff and equipment deployed at PSA Corp's Singapore ports have eased delays of up to a full day that had been experienced recently by ships calling here as a result of surging volumes.

In a joint statement, PSA and the Singapore Shipping Association (SSA) also said that during a meeting yesterday they had discussed other short-, medium- and long- term solutions to tackle the burgeoning volumes.

One shipping boss, Mr S.C. Chan, regional director of Hong Kong's Orient Overseas Container Line, confirmed that the delays had been cut drastically over the past two to three weeks.

He said: 'Just two or three weeks ago, almost every one of our ships was being delayed. But now, it's down to two to three ships out of every 10 which are being held up, and even then, the delays are only for two to three hours.'

The congestion, which reportedly started in late May, came after a big spike in global trade volumes, owing partly to a booming Chinese economy. Ports throughout the region have also been affected.

Shipping lines said last month that their ships had had to wait for berths at PSA's Tanjong Pagar, Brani and Keppel terminals for between two and 24 hours, a big change from the instant service they had been accustomed to.

PSA Singapore terminals chief executive Grace Fu said last month that the port operator had experienced a 17 per cent surge in average daily volumes handled in the first three weeks of June - from over 50,000 standard containers at the same time last year - to more than 60,000.

She said that PSA staff had been working overtime and that the company had taken a number of other measures to ensure that customers were not badly affected, and had also been waiving some charges for customers who had been inconvenienced.

SSA services committee chairman Patrick Phoon said: 'From the statistics shown, the delays have dropped significantly and things have started to flow much better.

'PSA's operations staff are working round-the-clock and we appreciate their efforts. We know that they are very keen to reduce the delays and priority will be given to critical services.'

SSA said yesterday that it would encourage all its members to provide more accurate forecasts and up-to-date information about their services calling at Singapore to allow PSA to better plan its operations.

Ms Fu said: 'We take delays seriously. We have invested in more operations staff and equipment, including yard cranes, quay cranes and prime movers, and these are already operational.

'In the longer term, we will be phasing in three new berths at Pasir Panjang Terminal by next year, with two additional berths being commissioned in 2006. Development of these five new berths has been fast-tracked.'

She said that PSA would continue to seek to protect the service integrity of its customers.

Copyright @ 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

Thank goodness PSA has some brains to prepare the ground for berth expansion, so it dosent take long to add new berths like in this case! :D

exactly...big business!

also its good in the long term..you dont wanna see shipping lines running away again!

8 July 2004

PSA and SSA Join Efforts to Manage Boom at Singapore Terminals

On 8 July 2004, PSA met with members of the Singapore Shipping Association (SSA) to proactively address concerns faced by its members as a result of the surge in volumes at PSA’s terminals in Singapore. SSA is keen to work closely with PSA to handle more peak months ahead. The meeting discussed short-term, medium-term and long-term solutions to ease the congestion.

After the meeting, SSA is satisfied that the situation is under control and that PSA is monitoring it closely. With extra manning, and more equipment to be provided by PSA, the terminal operator will be able to facilitate faster turnaround of ship calls. As for the shipping lines, SSA will encourage all its members to provide more accurate forecasts and up-to-date information to facilitate even better planning by PSA.

Mr Patrick Phoon, Chairman, Services Committee, SSA Council, said: “We are pleased that PSA has listened to our feedback and that it will study all our suggestions to further improve the situation. In fact, from the statistics shown, the delays have dropped significantly and things have started to flow much better. PSA’s operations staff are working round-the-clock and we appreciate their efforts. We know that they are very keen to reduce the delays and priority will be given to critical services.”

Ms Grace Fu, CEO, PSA Singapore Terminals, said: “We take delays seriously. We have invested in more operations staff and equipment - including yard cranes, quay cranes and prime movers – and these are already operational. We shall seek to protect the service integrity of our customers. In the longer term, we will be phasing in 3 new berths at Pasir Panjang Terminal by 2005, with 2 additional berths being commissioned in 2006. Development of these 5 new berths has been fast-tracked. We are indeed privileged to be working hand-in-hand with SSA to manage the boom in volumes at the Singapore Terminals.”

Background

SSA
The Singapore Shipping Association (SSA) was formed on 29 January 1985. The Association protects and promotes the interests of its members. It undertakes activities on shipping matters which are beneficial to its members. The SSA is fully geared to meet the challenges of the 21st Century.

PSA Singapore
PSA Singapore registered a year-on-year growth of 18% for the month of June 2004, with the number of containers handled reaching some 60,000 TEUs daily. For the first 6 months of this year, volumes at PSA Singapore grew by 15% to reach 9.9 million TEUs. PSA Singapore handled a total of 18.1 million TEUs in 2003.

Port operator PSA Corp to speed up development of 5 berths

Chan Hwa Loon, Channel NewsAsia
08 Jul 2004 2021 hrs (GMT + 8hrs)

SINGAPORE : Port operator PSA Corp is speeding up the development of 5 new berths. Three of the new berths at Pasir Panjang Terminal will be running by next year, and two more the following year.

This is PSA's long-term solution to ease the current port congestion. In the short-term, it has put in more operations staff and equipment. And this seems to have done the trick as statistics are showing that port delays have dropped significantly and things have started to flow much better.

But shipping lines are expecting more peak months ahead. Still, the Singapore Shipping Association says it is satisfied that the situation is under control and that PSA is monitoring it closely. The shipping firms on their part will provide more accurate forecasts and up-to-date information to help PSA plan even better.

Shipping lines have been complaining recently about berthing delays of up to a day, due to surging global trade volumes and a booming Chinese economy. - CNA

^
5 more berths by 2006.....wow looks like traffic is growing strongly:eek:

Yeap, but that is just the tip of the ice-berg. The terminal has ready space for very quick deployment of over 10 more berths if need be. :)

Yeap, but that is just the tip of the ice-berg. The terminal has ready space for very quick deployment of over 10 more berths if need be. :)

If traffic growth is strong enough, they might reclaim more land for it........:eek:

Business Times - 13 Jul 2004

NOL enjoys higher freight volumes in June
Volumes boosted by increased capacity, run-up to the peak season for retailers

By JEAN CHUA

SEA freight rates of Neptune Orient Lines (NOL), operator of the world's seventh-biggest container shipping fleet, rose in June on the back of high demand for services to its key routes.

From May 29 to June 25, NOL's average freight rate per FEU (40-foot equivalent unit or container) rose 3 per cent to US$2,673 from US$2,595 in the year-ago period.

NOL said volumes were boosted by the introduction of additional capacity in the trans-Pacific, Asia-Europe and intra-Asia routes. Volumes also rose 20 per cent during the period.

Revenue from logistics operations grew 10 per cent on the year, coming mostly from contract logistics services. Contract logistics services raked in US$63.5 million for NOL, compared with US$55.5 million last year, while international services brought in US$25 million, up from US$24.7 million.

After two years of weak demand, freight rates have recently risen. Industry figures indicate that in the first four months of the year, trans-Pacific volumes grew 10 per cent, while Asia-Europe volumes grew 20 per cent. Intra-Asia volumes from Hong Kong to Taiwan and Japan were up nearly 12 per cent, while Asia to the Middle East and South Asia were up 15 per cent.

The rising freight rates for NOL coincide with the beginning of the peak season as retailers in the North America and Europe begin building up inventories towards the US Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons.

NOL's container shipping arm APL recently signed a 20-year terminal agreement with the Shenzhen port of Chiwan. This agreement will better position APL to take advantage of surging container trade out of South China and the industrial and manufacturing concentration in the Pearl River Delta region, APL said in a statement.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

If traffic growth is strong enough, they might reclaim more land for it........:eek:
Yeap...that will be for Phases 3 and 4. You saw the rought outline of this before?

Yeap...that will be for Phases 3 and 4. You saw the rought outline of this before?

Yes......somewhere in the forum but I can't remember where it is exactly.....:)

JULY 14, 2004
Port workers on track for big bonus
Unionist says payout up to 4 months likely if PSA does well

SINGAPORE port workers who have performed up to mark can expect this year's bonus to be 'the same, if not better' than the four months they received last year, said Singapore Port Workers' Union general secretary Ameer Hamzah yesterday.

'If things remain the way they are, then it would not be a problem for us to achieve as much as what we got last year,' Mr Ameer told reporters on the sidelines of a conference here on port workers' unions, organised by London-based International Transport Workers' Federation.

But, he cautioned, such optimism needs to be tempered by how well PSA Corp performs for the rest of the year.

Buoyed by cost cuts in Singapore, PSA Corp reported a 22 per cent hike in group net earnings to $682.7 million for last year. PSA Singapore, its local operations, posted a net profit of $694.3 million, up 7 per cent from 2002.

Last year, port workers who met individual performance targets received a bonus of up to four months. This was under a new wage reform structure agreed on by the union and PSA management, put into effect last August.

Mr Ameer also said workers' morale was at an 'all-time high'. They were 'working extra shifts' following a surge in the quantity of vessels and cargo going through PSA's terminals here. By this, he said, they are showing support to the union and management and ensuring ships would not be unduly delayed.

Last month, average daily volumes in the first three weeks soared 17 per cent, with more than 60,000 standard containers being handled compared to over 50,000 in the same period last year, said PSA Singapore terminals chief executive Grace Fu.

The heavy traffic caused congestion at PSA's Tanjong Pagar, Brani and Keppel terminals, like it did at other ports in the region.

The build-up reportedly began in late May, after a big spike in global trade volumes.

As a result, ships had to wait between two and 24 hours for berths, a big change from the instant service they are used to. PSA Corp said last week that the delays were now 'under control'.

Copyright @ 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

Business Times - 16 Jul 2004

PSA's headhunt is to man volume surge, new berths
It's not related to last year's retrenchment,says union chief

By DONALD URQUHART

(SINGAPORE) PSA Corporation's plans to hire more than 60 new crane operators is not related to its large-scale retrenchment exercise last year, but is based solely on attrition, unexpected volume growth and expansion, the head of the port workers union said.

'The new recruits being taken in are to make up the numbers of natural attrition, because of the cargo upsurge and also to prepare for the opening of the two berths at Pasir Panjang Terminal next year,' said Singapore Port Workers' Union general secretary Ameer Hamzah yesterday.

Speaking to Shipping Times on the sidelines of the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) annual forum here, Mr Ameer highlighted that no operational staff were retrenched in last year's traumatic layoffs which saw nearly 700 workers lose their jobs.

NTUC secretary-general and Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Lim Boon Heng told reporters yesterday that faced by a 'severe threat of further losses', PSA's decision 'turned out to be the right thing to do'.

He added that in retrospect the mostly support services workers 'should have been let off when there was no need for them earlier so that the adjustments would have been easier,' rather than during a tough economic and competitive climate.

Praising Singapore's tripartite labour model, ITF general secretary David Cockroft said the ITF sees a healthy relationship between PSA and the port workers. Asked about the massive layoffs last year, Mr Cockroft said: 'The situation changes all the time and hindsight gives you 20-20 vision.

'You can always say how good it would have been to do things differently, but I think in this situation the PSA took the right kind of steps. It had a proper dialogue with the union and if things develop in a positive way than I hope those retrenchments will be cancelled in the future.'

The global terminal operator is now back on the hiring track as it scrambles to deal with delays at its flagship Singapore terminals from early June when Asia-to-Europe volumes began an unusual surge, adding 17 per cent more boxes - or about 10,000 TEUs - through Singapore each day.

In response, PSA began to boost manpower, extended shift hours and added more equipment in a bid to get ships turned around faster. For health, safety and family reasons, the overtime work is limited to one extra four-hour shift per week per worker, which is spread over hundreds of dock workers, said Mr Ameer.

As a result, Berth-On-Arrival (BOA) delays improved by 22 per cent last week, compared with the last week of June and average waiting time improved by 45 per cent.

Shipping Times understands the situation has improved further as PSA typically presses more resources into action during the traditional peak season of July and August.

Volume growth at PSA's local terminals of 15 per cent, or 9.9 million TEUs, for the first six months this year over last looks set to nearly double Drewry Shipping Consultants' 8.2 per cent global growth forecast for 2004.

Mr Ameer said union discussions with PSA management last year concluded that staffing levels were appropriate for the environment at the time, but the unprecedented volume surge necessitated the new round of hiring. 'We have also internally upgraded some of our workers,' he said, noting that the typical dockyard progression is from prime movers to yard cranes to quay cranes. As such, the new recruitment will be phased in as training at each level progresses.

This internal upgrading of workers is one of the reasons PSA was able to manage the upsurge in such a short period of time, Mr Ameer said. 'The union and management have worked very closely to make sure whatever the case, the customer comes first,' he added.

A key component of the measures is the fast-tracking of the Pasir Panjang Terminal development which will see three new berths operational in 2005, including two in July and one in September, as well as two more in 2006. Originally, only one new berth was scheduled for 2005.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

At first I tot PSa could just re-hire the workers...then I realised those previously retrenched arent in the operational line. Blah.

This phenomenal rise is pretty amazing thou. Seems to have smashed all previous expectations! :eek:

Business Times - 21 Jul 2004

PSA places $78m order for 42 cranes
Fast-tracking of Pasir Panjang Terminal expansion to meet demand

By DONALD URQUHART

(SINGAPORE) As part of its accelerated development of Pasir Panjang Terminal (PPT), PSA Corporation has placed a $78 million order for 42 Korean-made gantry cranes with delivery from March 2005.

The 42 rubber-tyred gantry cranes (RTGs) are to be built by South Korean industrial conglomerate Doosan heavy Industries and Construction Company following the awarding of the contract last week.

A PSA corporate spokesperson said the the cranes will be delivered in phases from March to September 2005, 'in line with the development of PSA Singapore's five new berths at Pasir Panjang Terminal'.

Under the fast-track, three new berths will be operational at PPT in 2005, including two in July and one in September, as well as two more in 2006. Originally, only one new berth was scheduled for 2005.

The overall expansion of PPT will enlarge PSA's annual throughput capacity from 20 million TEUs to 24 million TEUs.

The crane order follows an earlier one in May this year in which PSA placed an order worth $120 million for 12 super post-panamax quay cranes for PPT from Shanghai-based Zhenhua Port and Machinery Company.

The fast-tracking of its Pasir Panjang development was necessitated after a 17 per cent surge in average daily volumes - or about an extra 10,000 TEUs daily - handled in the first three weeks of June which resulted in atypical berthing delays at PSA's local terminals of anywhere from two to 24 hours.

The surging volumes were a result of a flood of westbound Asia-to-Europe cargoes out of North Asia and China which were exacerbated by the early arrival of the peak season.

Patrick Phoon, chairman of the Singapore Shipping Association (SSA) Council's Services Committee had earlier told Shipping Times that while typically the peak season arrives after the first half of the year, this year it arrived nearly a month early.

He added that the surging volumes were 'a happy problem' for the industry, 'but a problem nonetheless'. Shipping Times understands that the situation has improved following additional equipment, extended shifts for crane operators and dialogue and information exchange between PSA and shipping lines although the typhoon in North-east Asia last week has disrupted schedules causing vessels to 'bunch-up' resulting in some delays at terminals here.

PSA saw a volume growth at its local terminals of 15 per cent, or 9.9 million TEUs, for the first six months of this year over the corresponding period last year.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

"happy problem" indeed. :D

Its amazing how quickly PSA can still grow even with the PTP at her doorstep...both are growing at amazing rates in fact, testement of the global uplift in trade! ;)

Business Times - 24 Jul 2004

CORPORATE ANALYSIS
Singapore's marine sector looking offshore for growth
Big players like SembCorp Marine, PSA tapping into China's rapid development

By JEAN CHUA

SEMBCORP Marine's latest investment in Cosco Shipyard Group has drawn mixed reactions from analysts.

While some declined to comment, others issued a 'hold' recommendation on SembCorp Marine's stock after learning this week that the company will pay $49 million for a 30 per cent stake in the shipyard operations of China's largest shipping conglomerate, China Ocean Shipping Co (Cosco).

SembCorp Marine has worked with Cosco Shipyard since 2002 and owned 20 per cent of Cosco's yard in Dalian in northern China. With this latest deal, SembCorp Marine will have a share in the group's five yards in Dalian, Nantong, Shanghai, Zhoushan and Guangzhou. With China being one of the world's fastest-growing maritime nations, it is no wonder SembCorp Marine sees its cooperation with Cosco as key to its overseas expansion and future growth.

PSA Corp, which runs the Singapore port, also has a close relationship with Cosco. Last month, it said it will work with Cosco Pacific - China's largest terminal and container shipping operator - and two other industry partners to develop the US$600 million second phase of Dalian Container Terminal at Dayao Bay. PSA Corp will reportedly take a 25 per cent stake, Cosco 20 per cent, Dalian Port 35 per cent stake and AP Moller 20 per cent.

Last year, it allowed Cosco to buy 49 per cent of two berths at Pasir Panjang for about $80 million - the first time PSA permitted foreign investment in its Singapore facilities.

Change in outlook

Singapore's marine sector - and main infrastructure players SembCorp Marine, Keppel Corp and PSA - have not always been so outward-looking. SembCorp Marine, for example, started looking at acquiring a shipyard in China in 2000, according to the 1999 annual report of parent SembCorp Industries. It wanted to turn from 'a traditional shipyard business into a global marine engineering specialist', the report said, citing falling margins because of competition from yards in China and excess capacity in Singapore.

Of PSA's cooperation with Cosco Pacific, PSA president and chief executive Ng Chee Keong said it 'reflects the new approach in PSA's relationship with its customers' and heralds the beginning of more joint ventures with shipping lines to invest in terminal operations in Singapore.

Singapore's long-standing position as the number 2 container handler in the world also means there is no real hurry for local marine firms to go overseas. Things are changing, however. Last year, while Hong Kong retained its top position, Shanghai overtook Busan in South Korea to become the world's third-busiest container port. According to figures from Containerization International and China's Ministry of Communications, the Shanghai port handled 31 per cent more cargo, or 11.3 million standard 20-foot units. Hong Kong processed 20.5 million containers, and Singapore 18.1 million.

This year, despite moves by the Chinese government to cool the economy, the Chinese shipping industry shows no sign of slowing down. The country is going ahead with a US$16 billion project to help ease transport bottlenecks caused by a 3 1/2-time increase in foreign trade over the past decade. The Shanghai port authority is building a new project in Yangshan port near Shanghai, which the Chinese government estimates can handle 25 million standard containers a year - more than the volume of Hong Kong.

To benefit from this busy container trade in China, the container shipping arm of Singapore's Neptune Orient Lines signed a 20-year terminal agreement with Chiwan port in western Shenzhen a few months ago. Its APL unit was reluctant to reveal details, but analysts say terminal agreements usually involve cheaper handling rates, berthing priority and productivity guarantees by the terminal operator. Carriers typically guarantee a minimum volume throughput.

Interestingly, Keppel Corp's unit, Keppel Offshore and Marine, does not seem to have much interest in China.

'Different companies will be in China for different reasons,' an analyst said. 'SembCorp Marine and PSA, by the nature of their business, feel they have to be in China to take advantage of the growth. Keppel Corp, on the other hand, would rather concentrate on the Middle East, with which they are more familiar.'

Not all is doomed for the Singapore marine industry. Research done by NUS Consulting for the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore suggests that Singapore maritime companies may increase production by up to 9.3 per cent annually between this year and 2008. The number of workers in the shipping and and port industries may increase from 116,800 this year to more than 200,000 by 2018. Most of this demand will be from ship repairs and construction, the report said.

Some industry sources suggest that it may take years for some companies to recover their investments in China. One analyst said some projects will not benefit the companies' bottom line immediately and are most likely what he calls 'strategic moves'.

Adding value

Whether the bet on China pays off, and how Singapore can best position itself there, remain to be seen. Some observers suggest that Singapore marine firms could provide their expertise in services to their Chinese partners. SembCorp Marine's subsidiary Jurong Clavon has set up a 40:60 joint venture company with Cosco Shipyard Group to provide corrosion control consultancy, staging, copper slag processing and trading, blasting and painting services to shipyards in China. The new joint venture company will be known as Cosco Shipyard Jurong Clavon Co.

'That's where Singapore firms could give something to Chinese firms,' one analyst said.

'The Chinese are actually very protective and guarded about their marine sector. You have to give them something compelling.'

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Business Times - 24 Jul 2004

NOL profit seen doubling in Q2 on higher freight charges
The shipping group is expected to post record profits in 2004, but freight rates may start to correct in 2005, say analysts

Neptune Orient Lines (NOL), the world's seventh-largest container shipping group, probably doubled quarterly profit as it moved more cargo at higher charges, fuelled by brisk trade with China, analysts said.

In the current second half, Singapore's biggest shipping group could post stronger results as freight rates rise in the peak third-quarter season, they added.

Freight rates have swelled in the last two years, supported by China's export boom and a tight supply of ships, benefiting NOL and other regional shipping lines.

But analysts expect freight rates to slip from next year as new vessels come on stream, possibly as early as 2006, and as China reins in its rapidly growing economy.

A Reuters poll of five analysts showed NOL is expected to post a 137 per cent rise in net profit to US$162 million in the quarter to June 25 from US$68.5 million a year earlier, with forecasts ranging between US$141 million and US$180 million.

Forecasts for second-quarter earnings nearly match the US$163.17 million net profit NOL made in the first quarter. The company is due to release second-quarter results on Tuesday.

NOL, which has a market value of S$3.4 billion, is expected to post a record net profit of S$1.01 billion for the full-year, according to the average forecast of 13 analysts polled by Reuters Estimates. That would be 38 per cent higher than 2003's net profit of US$428.8 million. Net profit in 2005 is expected to fall to S$965 million, the poll showed.

'The momentum for margin expansion is likely in our view to carry through only until this year's peak season,' said JP Morgan's Christopher Gee, who rates the stock 'underweight'. 'We anticipate a tougher outlook in 2005,' Mr Gee said in a client note, citing the accelerated deliveries of container vessels in the sector.

Mr Gee pencilled in a US$155 million second-quarter net profit, adding NOL's shares could be driven in the near-term by a maiden interim dividend, special payout or share buyback.

NOL shares have risen more than 7 per cent this year, outpacing Taiwan rivals Evergreen Marine Corp, whose shares dipped 12 per cent, and Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp, which has tumbled 16 per cent in the same period.

About two-thirds of NOL's revenues come from its container shipping arm APL, which has more than 90 container ships.

It moved nearly 20 per cent more cargo in the April 3 to June 25 quarter than a year earlier, while its average freight rates were about 5 per cent higher. APL's second-quarter rise in freight rates, however, was lower than the average 14 per cent year-on-year growth in the first quarter. - Reuters

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Business Times - 24 Jul 2004

CORPORATE ANALYSIS
Singapore's marine sector looking offshore for growth
Big players like SembCorp Marine, PSA tapping into China's rapid development
I was just thinking...will the political "crisis" result in the PSA-COSCO ties being affected?

Posted: 26 July 2004 2130 hrs

NOL charters 4 container ships from Japan's Mitsui & Co

SINGAPORE : Neptune Orient Lines says it is taking four post-Panamax container ships from Japan's Mitsui & Co on long term charters to meet growing demand for its services.

NOL Chairman Cheng Wai Keung said: "We have secured the ships at a long-term time charter rate of US$24,300 a day - rates comparable with those seen five years ago. In today's climate, when charter rates are so high, this is highly competitive."

The four ships, to be built in Japan, have a nominal capacity of 5,888 TEUs, or 20-feet equivalent units, and will be delivered in 2007 and 2008

A 6,200 TEU post-Panamax vessel currently costs around US$83 million, compared with US$60 million in 2002.

While saying the new vessels signal NOL's intention to grow its fleet over the long term to meet demand, the group's President and Chief Executive David Lim said there were no immediate plans to order supersized ships.

"It will make sense in the future to have larger ships in some trade lanes such as Asia-Europe, and we are likely to place orders down the line. But the size of ships we are chartering today will still be ideal and in use on key trade routes long into the future," he explained.

Freight rates have risen in the last two years, supported by China's export boom and a tight supply of ships, benefiting NOL and other regional shipping lines.

The chartered vessels will take the group's fleet of ships in the 5,000-6,000 TEU class to 16.

These vessels are known as the "workhorses" of the industry because of their large cargo-carrying capacity, speed and port infrastructure compatibility which allows them to be deployed in the Asia-Europe and Trans-Pacific trades. - CNA

August 04, 2004

Temasek in $2.8b cash bid for NOL

Mandatory offer hinges on enough acceptances to take stake past 50% by its close

By Chua Kong Ho

TEMASEK Holdings yesterday made a $2.8 billion cash bid to buy the remaining shares of Neptune Orient Lines that it does not already own at $2.80 a share.

The conditional cash offer comes just days after NOL reported better than expected net profit of US$186 million (S$316 million) for the second quarter ended June 25, a 172 per cent jump from the US$68 million for the corresponding period of last year.

Buoyed by high freight rates and strong demand, NOL shares have risen 25 per cent this year, the eighth-best performing stock on the benchmark Straits Times index.

Temasek’s offer price of $2.80, made through wholly owned subsidiary Lentor Investments, represents a 3.7 per cent premium to yesterday’s closing price of $2.70. The offer price exceeds the highest closing price of NOL shares since Jan 4, 1994.

Said Mrs Margaret Lui, Temasek managing director of strategic development: “We were interested to increase our shareholding above 30 per cent. Our mandatory conditional offer is an all-cash firm offer, conditional upon us receiving acceptances so as to cross 50 per cent (of total ownership) as at the close of the offer.”

Temasek’s stake in NOL was cut from 33 per cent to less than 30 per cent following a cash call by the shipping group in November, which raised $547.7 million through a placement of 236 million shares.

Since then, Temasek has been steadily buying NOL shares on the market.

Lentor Investments bought 20.3 million shares on the open market yesterday at prices between $2.50 and $2.68 a share, pushing Temasek’s shareholdings in NOL to 30.14 per cent.

Startree Investments, another wholly owned Temasek Holdings subsidiary, purchased 22.5 million shares on the open market at between $1.97 and $2.04 a share in 10 separate transactions in February and March.

Crossing the 30 per cent shareholding limit triggers a mandatory takeover offer under Singapore’s listing rules.

The shipping line has been benefitting from rising global freight rates, driven by demand from a booming China. NOL recently signed new charter agreements for the delivery of four container ships in 2007/08.

Goldman Sachs is advising Temasek on the offer.

Business Times - 11 Aug 2004

PSA's local volumes surge 12% in July

Jurong Port posts 141% jump in July throughput

By DONALD URQUHART

(SINGAPORE) Surging container volumes that brought unprecedented congestion to Singapore's terminals nearly two months ago showed little sign of abating in July as throughput volumes were again at near-record levels.

Volumes handled by PSA Corporation's five Singapore terminals amounted to 1.8 million TEUs for the month of July, up 12 per cent on the same month a year earlier, but shipping lines say the congestion problem is largely a thing of the past.

For the year to-date, PSA's local terminals have handled a total 11.7 million TEUs, up 14.7 per cent on the same period last year, according to its monthly statistics released yesterday. The July throughput figures are identical to June, during which PSA was hit with a massive surge of westbound volumes out of China and destined for Europe.

Singapore's other container terminal operator, Jurong Port also recorded healthy volume increases, with a July throughput of 53,000 TEUs, up nearly 141 per cent over the same period last year. June was a record-setting month at Jurong Port, with 56,000 TEUs handled compared with only 18,000 TEUs the year prior.

A Jurong Port spokesperson attributed the throughput increase to 'a surge in the general growth of container throughput in the region', but added that the port had not experienced any congestion problems as a result.

Year to-date throughput at Jurong Port amounted to 341,000 TEUs, nearly three times the 119,000 TEUs handled in the same period in 2003. The surging volumes out of North Asia, in particular China, have stretched the global container shipping and port industry to its limits, making spare container ship capacity as tight as a drum and bogging down key ports the world over.

While shipping lines were complaining of up to one-day berthing delays at PSA terminals here in June, added manpower and equipment, along with greater communication between shipping lines and the terminal operator, have largely returned the situation to normal.

PSA also threw its Pasir Panjang Terminal development into high gear, with three new berths to be operational next year, compared with the original plan for one berth in 2005. Two more will come on stream in 2006 bringing PSA's local capacity up to 24 million TEUs compared to the current 20-million TEU capacity.

Overseas, PSA's throughput at its 17 terminal ventures saw a 25.9 per cent rise for the first seven months this year, compared with the same period last year, hitting 7.3 million TEUs.

Overall, PSA handled a total of 19 million TEUs, up 18.8 per cent for the year to-date and looks set to significantly better the global container growth forecast by Drewry Shipping Consultants' of 8.2 per cent for 2004.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Business Times - 13 Aug 2004

Congestion delays linger at PSA's S'pore terminals

Labour problems in US and congestion in Europe add to peak-seasondelays here

By DONALD URQUHART

(SINGAPORE) Surging China volumes continue to strain port facilities around the globe with sporadic congestion delays still afflicting PSA Corporation's Singapore terminals, according to shipping lines.

This year's peak-season cargo volumes from Asia to the US and Europe which have resulted in record cargo throughput for container terminals here and across the region are likely to extend well into October, say shipping executives.

The peak-season volumes caught terminal operators off guard by arriving in full force in June, nearly one month early, and are now expected to remain strong beyond the normal tapering off period in September.

The surging Asia-to-Europe volumes brought nearly 17 per cent higher throughput - or about 10,000 additional containers - through PSA Corporation's local terminals each day during the first two weeks of June and made for 15 per cent higher throughput for the first seven months over last year.

Lines polled by Shipping Times yesterday reported varying degrees of congestion, ranging from no delays whatsoever, to improved but still significant delays at Singapore terminals. 'It is still not as we would like it to be - that is, for all our vessels to berth immediately upon arrival,' said one senior shipping executive of a major line.

Despite prompt and wide ranging action starting from June to address the unprecedented delays - of up to 24 hours at the peak - some lines told Shipping Times that their vessels are still experiencing delays of anywhere from two to 10 hours. 'They're struggling, really, to keep up with the situation, but it's still not up to the mark,' one feeder executive said.

The lines say the congestion crunch is particularly bad when a number of vessels from major strings simultaneously arrive. 'Those of us who have many sailings are paying a bit of a price,' added one liner executive.

The congestion has also become visible when surveying Singapore's coastline, with up to fifth generation, fully-laden container vessels periodically appearing for varying periods of time in far-flung anchorages.

Lines with a smaller number of sailings in which their vessel calls are more spread out and are fortunate enough not to be calling during the peak berthing windows may be escaping much of the congestion, suggest some liner executives as the reason not everyone is experiencing delays.

'I think they're doing the best they can, that's not to say we like the situation, but to some degree we have to be understanding,' said a senior executive of one of PSA's largest customers.

Some of the liner executives also highlighted that aside from surging volumes over-taxing Singapore's facilities, at least part of the problem is originating from other ports, including labour problems on the US West Coast and congestion problems in Europe.

'The vessels from Europe are coming back late which is throwing the schedules out of whack,' said one, adding: 'This is causing a snowball effect.'

Because of the delays, both here and at other ports, combined with many vessels sailing chock-a-block, mainlines are having to renominate their second carrier which is placing additional stress on the container yard.

Meanwhile, Malaysia's Transport Minister Chan Kong Choy offered to help ease congestion in Singapore through 'friendly cooperation'.

'We can help them in a friendly manner as we have the capacity to takeover the boxes,' Mr Chan said last week according to a Star online report.

But liner executives said it was largely impractical to do so because of the disruption it would cause to a line's network.

'Pelepas has two free berths but I don't see how it can be done in a very organised manner,' said one. 'We have a weave of connections from one of our vessels to another, and to other vessels like feeders and alliance partners, and you just can't say let's pull out two strings and go to another port temporarily.'

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

AUG 16, 2004
China overtakes S'pore as favourite ship repair centre
Shipping boom triggered by huge import of iron ore and oil may mean it could one day displace the Republic in the business

By Tschang Chi-chu

NANTONG (Jiangsu) - Since January, Cosco (Nantong) Shipyard, has turned away roughly 15 per cent of the ships that have come to its shipyard at the mouth of the Yangtze River for repairs.

'Turning away our old customers is the hardest thing for us to do,' said Mr Chen Denghua, general manager of Cosco, whose customers include shipping giants A.P. Moller-Maersk Group, Hyundai Shipping and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ('K' Line).

But Cosco is not alone in turning away customers.

Other ship repair yards in China have also been doing so lately due to the cyclical rebound in the shipping industry starting last spring.

In the late 1990s, during Singapore's heyday as the world's largest ship repair hub, it also turned away customers.

Now, China has displaced Singapore as the favoured ship repair centre in Asia.

The so-called 'China factor' has been credited with igniting the shipping industry's current boom as China imported record amounts of iron ore and oil since 2002.

The Baltic Dry Index (BDI), an indicator of the price of transporting major raw materials by sea, hit a new record high of 5,681 last February due to China's ravenous demand for dry bulk imports such as iron ore and soya bean.

But after Beijing began cracking down in April on over-investment in the steel, cement and real estate industries, the BDI dropped by more than 1,000 points in a month to a more reasonable level.

'Repair is picking up worldwide because the freight rates have come down a little bit.

'When freight rates are up, everybody wants to take their ship out there to collect cargo,' said Mr Wong Kok Siew, CEO of SembCorp Industries.

Every three years, bulk carriers, container ships and oil tankers need to visit a dry dock for checkups and general repairs as required by their insurers.

But more and more cargo ships, especially big ships whose repairs cost more, are going to repair yards in China rather than in Singapore.

'Because of cheaper cost, many ships come to China for repairing now. Every shipyard in China is full of ships,' said Mr Liu Chin Peng, senior general manager of Jurong Shipyard.

Due to low labour costs, shipyards in China can do the same repair work 30 per cent cheaper than it would cost in Singapore.

China's docks, which used to service only Chinese ships, opened their doors to ships from around the world in 1996.

'The writing is on the wall that one day, no doubt about it, China will be the leading nation for ship repair,' said Mr Charles Foo, special projects managing director at Keppel Offshore & Marine.

'China has so many yards in terms of capacity...and obviously in terms of manpower, they have unlimited source of manpower compared to Singapore.'

To survive the competition, Singapore shipyards have moved up the value chain to the more lucrative ship conversion and floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel repair businesses.

FPSO has accounted for a growing slice of Singapore's marine industry revenues at the expense of ship repair and conversion in the past several years, according to the Association of Singapore Marine Industries.

This may give Singapore a cushion for now, but it may not last long.

As China's ravenous appetite for oil grows, oil companies such as China National Offshore Oil Corp and PetroChina have been scouring seas surrounding China for oil.

'There are a lot of oil-prospecting ships, oil tankers and storage ships working in the South China Sea. These ships will eventually need to be repaired, which will bring us some business opportunities,' said Cosco's general manager.

It won a bid to repair a PetroChina oil-prospecting ship working in the East China Sea for the first time in its 43-year history this year.

To fill the gaps of knowledge, Cosco's parent firm has tied up with Singapore shipyards that have experience in repairing offshore oil exploration and development ships and platforms.

Cosco Shipyard Group signed an agreement to sell a 30 per cent stake in its ship repair business to SembCorp Marine on July 19.

In exchange, China's largest shipyard group will get SembCorp Marine's know-how and experience in offshore oil rig repair.

Cosco's Dalian and Nantong shipyards have each sent eight people to Jurong Shipyard for training.

Given China's thirst for learning, there may come a day soon when the student will overtake the teacher.

When asked whether China could also displace Singapore's forte in high-end, niche markets such as oil tanker and liquefied natural gas ships by the end of this decade, Jurong Shipyard's Mr Liu answered with a nervous laugh:

'That's what many Singaporeans worry about too.'

Copyright @ 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

Business Times - 23 Aug 2004

PSA tipped to take stake in business of Pelepas port

Source says partnership could result in PSA moving some container trade to Johor port

(KUALA LUMPUR) Speculation is growing stronger that Singapore's PSA Corp will take a stake in the business of its competitor, the Port of Tanjung Pelepas in Johor.

Quoting an unnamed industry source, the Malaysian Star newspaper reported on Saturday that PSA Corp would buy into a subsidiary of PTP, a partnership that would result in PSA moving some container trade to Pelepas. Star said PSA would be invited to take a stake in an almost completed two-berth expansion of PTP, rather than the whole port.

'It makes sense for PSA to take up a stake as it now spends millions on subsidies after having (to) slash its rates,' the source said.

The four-year-old PTP is controlled by Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary, an influential Malaysian businessman who also controls Johor Port as well as a broad array of businesses from power stations to hotels.

Danish shipping line Maersk Sealand, which moved its transhipment hub to Pelepas from Singapore, has a 30 per cent stake in PTP.

Also on the cards for PTP is a merger with Johor Port and an initial public offering of shares, although Mr Mokhtar's Malaysia Mining Corp would retain control with a 51 per cent stake, the source said. The latest talk of cooperation between the rival Singapore and Malaysian ports follows earlier press speculation of stake sales of some sort by Pelepas.

Responding to the speculation, Second Finance Minister Jamaludin Jarjis had said last year that he welcomed the possibility of the leading port operators forging an alliance. 'If there are opportunities for them to create alliances, it is for them to decide,' he was reported as saying.

For the first half of the year, PTP reported a 25 per cent jump in volume to two million 20-ft boxes. PSA handled 9.9 million boxes in Singapore in the same period, up 15 per cent from a year earlier.

Globally, PSA handled 16.1 million boxes in the first half, up 19 per cent. The Singapore operator has investments in port projects in Belgium, Brunei, China, India, Italy, Portugal, South Korea and Thailand. - Reuters

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Business Times - 24 Aug 2004

Up to PSA to decide on M'sian port deal, says Temasek

PSA to be invited to take a stake in 2-berth expansion of PTP: report

By EDDIE TOH
IN KUALA LUMPUR

SINGAPORE investment company Temasek Holdings will let subsidiary PSA Corporation decide whether it would take a stake in the second phase of rival Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) in Malaysia.

'This is a decision for the PSA board and management to take as we are not involved in the investment and business decisions of the Temasek-linked companies,' Temasek spokeswoman Eva Ho said in a written reply to BT yesterday.

On another question on whether Temasek itself would take a stake in the port in Johor, she said: 'As for Temasek, we have stated before that we are open to opportunities which make economic sense.' She declined to elaborate.

PSA said it does not comment on market speculation, while PTP declined to respond to queries yesterday.

This is the first time Temasek has commented on the possibility of an alliance between the two rival ports.

BT reported last August that Temasek and Malaysian tycoon Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary's privately held Seaport Terminal had high-level meetings to find ways for the two ports to forge an alliance. Seaport is a PTP shareholder.

Since then, the market has been rife with talk that PSA or Temasek would acquire a stake in the second phase of PTP.

But a source said PTP has added a condition that PSA must shut down some of its existing berths and divert the cargo to the Malaysian port. The condition is believed to have strained negotiations.

The rumour resurfaced last week. Star newspaper quoted unnamed sources as saying that PSA would be invited to take a stake in an almost completed two-berth expansion of PTP, rather than the whole port.

'It makes sense for PSA to take up a stake as it now spends millions on subsidies after having to slash its rates,' the source said.

The Malaysian daily quoted the source as saying that such a deal would help retain the current shareholding structure of PTP, which is en route for a public listing.

Malaysia Mining Corporation (MMC) owns 50.1 per cent of PTP. Danish AP Moller-Maersk group, which migrated from PSA's port to PTP four years ago, owns 30 per cent. The remaining 19.9 per cent is controlled by Seaport. Syed Mokhtar is also the biggest controlling shareholder of MMC with a 40 per cent stake.

The two ports have continued to enjoy brisk business despite their intense rivalry.

For the first half of the year, PTP saw a 25 per cent jump in volume to two million 20-ft boxes. PSA handled 9.9 million containers in Singapore in the same period, up 15 per cent from a year earlier. Globally, PSA handled 16.1 million boxes in the first half, up 19 per cent.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Business Times - 26 Aug 2004

SINGAPORE
PSA, PTP may be in talks: envoy

Speculation rife that PSA may take a stake in PTP

SPECULATION that Singapore's PSA Corp is in talks to take a stake in rival Malaysia's Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) gained momentum yesterday when Kuala Lumpur's envoy here said that he also believed the two have been talking.

High Commissioner N Parameswaran told a luncheon meeting of the Foreign Correspondents' Association yesterday that 'there is talk in the air about discussions between PTP and PSA which I would not completely preclude.'

Later, he said he understood talks were taking place.

Malaysia's The Star newspaper reported recently that PSA would be invited to take a stake in a two-berth expansion of PTP, which fuelled the speculation, but the Singapore terminal operator yesterday continued with its oft-repeated stand of 'not commenting on market speculations' when asked about the envoy's remarks.

On Tuesday, BT reported that PSA's parent company Temasek Holdings said it would let its subsidiary decide on such matters.

'This is a decision for the PSA board and management to take as we are not involved in the investment and business decisions of the Temasek-linked companies,' said Temasek spokeswoman Eva Ho.

On another question whether Temasek itself would take a stake in the port in Johor, she said: 'As for Temasek, we have stated before that we are open to opportunities which make economic sense.'

Rivalry was rife between PTP and PSA ever since the Malaysian port appeared on the scene in 2000.

Controlled by Malaysian tycoon Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary, who also owns the Johor Port, the Malaysian port's cheaper rates put PSA on the defensive, prompting it to keep its customers happy here by offering rebates and discounts.

However, bilateral relations between Malaysia and Singapore have improved when Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi took over from Mahathir Mohamad.

A subsequent improvement of relations has encouraged more collaborative economic activity between the neighbours and a new, working relationship between the two ports cannot be ruled out.

The booming East-West container trade has seen both PTP and PSA reporting record increases in their throughput volumes.

Last month, PTP reported a 25 per cent jump in containers handled in the first half of the year to 2 million TEUs (20-ft equivalent units), while PSA reported a 15 per cent hike to 9.9 million TEUs from last year.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Business Times - 27 Aug 2004

PSA loses another shipping line - to Jurong Port this time

UASC to use Jurong Port as its container transhipment hub from Sunday

By DONALD URQUHART

(SINGAPORE) PSA Corporation has lost its third mainline container carrier in four years. But this time it's Singapore's Jurong Port - not the Malaysian Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) - that is reaping the benefit.

Mainline carrier United Arab Shipping Co (UASC) will begin using Jurong Port as its container transhipment hub from Sunday after negotiations for a new terminal services deal with PSA collapsed recently.

The Kuwait-based line will start with a bang. Three of its ships - the 3,800 TEU (20-foot container) Al Mutanabbi and Al Noof from its Asia-Europe Container Service, and the 1,200 TEU Al Wattyah, on an ad hoc call - start calling on Sunday.

Word of the move began spreading after an industry reception hosted by Jurong Port earlier this week, although no official announcement has been made.

Speaking to BT yesterday, UASC regional commercial manager David Skillen confirmed the move, saying the decision to shift to Jurong was based on 'a variety of issues', including tailor-made services at the smaller facility.

It wasn't a result of surging volume that has created periodic congestion at PSA's terminals here since early June, he said, adding that this isn't a long-term issue.

'Obviously, we are a big fish in a small pond at Jurong, but at PSA our volumes are not that significant,' he said.

'There were also some contractual issues,' Mr Skillen said, without elaborating. But industry sources told BT that UASC had been unhappy with the 'inflexible tariffs' offered by PSA in a new terminal services agreement.

UASC then found in Jurong Port a better alternative with more competitive rates, and took the offer back to PSA without saying where it originated.

The industry sources say it was likely that PSA assumed the offer had been made by PTP. PSA subsequently declined to meet or beat the offer UASC had in hand, and the carrier gave PSA notice that it would shift.

UASC's departure appears reminiscent of the tensions surrounding Maersk Sealand's dramatic move from PSA to PTP in 2000, followed by Evergreen Marine Corp in 2002.

Meanwhile, Mr Skillen declined to say what volume UASC moves through Singapore, but the line is ranked the world's 23rd largest carrier by capacity and has four of its six weekly service strings calling at Singapore.

Industry sources have estimated its annual volume in Singapore to be around 50,000 TEU, but when pressed on this, Mr Skillen would only say: 'PSA won't miss us much.'

Another senior shipping executive said: 'With full to overflowing terminals here, PSA need not be interested in the small fry. When making a big haul, some of the small fry can slip through the net.

'After all, as far as Singapore is concerned, in this case it's like going from the left pocket to the right.'

On whether UASC considered moving to PTP, Mr Skillen said that although the Malaysian port had demonstrated it could deliver the efficiency, the lack of equipment on its recently finished berth expansion and limited connections meant the time wasn't right for such a move.

'I don't see that a third party at PTP would receive very good service, which is currently dominated by Maersk and Evergreen,' he said. 'We would come in as the younger brother.'

With Jurong Port committed to transporting UASC's transhipment cargo from PSA's terminals to its facilities - otherwise known as 'inter-gateway container haulage' - UASC's feeder network and alliance partners, Senator and Hanjin, will continue to call at PSA.

For up-and-coming Jurong Port, the new mainline customer will be a crucial boost, adding to the volume generated by a handful of feeder lines and main lines that include New Econ Line, Gold Star Line and Zim Israel Navigation Company.

At end-July, throughput at Jurong Port had jumped three times year-on-year to 341,000 TEUs, from 119,000 TEUs handled in the same period in 2003.

Volume handled by PSA Corporation's five Singapore terminals in the same period was 11.7 million TEUs, up 14.7 per cent from the year before.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Business Times - 02 Sep 2004

Slow pace of development worsens port congestion

Analysts expect the problem to linger as Asian volumes to West may rise 16% in 2004

By DONALD URQUHART

(SINGAPORE) Congestion in the world's main container hubs - a result of surging China exports - is likely to be a nagging problem for a number of years as costly port development struggles to keep up with trade and shipping industry growth, say analysts.

China's massive container cargo bonanza, while giving lines perhaps their best year ever, is exposing the serious inadequacies in container facilities around the world.

Asian container volumes to the US and Europe may rise about 16 per cent in 2004, over the previous year, compared to global growth forecasts of about 8 per cent, according to recent data from London-based Drewry Shipping Consultants.

Analysts say the industry has no choice but to bear with the slow pace of terminal capacity expansion in places like Europe and North America.

'The capital needs for debottlenecking these things are bigger than any one company,' said DBS Vickers Research associate director Chris Sanda. 'Like ships, I think ports are going to have to evolve slowly and congestion issues are going to persist and be nagging issues for industry - not crippling, but a nagging pain.'

Like the shipping industry, port development also moves in phases, he said, but typically it is much slower to react and by the time it does, congestion has already set in.

Led by China and India, Asia is forecast to handle 206.7 million TEUs, including 64 million TEUs in transhipment by 2011. This will require large investments in the range of US$30 billion to create new port facilities, including over 400 new container berths just to meet the level of demand in Asia alone.

Indeed, the signs of this were evident from early June when surging westbound cargo flows brought uncharacteristic congestion to Singapore's PSA Corporation terminals and through parts of June, July and sporadically into August.

On the US West Coast, congestion set in not only at the key gateways of Los Angeles and Long Beach, but all along the West Coast up to and including Vancouver.

While moving rapidly to remedy the situation at its five terminals here from June, PSA was equally quick to point out that surging China volumes were not only overwhelming the ramparts here, but also storming the container fortresses of Europe.

Chronic congestion has set in across Europe's main container hubs with delays ranging anywhere from hours to days.

Rotterdam, for instance, has experienced delays of up to 24 hours following a 13 per cent jump in cargo volumes in the first half this year over last.

Likewise, at the Belgium port of Antwerp - where PSA International has terminal ventures - cargo volumes jumped nearly 15 per cent over the same period, resulting in trucks carrying containers for the various terminals queuing up for days, according to Reuters. Terminals there are also said to be losing up to 12,000 containers a week to neighbouring Rotterdam.

'We see an unprecedented boom in traffic and it's mainly caused by the enormous imports from China and migration of manufacturing businesses from Western Europe to China,' said Rotterdam port spokesperson Sjaak Poppe, according to Reuters.

'Unless there is a sudden levelling off in the volume of imports from China, Europe's major ports are going to be in chaos,' warned Wout Pronk, managing director of Rotterdam-based shortsea operator Geest North Sea Line, in the report.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Business Times - 04 Sep 2004

PSA to add 10 berths to cope with surging cargo volumes

New berths at Pasir Panjang will help ease congestion

By VEN SREENIVASAN

(SINGAPORE) In a further move to ease the extreme pressure building up on its facilities as a result of surging volumes, PSA has decided to build 10 more berths at its Pasir Panjang Terminal over the next five to seven years.

PSA chairman Stephen Lee announced this at PSA's International Advisory Council meeting yesterday.

The 10 berths are on top of the five that PAS has already commissioned under its fast-tracking programme several months ago. The 10 berths, spread over 130 ha of land, will add more than 3 km of quay length at PSA's Pasir Panjang port.

The decision to add 15 new berths has been prompted by a sharp surge in container volumes at Singapore's biggest port this year which has put a strain on the port's facilities, led to sporadic congestion, and lengthened ship turnaround times in the last few months.

The surging volume has been due to a flood of Asia-to-Europe cargoes out of North Asia and China. And this has been exacerbated by the early arrival of the peak season, which has resulted in record cargo throughput for container terminals at PSA and across the region.

During the first seven months of this year, PSA's five local terminals handled 11.7 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), up almost 15 per cent over the same period last year.

Last year, it handled a record throughput of 18.41 million TEUs, 8.7 per cent up from 2002's 16.9 million TEUs. And with a record 986.4 million gross tonnes handled, it retained its top spot as the world's busiest port in terms of gross tonnage last year. And this was in spite of a 5.2 per cent drop in vessel calls. Industry insiders say the occasional congestion may have been a factor prompting some shipping operators to divert their vessels to other ports.

Ten services decided to move away from PSA this year, the latest being Kuwait-based United Arab Shipping Co, which moved its hub operations to PSA's local rival, Jurong Port. Analysts expect the tight conditions to extend into the final quarter of the year.

London-based Drewry Shipping Consultants, for example, predicts Asian container volumes to the US and Europe to rise about 16 per cent in 2004, over the previous year, compared with global growth forecasts of about 8 per cent.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Business Times - 07 Sep 2004

S&P affirms its top AAA long-term rating for PSA

It says management policy is the most significant concern in the medium term

By VEN SREENIVASAN

(SINGAPORE) Standard & Poor's Ratings Services yesterday affirmed its top 'AAA' long-term rating on PSA Corporation, while pointing out that in the medium term 'management policy' would be the most significant concern.

Saying that PSA Corp's business position is 'solid' though there is intense competition from regional ports, S&P's credit analyst for Corporate and Infrastructure Ratings group, Ee-Lin Tan, pointed out that 'like many Singapore government-linked entities, the PSA Group is increasingly focused on delivering higher shareholder value, which could lead to the adoption of more aggressive financial policies'.

S&P's outlook for PSA is stable. The rating on PSA Corp is tied to the credit quality of the overall PSA group, which is held by PSA International Pte Ltd, S&P said in a statement yesterday.

PSA Corp's Singapore port operations account for the bulk of the group's assets and cashflows.

The rating also took into account PSA group's strong finances, its geographic diversity through its overseas operations, as well as its strategic importance to the Singapore government.

S&P noted that PSA enjoyed a robust financial position, with funds from operations (FFO) of about $1 billion last year. And despite its aggressive capital expenditure programme, S&P does not see the ratio of FFO to net debt sinking below the 50 per cent level. Its gearing, in terms of net debt to net capital, is expected to stay below 40 per cent over the medium term.

'Group liquidity is strong,' Ms Tan noted. 'At Dec 31, 2003, total cash of $1.5 billion was more than sufficient to cover short-term debt of $209 million, and US$500 million notes due in August 2005.'

Last week, PSA chairman Stephen Lee announced that the world's busiest container port would build 10 more berths at its Pasir Panjang Terminal over the next five to seven years. The 10 berths are in addition to the five that PSA has already commissioned under its fast-tracking programme several months ago.

During the first seven months of this year, PSA's five local terminals handled 11.7 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), up almost 15 per cent over the same period last year.

Last year, it handled a record throughput of 18.41 million TEUs, 8.7 per cent up from 2002's 16.9 million TEUs. And with a record 986.4 million gross tonnes handled, it retained its top spot as the world's busiest port in terms of gross tonnage last year. And this was in spite of a 5.2 per cent drop in vessel calls.

Earlier this year, S&P's rival ratings agency, Moody's Investor's Service, upgraded PSA Corp's debt rating by one notch to the highest level, AAA. Moody's ratings boost followed a corporate restructuring in which PSA Corp moved its riskier international business to a holding company.

Moody's, which previously had a 'Aa1' rating for PSA Corp, said that the port operators' outlook for the rating was stable.

The upgrade was also widely regarded as a pat on the back for PSA Corp's adoption of more flexible policies which has enabled it to retain customers amid what Moody's described as 'fierce' competition.

PSA has undergone intense reviews and operational restructurings in the last year following the loss of two key customers - Mearsk and Evergreen - to a smaller rival, Malaysia's Port of Tanjung Pelepas.

Among others, the measures taken to strengthen the company included deepening its partnership with customers through customised contracts to meet their different requirements. It also segmented its markets and introduced appropriate incentives for users, and consolidated its feeder network through closer cooperation with operators.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Time is GMT + 8 hours
Posted: 07 September 2004 1620 hrs

PSA confirms it has been shortlisted for CSX bid
By Chan Hwa Loon, Channel NewsAsia

SINGAPORE : Port operator PSA International has confirmed that it has been shortlisted as a bidder for CSX Corp's global container terminal network.

CSX Corp is the third largest US railroad company.

It owns CSX World Terminals, the third largest container terminal operator in Hong Kong, after Hutchison and Modern Terminals.

CSX Corp is selling its CSX World Terminals to raise money to upgrade its US rail network.

Others shortlisted for the bid are Hong Kong's Whampoa, Wharf Holdings and an unidentified Chinese company.

CSX Corp's sale includes two container terminals in Hong Kong and terminals in the northern Chinese port of Tianjin, Vladivostock in Russia and others in South America and Germany.

It is also selling rights to build terminals in Qingdao, eastern China and Busan in South Korea.

CSX has lost business in Hong Kong to Hutchison and Modern Terminals. - CNA

Copyright © 2004 MCN International Pte Ltd

Business Times - 09 Sep 2004

PSA Int'l stokes its expansion drive

Report says it will bid for six new berths at Thailand's Laem Chabang Port

By DONALD URQUHART

(SINGAPORE) Hot on the expansion trail seemingly on all fronts, PSA International is one of three international groups bidding for a 30-year concession - worth 100 billion baht (S$4.1 billion) in revenue - to build and operate six new berths at Thailand's Laem Chabang Port.

On Tuesday it emerged that the globally-ambitious PSA Group had been short-listed to bid for the terminal assets of US-based CSX Corporation. Among CSX's far-flung terminals are some plum facilities in Hong Kong and China which would significantly bolster PSA's current China network.

The Laem Chabang project, meanwhile, has attracted three bidding groups, after eleven had purchased bidding documents, according to a report in the Thai newspaper, The Nation.

According to the report, PSA has partnered Thai companies Singa-Thai, Bangkok Success and Meechai Planner (Thailand).

While confirming that it had been short-listed for the CSX bid, PSA declined to comment on the Nation report when queried by BT. The other two groups reportedly bidding for the Laem Chabang project are Hutchison Port Holdings, along with Lexton (Thailand); and Thai-listed feeder line RCL Group, along with the Dubai Ports Authority.

The winning group will be required to invest 20 billion baht to construct the berths which must be incrementally ready for operation between 2006 and 2014, according to the report.

The next step in the process will be a review of the three group's technical submissions on Sept 15.

PSA has been operating at the Laem Chabang facility since it invested in Eastern Sea Laem Chabang Terminal Co Ltd (Esco) which operates Container Terminals B-1 and B-3, in April 2003.

On its core Singapore business, PSA announced on Friday it will build 10 new berths here within seven years to cope with surging volumes that have resulted in delays for shipping lines since early June. These berths are in addition to the fast-tracking of the development of five berths which was announced in July.

Those surging volumes, a result of the buoyant global economy which is fuelling exports from China to Europe and North America, show little sign of abating with PSA reporting yesterday that it handled 16 per cent more containers in August compared to a year ago.

PSA handled 2.9 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) in August globally, compared with 2.5 million a year earlier. For the first eight months this year, PSA handled a global total of 21.9 million TEUs, up 18 per cent over the same period 2003.

At its Singapore terminals, PSA saw a 13 per cent rise in volumes in August, with 1.8 million TEUs moved compared with the year-earlier 1.6 million.

Its international terminals recorded a 22 per cent rise, handling 1.1 million TEUs compared with 0.9 million in August 2003.

For the first eight months, PSA's Singapore volumes rose 14 per cent to 13.5 million TEUs while its overseas volumes rose 25 per cent to 8.4 million TEUs.

Singapore's only other container terminal operator, Jurong Port, said earlier this week that it had handled more than twice the number of containers in August than in the same period a year earlier.

Jurong Port handled 56,000 containers, matching its June record, compared with 23,000 in August 2003. For the first eight months this year, Jurong Port handled 397,000 TEUs, up from 164,000 last year.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Business Times - 13 Sep 2004

S'pore refineries running at near full capacity

By RONNIE LIM

(SINGAPORE) Singapore refineries are back with a vengeance and running at almost full capacity - way up from half this level or less not too long ago. And healthy margins have fuelled preliminary interest in multi-million dollar greenfield and upgrading projects.

Most oil majors here say they have no plans to build new plant, but new entrants cannot be ruled out. And existing players like Singapore Refining Company (SRC) and Shell have upgrading projects on the drawing board.

SRC chief executive Tony Anderson told BT the company plans to upgrade its refinery - 50:50 owned by Singapore Petroleum and Caltex - to produce petrol and diesel containing less sulphur and benzene to meet growing regional demand for cleaner automotive fuels.

SRC plans to invest US$20-40 million over the next 3-4 years to upgrade its hydro-treating plant and reformer to do this. 'We are planning the projects right now and expect to start work next year,' Mr Anderson said.

Regional countries are moving to enforce stricter emission standards for such fuels, and refiners here, as well as others in Japan and South Korea, are modernising plants to cater to this trend. Singapore is also moving to introduce lower-sulphur Euro IV standards for diesel by October 2006.

Shell spokesman Foo Hsu-Yi said: 'We are already able to meet the Euro IV diesel specifications and our Bukom refinery is supplying Hong Kong.

Shell has plans to invest to augment the capability of its Bukom refinery to produce the necessary quantities of Euro IV diesel to meet the needs of the local market by the deadline.'

This year's turnaround comes after 'the overhang of surplus regional capacity has shrunk, mainly as a result of Chinese demand', an oil executive said.

Another source said: 'This is a business that has been through a very tough five years. It's still early days but there's hope that the outlook is improving with increased demand. (New) investments may target areas such as improved fuel quality specifications or niche opportunities.'

On the outlook for the rest of 2004, the source said: 'Refinery margins in Asia are expected to soften but remain reasonable.' Another industry official said margins here are starting to come off a little because Chinese demand, though still strong, is slowing.

Merrill Lynch expects Asian refining margins to stay healthy this year and next due to strong regional demand and limited new capacity. Asian demand is expected to grow 600,000-760,000 barrels per day (bpd) over the next three years - but only 60,000-400,000 bpd of refining capacity will be added, it said.

In the longer term, Merrill Lynch reckons one million bpd of new Asian capacity is likely to be added between 2004 and 2006, with 1.11 million bpd in 2007 alone, which could then put pressure on margins.

'If margins stay high, there is the possibility of refineries here opting for upgrading projects,' an analyst said, adding it is cheaper to upgrade plants at costs ranging from US$1 to US$5,000 a barrel than to build new plant at US$10,000-$15,000 a barrel.

But Ong Eng Tong, who represents German oil company Mabanaft, sees competition from capacity coming up in China and India.

Singapore has 1.3 million bpd of refining capacity, with Exxon-Mobil accounting for 580,000 bpd, Shell 430,000 bpd and SRC 285,000 bpd.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Business Times - 13 Sep 2004

Use S'pore as launch pad for Asia, Yeo urges marine insurers

Republic already the Asian base for int'l shipping, trading firms

By GEORGE JOSEPH

(SINGAPORE) Singapore made a strong case to the international marine insurance community yesterday to use the Republic as the launch pad for marine insurers into Asia.

Making the stand for Singapore was Transport Minister Yeo Cheow Tong, who said that one of the country's strengths laid in the fact that it was already the Asian base for major international shipping and trading companies.

He added that over 40 major shipping companies controlling some 1,000 vessels are under the Approved International Shipping Enterprise Scheme, benefiting from tax and other concessions.

The minister made his pitch for a slice of the US$14 billion industry as the largest gathering of marine insurers descended on Singapore for their annual conference.

The International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) has been the forum for the marine insurance world since 1874 and after Japan, Singapore is only the second in Asia to host its annual conference.

Singapore has identified marine insurance as a key maritime ancillary service that it intends to grow, and attracting the conference was part of the lobbying of the European-dominated marine insurance community to look at more operations here.

Speaking at a welcoming reception last night in the historic civic centre's Asian Civilisations Museum, Mr Yeo said the rise in trade brought about by the rapid economic growth of especially China and India will ensure that Asia has a bigger role to play in the marine insurance sector.

He cited the 'strengths' that made him optimistic that this 'phenomenon' was happening, including the fact that 12 of the top 20 container lines in the world are Asian.

Asian shipowners control some 40 per cent of the world's merchant fleet and Asia is the home to the top six container ports, and has the world's largest shipbuilders.

International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates indicate that Asia is forecast to grow by 7 per cent this year, faster than that of any other region in the world.

'Service providers eager for a slice of Asia's growth would do well to pro-actively look at setting up a base in this region to serve the growing Asian market,' said Mr Yeo.

For marine insurers, a foothold in Asia would also mean getting closer to their customers, providing them better service nearer their home bases and within the same time zones.

It will also enable them to better understand the diverse business cultures and practices within Asia and the differing stages of economic development among the various countries.

The Singapore government on its part provides strong support for the maritime industry and in the next phase of development of its reputed port facilities, a comprehensive cluster of shore-based maritime services will be built up.

The emphasis here is to make Singapore more than just a place to tranship goods or buy bunkers and supplies, Mr Yeo said.

'We want to create value and be a one-stop shop for shippers, shipowners and shipping lines, so that all their needs can be met here,' the minister assured.

The four-day annual conference, jointly organised by the General Insurance Association of Singapore, has brought close to 800 delegates, spouses and others to Singapore. IUMI represents 53 national insurance associations.

The Singapore Maritime Foundation, a private sector led group that promotes Singapore as a maritime centre, will help Singapore-based insurance executives and business people to network with the visiting delegates at a reception tomorrow at the Raffles City Convention Centre.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Business Times - 13 Sep 2004

Draw local investors to develop hull market

Region's shipowners shouldn't rely on Europe: insurer

(SINGAPORE) More local companies and businessmen should be attracted into investing in the marine hull insurance market here if this insurance sector is to develop and support Singapore as an international maritime centre.

Local broker and insurer Richard Loo thinks it is time a small group of Singaporean investors is brought together to fund an insurance market to serve shipowners here and in the region, and not rely soley on the European markets.

The sector here faces two major difficulties: globally, the marine hull insurance business has had very bad times with high loss ratios (claims to premiums collected) and the big underwriting markets are all in the US and Europe.

With the major marine hull insurance markets only begining to turn the corner after years of losses, it is timely to create markets in Asia so that the region's shipowners have an insurer closer to home.

In the past three years, most of the international groups were underwriting deficits, ranging from 10 per cent to as high as 40 per cent, before taking investment income into account.

Some of the big insurance players are pulling out from the marine hull market or substantially cutting back on capacity, and underwriters are expected to take a harder line towards rates at next renewals, Mr Loo told BT in an interview.

Emphasising the lack of insurance capacity in the Singapore market, he said it is difficult to write marine hull insurance of above $80 million (say, for a very large crude carrier VLCC) locally.

The global marine insurance market produced a total of US$14 billion in premium revenue annually and out of that hull premium was worth US$4 billion.

The main companies operating here are subsidiaries of the big players and are 'dictated' by their overseas principals on what they can accept to underwrite. So shipowners have no alternative but to go to the major markets of US and Europe, he added.

Mr Loo also feels that when underwriters are closer to their markets, they achieve better results.

'I must add that the Singapore marine insurance underwriting results are satisfactory.'

The combined loss ratio for cargo and hull of the Singapore marine insurance underwriting companies are performing better than two of the major marine markets in Europe - Lloyd's and Central Union of Marine Underwriters of Norway.

'However, the number of companies involved in marine hull underwriting is very limited. It is not easy to attract more marine underwriters to write hull insurance or to set up new outfits in this market.

'Perhaps, one of the best ways is to interest local and regional investors to fund and invest in this business in Singapore. Then, the most suitable marine underwriters can be picked to head such projects,' he said.

Mr Loo who is chief executive officer of L C H (S) Pte Ltd, is also a member of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore's Working Group on Co-operation in the Maritime Industry.

Singapore has tax breaks in place to promote the marine insurance industry, in particular to encourage professional reinsurers and captives to set up operations here to write offshore business.

A concessionary tax rate of 10 per cent can be granted to insurance companies on income derived from underwriting profits of offshore insurance business, as well as non-Singapore dividends, realised capital gains and interest, including interest on Asian Currency Unit deposits, derived from investing offshore premium income and shareholders' funds used to support the offshore insurance business.

Tax exemptions are also granted to encourage all general direct insurance and reinsurance companies, including P&I clubs, in Singapore to tap the insurance potential of the shipping communities in the Asia Pacific region.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Business Times - 04 Sep 2004

PSA to add 10 berths to cope with surging cargo volumes

New berths at Pasir Panjang will help ease congestion

By VEN SREENIVASAN

(SINGAPORE) In a further move to ease the extreme pressure building up on its facilities as a result of surging volumes, PSA has decided to build 10 more berths at its Pasir Panjang Terminal over the next five to seven years.

PSA chairman Stephen Lee announced this at PSA's International Advisory Council meeting yesterday.

The 10 berths are on top of the five that PAS has already commissioned under its fast-tracking programme several months ago. The 10 berths, spread over 130 ha of land, will add more than 3 km of quay length at PSA's Pasir Panjang port.

The decision to add 15 new berths has been prompted by a sharp surge in container volumes at Singapore's biggest port this year which has put a strain on the port's facilities, led to sporadic congestion, and lengthened ship turnaround times in the last few months.

The surging volume has been due to a flood of Asia-to-Europe cargoes out of North Asia and China. And this has been exacerbated by the early arrival of the peak season, which has resulted in record cargo throughput for container terminals at PSA and across the region.

During the first seven months of this year, PSA's five local terminals handled 11.7 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), up almost 15 per cent over the same period last year.

Last year, it handled a record throughput of 18.41 million TEUs, 8.7 per cent up from 2002's 16.9 million TEUs. And with a record 986.4 million gross tonnes handled, it retained its top spot as the world's busiest port in terms of gross tonnage last year. And this was in spite of a 5.2 per cent drop in vessel calls. Industry insiders say the occasional congestion may have been a factor prompting some shipping operators to divert their vessels to other ports.

Ten services decided to move away from PSA this year, the latest being Kuwait-based United Arab Shipping Co, which moved its hub operations to PSA's local rival, Jurong Port. Analysts expect the tight conditions to extend into the final quarter of the year.

London-based Drewry Shipping Consultants, for example, predicts Asian container volumes to the US and Europe to rise about 16 per cent in 2004, over the previous year, compared with global growth forecasts of about 8 per cent.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.
I didnt notice this news until now. That is quite a substaintial expansion I have to say the least! :eek:

Business Times - 17 Sep 2004

Sumitomo decision on Saudi or Singapore venture by next June

By RONNIE LIM

(SINGAPORE) Singapore will know by June next year - earlier than expected - whether Japan's Sumitomo Chemical will opt to join a US$4.3 billion Saudi petrochemical project instead of partnering a billion-dollar cracker scheme here. A senior Saudi official told BT yesterday that Saudi Arabia will decide the next steps on its giant project in June, which could have the effect of bringing forward Sumitomo's decision by at least six months.

'The joint feasibility study with Sumitomo Chemical is ongoing and scheduled to be completed by the second quarter of 2005.

'The results will determine the next steps to be taken,' Mustafa A Jalali, vice-president of national oil company Saudi Aramco, which is building the complex, said in an e-mail response.

It had earlier been expected that the Saudi study would be completed by end-2005. So the new schedule suggests an earlier decision by Sumitomo on whether it will go the Saudi or Singapore route.

Sumitomo told Shell Chemicals in May that it was deferring their study on a US$1 billion Singapore cracker because its decision on the Saudi project would take priority.

Shell Chemicals told BT this week that while it is still talking with Sumitomo on how they can move the Singapore project forward, one option is for Shell to proceed on its own, with the Japanese perhaps persuaded to participate in downstream plants.

Strong Chinese petrochemical demand and cost-advantaged feedstock from Shell's Bukom refinery, where the cracker will be sited, are plus factors for a go-ahead, Shell said.

The cracker would be Shell's third here, following two earlier ones with Sumitomo on Jurong Island.

Making a case for an Aramco-Sumitomo joint venture at Aramco's new Rabigh refinery, which will be ready in 2008, Mr Jalali said yesterday that this 'represents an opportunity for the world's largest producer of hydrocarbons to partner with an outstanding, world-class petrochemical producer to achieve economies of scale unsurpassed by any other project previously undertaken'.

The Saudi complex is slated to produce 2.2 million tonnes of olefins plus a large volume of gasoline and other products. In contrast, a new Bukom cracker with Shell would produce one million tonnes of ethylene annually.

Mr Jalali said that from Saudi Arabia's national perspective, the Rabigh project 'represents an opportunity for increased industrialisation and a platform for broad downstream conversion industry development in the kingdom'.

For Sumitomo, which 'considers securing a stable supply of feedstock as necessary for strengthening its medium- and long-term competitiveness . . . this project is closely in accord with that strategy', he added.

By citing low-cost oil and gas in Saudi Arabia, Sumitomo is now singing a different tune from that in January 2003, when it first announced the Singapore project. It said then that it had ruled out the Middle East for the project because it rated Singapore highly in terms of political stability and as the lowest-risk site in Asia.

Asked about growing investor risk in Saudi Arabia, which has clearly been marked as a target for terror, given recent incidents there, Mr Jalali said yesterday that Saudi Aramco has round-the-clock security.

This comprises not just technological hardware such as robust communications and monitoring networks, but also a large industrial security force.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Published September 23, 2004

Vessel sales proceeds to be exempted from tax

Eligible companies will enjoy tax break from assessment year 2005

By GEORGE JOSEPH

(SINGAPORE) The Government yesterday announced that shipping companies under an approved scheme and those that have vessels flagged under the Singapore Registry of Ships will not have to pay taxes on the proceeds from vessel sales.

This perk was something the eligible shipping companies here have been clamouring for. Previously, if vessels were bought and sold too soon, the taxman might move in and tax the proceeds, declaring them gains from trading.

Shipping companies enjoy tax perks for operational reasons and as an incentive to set up shop in Singapore.

Transport Minister Yeo Cheow Tong announced the new exemption at the first International Maritime Awards ceremony and dinner of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore last night.

He said the exemption will be for an initial period of five years and effective from the Year of Assessment 2005. 'This exemption will enable shipping companies in Singapore to sell their vessels and book the sales in Singapore without worrying whether they will be taxed for such gains. This will help them to better plan and manage their fleet,' he said.

Mr Yeo said Singapore's Approved International Shipping Enterprise (AIS) Scheme, which was introduced in 1991 to encourage international ship-owning and ship-operating companies to base their operations and management decisions here, has served the Republic well.

The AIS companies now form the core of the Singapore maritime cluster and together employ more than 3,000 staff, contributing over $2 billion in business spending annually.

The AIS and Approved Shipping Logistics (APL) Schemes provide approved companies tax exemption on qualifying income.

They are part of Singapore's on-going efforts to encourage companies to undertake more ship management, ship agency and shipping logistics activities in Singapore to boost its IMC standing.

Yesterday, the MPA awarded International Maritime Awards to 25 companies in recognition of their 'commitment to make Singapore their regional base for shipping operations'.

These companies had qualified for either the AIS Enterprise or the ASL Enterprise status.

'Their presence demonstrates the attractiveness of Singapore and what it has to offer as an International Maritime Centre, namely: strategic location, excellent physical connectivity, conducive business environment, well-integrated and sophisticated maritime infrastructure and a professional workforce,' the MPA said in a statement.

The AIS Scheme was awarded to 12 new companies, while another five received an extension of their AIS status.

The ASL awards given for the first time went to eight companies.

Business Times - 23 Sep 2004

S'pore still the top choice

The city-state's growing stature as the maritime gateway to the region is seen in the rising number of firms setting up here

MORE than ever before, companies are picking Singapore as their preferred base for maritime operations. This year, 25 companies were presented the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore's International Maritime Awards for their shipping business commitments in Singapore.

The move by more international maritime companies to operate from Singapore reflects a strong vote of confidence in the city-state as the maritime gateway to the fast-growing region. Today, Singapore continues to ride high on the list of global business rankings. It is the world's 10th most important maritime country under the 2003 Unctad (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) rankings.

According to the 2003 survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit, Singapore is the best place to do business in Asia. More recently, the World Bank group ranked Singapore as the third easiest place in the world to do business. It jumped four places from seventh position last year.

Accolades aside, Singapore has actively built on its natural advantage as a strategic hub port to also serve as an international maritime centre. Its appeal takes many forms. Singapore offers an increasing critical mass of maritime ancillary services that is well integrated, a good-quality and responsive ship registry, excellent communications links, and a conducive and pro-business environment.

Adding to the vibrancy of Singapore as a maritime hub are various schemes that aim to create more value for companies based here. They include the Approved International Shipping Enterprise (AIS) and the Approved Shipping Logistics Enterprise (ASL) schemes, which the MPA administers. The two programmes were specially created to meet the needs of the shipping community.

The AIS scheme grants tax exemption to ship operators, while the ASL scheme gives a concessionary tax rate of 10 per cent on incremental income for ship management companies, shipping agencies and international shipping logistics operators. Companies that demonstrate their commitment to Singapore through the AIS and ASL schemes are recognised with the International Maritime Awards.

Commenting on the future of the maritime industry and the opportunities it offers, Peter Ong, MPA chairman, says: 'The international maritime community is undergoing a period of exciting developments fuelled by the growth in world economies and globalisation. As we move from one exciting year to another, we at MPA will continue to treasure the relationships that we have built with the maritime industry players and will foster these ties by working closely together to grow their businesses.'

This article was contributed by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Nice to have so much support from the international shipping community despite intense regional and global competition! :)

Posted: 28 September 2004 1731 hrs

Paulson's stake in Neptune Orient Lines falls to 4.96%

By Chan Hwa Loon, Channel NewsAsia

SINGAPORE : Paulson & Co, one of the major shareholders of Neptune Orient Lines, has cut its stake in the Singapore shipping firm to 4.96 percent from 9 percent.

The New York-based investment group sold its NOL shares in the open market on Monday and last Friday.

Paulson had earlier said investment holding firm Temasek had bought control of NOL at a bargain price.

As Paulson's stake in NOL has now dipped below 5 percent, it is no longer considered a substantial shareholder. - CNA

Time is GMT + 8 hours
Posted: 30 September 2004 2137 hrs

PSA Corp to sell CWT Distribution stake for S$45.8m

SINGAPORE : PSA Corp is selling its entire shareholding in freight forwarder CWT Distribution to logistics service provider C&P Holdings for S$45.8 million.

C&P will end up with about 82.6 million shares at a cost of 25-cents each, representing 55.03 percent of issued share capital.

As such, C&P will make a mandatory takeover offer for all the remaining CWT shares it doesn't now own at 55.5 cents cash each.

That is an 11 percent premium over the last transacted price of 50 cents on Thursday, but a discount of 1.77 percent from CWT's net tangible asset value of 56.5 cents a share as at December 31.

When contacted, PSA said this decision is in line with its earlier transfer of non-core businesses to Temasek Holdings.

It is focusing its efforts on container terminals, port development, and port-related businesses.

As for C&P, it says the acquisition will allow it to share expertise and customers with CWT, utilise assets better, and rationalise operations. - CNA

Copyright © 2004 MCN International Pte Ltd

C&P?? Is that a Temasek-linked company?

Don't think so...

But who knows? :D

OCT 5, 2004
New customers help triple Jurong Port's cargo volumes
By Nicholas Fang

JURONG Port has seen its monthly cargo volumes triple from last year, thanks to new customers, new services offered by existing customers, as well as the use of larger ships.

Singapore's No. 2 port said in a recent newsletter that it is currently handling about 76,000 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) or standard containers a month, an increase of 204 per cent over the same period last year.

It said that since February this year, three new services were introduced by some of its existing customers, including Norasia, Gold Star Line and China Shipping Container Lines, helping the port to achieve the impressive growth in throughput.

'Existing customers have also been phasing in bigger tonnages,' the port said, citing Zim Line's Asia-Mediterranean-Pacific Service, which started calling at Jurong in 2002 with vessels of 2,500 to 3,000 TEU capacity.

'Now they are using 3,800 TEU vessels. As a result, Zim Line's throughput at Jurong Port has grown by 82 per cent since 2002,' the newsletter said.

'As for new shipping line customers, Jurong Port has added a few to its fold since late last year and these include New Econ Line, Delmas and United Arab Shipping Company (UASC),' the port said.

Kuwait-based UASC was the the most recent addition, having transferred its hub operations earlier last month to Jurong from PSA's operations.

Jurong Port president Fong Yue Kwong said in the newsletter that the port would continue to improve its service offerings to customers in order to boost its status as a top multi-purpose port.

'Jurong Port will continue with its niche marketing, which has served to keep the port growing and relevant.

'It is our aspiration to provide the best services and to grow together with our customers.'

Copyright @ 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

OCT 6, 2004

Norwegian tycoon buys back into NOL

By Goh Eng Yeow

NORWAY'S richest man, Mr John Fredriksen, has apparently bought back part of the stake in Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) which he had sold earlier at prices higher than Temasek Holdings' takeover offer.

Bloomberg News, quoting a report in shipping journal TradeWinds, said yesterday that Mr Fredriksen bought as much as 3 per cent of the shipping line only two weeks after selling a 4 per cent stake. He paid an average of $2.80 apiece for his shares.

This makes the Norwegian shipping tycoon one of the biggest beneficiaries of the sharp rally recently experienced by NOL shares.

The counter rose to a 17-year intra-day high of $3.06 last Thursday - one day after Temasek gained control of 68.64 per cent of the container shipping line with the expiry of its $2.80 per share offer.

Yesterday, it closed four cents higher at $2.94 on volume of 5.6 million shares.

While various theories abound as to the reasons for NOL's rally, Mr Fredriksen's purchases may add credence to talk that the shipping line is about to make a major acquisition.

'Mr Fredriksen is one smart investor,' said a trader. The timing of his purchases coincided possibly with United States fund manager Paulson & Co slashing its stake in NOL to below 5 per cent from 9.03 per cent.

And the plot thickens as analysts and traders debated Mr Fredriksen's motives for buying back into NOL.

The shipping tycoon might be betting on NOL tying the knot with Dutch-controlled Royal P&O Nelloyd, said an analyst who declined to be named.

Just last month, Mr Fredriksen raised his stake in Royal P&O Nelloyd to 10 per cent, she noted.

There is also talk in the market that P&O, which owns 25 per cent of Royal P&O Nelloyd, would consider a sale, after its lock-up period expires later this month, she added.

But others believe that Mr Fredriksen is just after a bargain. 'Mr Fredriksen may be positioning himself for NOL's third-quarter results, which may be better-than-expected,' said Kim Eng Research executive director Ong Seng Yeow. The results are due to be released on Oct 28.

Some analysts had earlier forecast NOL to post net profit of more than $1 billion this year.

OCT 6, 2004

[B]Norwegian tycoon buys back into NOL
The shipping tycoon might be betting on NOL tying the knot with Dutch-controlled Royal P&O Nelloyd, said an analyst who declined to be named
If anyone didnt realise...this is VERY significant news, if it were to come to light! :eek:

Time is GMT + 8 hours
Posted: 08 October 2004 2113 hrs

PSA Marine wins design award for new Z-Tech tug boats
By Derek Cher, Channel NewsAsia

SINGAPORE : A new tug boat design has won port operator PSA Corp's unit, PSA Marine, this year's "Best Design for Business Effectiveness" award.

This new award category aims to show how design can contribute to business growth.

PSA Marine's new boats, called Z-Tech, can be driven in reverse as effectively and powerfully as forwards.

It costs the company some S$15 million to design and build two of these tug boats.
Two are already in operation here and another two have been sold to an Australian iron ore terminal.

PSA Marine expects to operate at least 12 Z-Tech tug boats in the next three years.

PSA Marine's vice president Peter Chew told Channel NewsAsia what prompted the company to develop the new tug boat design.

"I think the existing ones, we have to from time from time improved it. But it is with two intentions," he said.

"One is to build up a very good brand. We think that this will stand us in a very good stead. Secondly, we compete in a worldwide arena. We needed something that is able to stand out and something which is recognised by the industry and this has gained very good recognition over the last two years."

Asked what sort of difficulties the company faced in convincing the market of this new design, he said, "Singapore is known for having very efficient ports and we have over the years built up a very good reputation. In our industry, we are competing with maritime nations that have got centuries of shipbuilding experience.
"For us to be able to do this, we needed to be able to convince the international market place that we really have something that will work. So that was the difficulty. We have to develop a very good brand, we have to engage the best designers and we have, in our case, one advantage in that we are operating the world's busiest port and that is something that has given us a very good edge."

Mr Chew said the new design has given the company "a very good brand in the market place."

"In the past, people refer to a tug boat as a tug boat. Today, when they call us, they will say, Can we have the specification for your Z-Tech tugs? So we are increasingly beginning to hear Z-Tech as a word very much like Xerox is to photocopying," he said.

"So that gives us an indication that the brand is the buzzword in the industry. We have created a new category of tugs and most of them will call us the Z-Tech tug."

Asked what advice he would give to other companies that share the same aspirations, Mr Chew said, "I think you need to have a concept to start with and then you not only have to rely on resources locally, if you have to go overseas to get ideas, if you have to engage overseas talent, if you have to source for equipment overseas, I think you should make use of that.

"We are now operating in a different environment. You are talking about globalisation and we are competing with people who have had many years of experience and headstart over us." - CNA

Copyright © 2004 MCN International Pte Ltd

Wah....tug boats can also be the basis for winning awards? :lol: Not bad for those humble yet highly essential crafts!

Saw a picture of the craft in the ST btw. It certainly looks impressive! :eek:

Published October 12, 2004

APL freight rates, cargo volumes still on the rise

By DONALD URQUHART

(SINGAPORE) Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) said average freight rates and cargo volumes carried by its liner division APL continued to rise on the back of healthy global trade.

Container volumes carried by the world's sixth largest carrier rose by 16 per cent over the four-week period from Aug 21 to Sept 17, 2004, compared with the same period last year, according to the group's operational update.

APL carried a total of 142,100 FEUs during the period compared with 122,000 FEUs last year, attributing the rise to sustained healthy utilisation rates during the current peak season and the additional capacity it moved to key trading routes this year. Container shipping lines around the globe are enjoying unprecedented volume growth as the buoyant global economy continues to lap up surging exports from China.

Average revenue per FEU also rose - by 7 per cent compared with last year - to US$2,920 which NOL attributed to a combination of managing its cargo mix along with rate hikes and seasonal surcharges.

Revenue from its contract logistics business improved 8 per cent to US$64.5 million during the period, while sales from its international services division rose 11 per cent to US$29.6 million.

Wednesday October 13, 6:48 PM

Singapore's Temasek Speeds Up Restructuring Of Local Cos

SINGAPORE (Dow Jones)--State-owned investment company Temasek Holdings is speeding up the restructuring of its Singapore portfolio only a day after announcing its investment returns have shrunk substantially in recent years.

Temasek said Wednesday it will absorb all the assets of Singapore Technologies Pte. Ltd., a wholly owned unit through which it holds stakes in several major listed companies, including SembCorp Industries Ltd. (S36.SG), CapitaLand Ltd. (C31.SG) and Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd. (CHRT).

In effect, the move eliminates one rung in Temasek's organizational hierarchy. All 128 employees of Singapore Technologies will be laid off by year-end.

"This rationalization is part of our overall effort to manage Temasek's capital structure more efficiently," Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer Ho Ching said in a statement.

On Tuesday, the investment company released its first public annual report in 30 years. That report showed its annual returns were only 3% over the last decade, down from 18% over three decades.

As some 52% of Temasek's vast holdings are in Singapore, where it controls most of the biggest companies, restructuring local assets is key to improving those declining financial returns.

In Tuesday's report, Temasek Chairman S. Dhanabalan highlighted the company's focus on restructuring.

"We remain open to increasing or reducing our stakes, through buying, selling, swapping, restructuring or rationalization, to maximize sustainable value," Dhanabalan said.

Dhanabalan's statement was the most explicit expression of strategy Temasek has ever produced.

Formed by the government in 1974 to hold state-owned assets and hasten Singapore's industrialization, Temasek has grown into one of the world's biggest state-owned companies with some S$181 billion in assets - in the same league as General Electric Co. (GE) and Siemens AG (SI).

But in terms of returns to minority shareholders, Temasek-owned Singapore companies have done poorly, according to research by investment bank CLSA. Returns averaged 6% over 20 years, but were negative 2% over the past 10 years and negative 4% in the last five.

Private Singapore companies, the top 50 companies in Asia ex-Japan, and even Malaysian and Indian government-linked companies, have all performed better, CLSA said in August.

"There is increasing pressure, quite rightly," on Temasek-owned companies to improve performance, says Standard & Poor's Managing Director for Corporate and Government Ratings Paul Coughlin.

Pruning underperfoming local assets would be a good step, analysts say.

"Reducing its holdings in Chartered Semiconductor and STATS ChipPAC can be a start as these companies have not been very profitable in recent years," said a director with a local fund management firm, on condition of anonymity.

Temasek, through Singapore Technologies, owns 60% of chip foundry Chartered Semiconductor and 66% of chip tester STATS ChipPAC Ltd. (S24.SG).

Both companies became profitable only recently after years of bleeding money. CLSA estimates Chartered's annual returns to shareholders at negative 36% and STATS at negative 34% since listing in 1999 and 2000 respectively.

Temasek's restructuring may go beyond simple asset sales and into mergers and acquisitions, observers add.

"The telecommunications sector is a good example. Basically, there are too many players for such a small nation," says fund manager Nicholas Yeo, whose Asia ex-Japan team at Aberdeen Asset Management manages some US$6.7 billion.

Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. (T48.SG), StarHub Ltd. (T54.SG), and MobileOne Ltd. (M16.SG) compete for market share in Singapore, where 90% of the four million inhabitants already own a mobile phone. Temasek owns a chunk of all three players.

Other possibilities include merging the shipyard businesses of Keppel Corp. (K02.SG) and SembCorp Industries - something the market has been pushing for years.

Temasek's decision last month to buy the shares in Neptune Orient Lines Ltd. (N03.SG) that it didn't already own is seen by many as a prelude to a merger of Neptune with port operator PSA Corp. Such a union would create a stronger contender in the bruising competition among regional ports. PSA operates the world's second-biggest container port after Hong Kong.

Cross-border mergers and acquisitions would also help by diluting Temasek's dependence on Singapore assets, one of the state-owned investment company's stated aims, DBS-Vickers research head Timothy Wong says.

To be sure, Temasek has already made progress in restructuring, particularly since Ho Ching, the wife of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, joined the company in 2002.

Some two-thirds of Temasek's domestic companies have already gone down the restructuring road, analysts estimate. But the easy steps have already been taken.

"Companies like (Singapore Airlines), Keppel Corp., SembCorp Industries and Singapore Technologies Engineering have done some of the obvious things such as paying out excess capital and divesting noncore assets, but more can be done," says Prabodh Agarwal, CLSA's head of Singapore research.

Malaysia could raise port service charges

BY P.T. BANGSBERG - THE JOURNAL OF COMMERCE ONLINE
8 October 2004
Journal of Commerce Online

Kelang charges 140 ringgit ($36) per 20-foot transshipment container, Kuantan 50 ringgit, Pelepas 200 and Johore 80. By contrast, Singapore charges the equivalent of $67 and Hong Kong $180.

Hmm....I'm rather surprised at the charges......I thought PTP was much cheaper than PSA........:eek:

Hmm....I'm rather surprised at the charges......I thought PTP was much cheaper than PSA........:eek:
Hua....his article gets quoted here? :lol:

PTP will cost S$51 in the above scenario is it?

PTP will cost S$51 in the above scenario is it?

Emm I think it should be US$52.63 instead.....the charges of the ports for Singapore is also in US$.......

Hua....his article gets quoted here? :lol:


Emm.....more such "surprises" to come.......:lol:

More such surprises?? Diao.....:D

$52 vs $67.....yeah I do hear that they basically charge "just a little less" then Singapore all the time anyway what? I am not expecting rock bottom prices. ;)

Tense times as Gold Fields awaits Norilsk's move

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FRESH rumours that Norilsk of Russia is poised to take over Gold Fields have excited market watchers, but so far there has been no confirmation of this.

One has to conclude that when the Russian company bought Anglo's 20% stake in Gold Fields earlier this year, it was the start of a process and not the end, as 20% gives no control and no obvious platform from which to expand outside Russia something which the company appears to covet.

Analysts have detected no unusual activity in trading in Gold Fields shares, and had Norilsk gone above the 20% ownership level it would have been obliged to inform the markets.

However, there has been a lot more interest in Gold Fields options, which could suggest that a less transparent method is being used to creep up its stake.

One has to believe that if Norilsk is interested in more of Gold Fields, it will show its hand before the December shareholders' meeting, when approval will be sought for the unbundling of Gold Fields' assets, outside southern Africa, into Armgold of Canada. It will be re-named Gold Fields International, with Gold Fields holding 70%.

There is market talk that Norilsk does not like Gold Fields' offshore transaction. If it wishes to scupper it, it must build up its holding to close to 50% and anything more than 35% would trigger an offer to minorities.

These are tense times in the Gold Fields camp, and given that they learned at the very last minute of Norilsk's initial investment, it suggests that Moscow, and not Johannesburg, may be the better place to probe for any update on Norilsk's strategy.

PSG Group refocused

AT FACE value, results from PSG Group this week are a bit deceptive, following moves by the financial services group to refocus its operations and unlock value for shareholders over the past year. Although headline earnings rose only 11,5% to 36,9c a share for the six months to August, on a comparable basis they rose 90,2% from 19,4c to 36,9c a share.

Net interest income slumped from R203m to just R4,6m after the unbundling of Capitec Bank to shareholders.

PSG points out that its return on equity rose from 10,9% to a healthier 21% as earnings were generated on shareholder funds of R390,4m compared with R803,5m a year earlier. Net asset value rose a more moderate 23c to 339c a share.

The drop in shareholder funds came as a result of the Capitec unbundling as well as the two special dividends, which came to 300c. The group sold PSG Investment Bank to Absa last year .

PSG has also become more generous with its dividend policy, increasing its annual payout ratio from 30% to 40% of earnings. It declared a 10c interim dividend .

Its share capital may be about to increase again, however. PSG is looking at increasing its permanent share capital by raising R150m from preference shares to fund black economic empowerment and other opportunities. It already has a significant black shareholder, Arch Equity, which is making moves to increase its holding in PSG.

Handsome profit

UK-BASED property company Liberty International has realised a handsome profit on the sale of its 25,5% holding in UK-listed property company Great Portland Estates to Real Estate Funds at 297,5p a share, for a total of £123,4m.

Liberty says about £27m will be reflected as an exceptional item in its income statement.

The company's consistently positive financial results, on earnings from quality UK shopping centres, has also profited from its level of diversification. It also has an office property component and interests in the US.

CEO David Fischel says the company will not turn a blind eye to a potential profit just because it falls outside its retail strategy.

Analysts say the sale of the interest in Great Portland Estates makes sense because its portfolio is of a poorer quality than Liberty International's retail portfolio.

This has not stopped Liberty International from making a profit on the deal, which it will reinvest in its planned large retail development programme.

Shipping news

LIFE is full of ironies. Neelie Kroes stepped down last month from the board of Royal P&O Nedlloyd , the world's third-largest container shipping group, to become the new European Union competition commissioner, Lex writes in the Financial Times.

This week's European Commission white paper recommends shipping groups should no longer be allowed to jointly fix prices and white papers usually pave the way for legislation. The removal of immunity from competition rules could stimulate shipping industry consolidation and Royal P&O is a target.

John Fredriksen, the Norwegian shipping tycoon, has built a 10% stake and has extolled the virtues of a merger with Neptune Orient Lines. Neptune, majority controlled by Temasek, the Singapore government's acquisitive investment agency, approached Royal P&O earlier this year, but was rebuffed.

P&O might not want Royal P&O, a strategic partner in its ports division, to pass into a competitor's hands, but has said it would consider a sale at the right price. The lock-up on P&O's 25% stake in its partner expires tomorrow.

Investors fear new shipping capacity could exceed demand in 2006. But Clarkson, the shipping broker, notes that high charter rates are pushing out into the forward market, making a market collapse in 2006 less likely.

A longer cycle might make a bid more likely, and even those sceptical about consolidation can take comfort from improving conditions.

==================

Argh.....seems like NOL is going to hit stormy waters if it tries to buy P&O? ;)

More such surprises?? Diao.....:D

$52 vs $67.....yeah I do hear that they basically charge "just a little less" then Singapore all the time anyway what? I am not expecting rock bottom prices. ;)

I wonder what'll happen if PTP and PSA charges the same price?? :eek: (There are news that the Malaysian ports might be increasing the port charges........)

I wonder what'll happen if PTP and PSA charges the same price?? :eek: (There are news that the Malaysian ports might be increasing the port charges........)
Well that will probably become a whole new ball game altogether? I seriously doubt any logic in them matching PSA prices...the question now is how big a difference between the two prices will it have to be before shippers will consider moving from one port to the other...

Business Times - 22 Oct 2004

More changes at PSA on the cards as veteran set to retire

Ng Chee Keong will stay on as PSA Corp non-exec director, PSA Int'l adviser

By DONALD URQUHART

(SINGAPORE) More change is afoot at Singapore's global terminal operator PSA International with the imminent departure of PSA veteran Ng Chee Keong, who will go on to play a consultancy role for the organisation.

Industry circles have been abuzz with talk that Mr Ng was leaving PSA after a 32-year career with the Temasek-linked company. In response to BT's queries, PSA confirmed yesterday that Mr Ng will retire from the post of CEO, PSA Singapore and Global Head of Technical and Operations Development from Jan 1, 2005.

Mr Ng will stay on as non-executive board director of PSA Corporation and technical adviser to PSA International, according to Goh Mia Hock, PSA's senior vice-president for Group Media Liaison and Tech & Ops Development.

'He will play a key technical advisory role in driving the global technical and operations development initiatives,' for all of PSA's terminals, Mr Goh said. This could include tapping his expertise when bidding for overseas terminal projects.

The news comes on the heels of an announcement earlier this month that PSA is rationalising its East Asia unit which was created only eight months ago after the former 'Asia and the Middle-East' division was split into PSA India and PSA East Asia. PSA no longer has any terminal interests in the Middle-East after writing off its stake in its Yemen terminal venture earlier this year.

BT understands that the East Asia restructuring is to be followed by further corporate streamlining as the terminal operator steels itself against ever intensifying global competition.

In paying tribute to Mr Ng, PSA said he was 'instrumental in forging long-term partnerships with leading shipping lines and building up a comprehensive feeder network that established PSA Singapore as the world's largest container transhipment hub.' He also played a pivotal role in PSA's globalisation drive, first in China and then in Europe, Mr Goh added.

A familiar face in the local shipping scene, the affable Mr Ng is one of only a handful of senior executives still at PSA who were part of former PSA chief Yeo Ning Hong's senior management team. Dr Yeo officially retired in July 2002, following a period of unprecedented turbulence for PSA.

That changing of the guard saw Dr Yeo succeeded by local businessman Stephen Lee, who was appointed non-executive chairman.

Also brought onboard was senior Hutchison Port Holdings executive Eddie Teh, who became Mr Lee's number two as deputy chairman.

Mr Teh also took over the position of group CEO from Mr Ng, a move that despite his being given the position of president and CEO of the flagship Singapore terminals, was widely viewed as a reduced role.

During this transition period a handful of key Yeo-era senior executives retired, including the 37-year veteran and a key master-mind of PSA's international expansion, Goon Kok Loon.

The departure of Mr Ng comes as little surprise to many in the industry as he is understood to have been eyeing retirement for some time now.

Expressing fond memories of his lengthy career with PSA - the only company he has worked for, Mr Ng said: 'I have been with PSA long enough to see its transformation from a breakbulk port into a container hub and from a statutory board into a global MNC.

'I marvel at the progress we have made over the years in IT, operations, customer relations, global partnerships and union-management relations.'

Mr Ng also said he was happy to be retiring when PSA Singapore was handling record container volumes and added he was confident the business was in competent hands.

'I would like to thank the past and present chairman and management of PSA for giving me the various job portfolios and opportunities over the years to learn and to stretch my capability. I am pleased to continue my association with PSA after my retirement,' Mr Ng added.

Meanwhile, following PSA's internal announcement earlier this month, its East Asia division comprising Brunei, Thailand, South Korea and Japan operations will be rationalised including a review of the division's management structure.

This also includes the departure of PSA East Asia CEO Robert Yap, who is returning to the IT industry.

The East Asia division was created after India and the Middle-East - both areas plagued by poor performance - were stripped out in a restructuring exercise in February this year.

Just over a year earlier, coinciding with the arrival of Eddie Teh, the group's operations were split into four separate regions each headed by a regional chief executive officer with the aim of making each management team more accountable.

Among the other changes announced earlier this month is the appointment of former Temasek Holdings adviser H R Srinivasan as the CEO of PSA's India division.

Despite numerous attempts at gaining a meaningful foothold in the up-and-coming Indian sub-continent, PSA has had few successes there.

In other staff movements, PSA East Asia vice-president David Yang was appointed vice-president of group business development, while Mr Goh assumed his new role from his previous position as PSA Singapore senior vice-president for planning.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Interesting read there. The generally good news on expansions in PSA's overseas ports seems to mask the fact that some sectors arent doing as well, in particular the Indian one as mentioned above?

Well that will probably become a whole new ball game altogether? I seriously doubt any logic in them matching PSA prices...the question now is how big a difference between the two prices will it have to be before shippers will consider moving from one port to the other...

It cant be good news for PTP if they raise their prices as that would discourage the smaller feeder carriers away and that critical mass is essential for them to become an attractive hub.

I do have this feeling that while their year-on-year growth is very impressive, ssince they are new it will kind of level off if they are not able to poach any more customers from Singapore.

Petrochemical complexes in S'pore enjoying upturn

25 Oct 04

Strong demand from China & Japan fuels rise in profits

By RONNIE LIM

(SINGAPORE) Singapore's petrochemical complexes are enjoying an upturn this year, with strong regional demand, especially from China, which helped to offset the impact on margins of costlier naphtha and natural gas feedstock, following high oil prices.


'Demand, especially for elastomers and butyl rubber used by the automobile industries in China and Japan is strong,' one industry official said, leading to high prices for such petrochemicals.

Margins for some other petrochemicals are however, mixed, the official added, depending on their market prices, and how much of feedstock cost the producers can recover. 'Still, this is made up for by higher sales volumes, which means most companies will still see better bottom lines.'

China, which accounts for about 30-40 per cent of total demand, has been the main growth driver this year for the three petrochemical complexes on Jurong Island, the official said.

Petrochemical Corporation of Singapore, a 50-50 venture between Shell Chemicals and a Japanese consortium led by Sumitomo Chemical, operates two crackers with a total annual ethylene capacity of 1.4 million tonnes, while ExxonMobil's cracker has an ethylene capacity of 800,000 tonnes.

The three crackers feed a host of downstream, or secondary plants, producing various petrochemicals used by industries to make end-products from plastics to polyester fibres.

Responding to queries, a Shell Chemicals spokesman confirmed that 'the anticipated upturn in the petrochemicals industry did happen this year'.

'The crackers are achieving high operating rates, and demand for virtually all products in Shell Chemicals' portfolio is high, with countries across Asia fuelling this demand, in particular China.

'For us, this has been a significantly better year so far, compared with 2003.'

The spokesman conceded that 'high feedstock and energy costs have led to rising costs for petrochemicals'. 'However, strong demand has allowed healthy margins to be pulled through. The challenges ahead include high oil and energy prices and volatility, and ensuring optimal plant reliability and utilisation.'

Asked about exports from rival Middle East producers, the industry official said that 'the Singapore complexes remain competitive as they are closer to regional customers, which means they incur lower freight costs'.

'Besides, the crackers here are cost-effective, as they are integrated with refineries from which they source their naphtha.'

If demand continues to be strong in the final quarter, the industry looks set to outdo its 2003 performance, when output increased 38 per cent to $12.1 billion.

Business Times - 27 Oct 2004

Wanted: Creative financing sector to attract more shipowners

(SINGAPORE) Singapore needs to develop a more 'creative' ship financing sector if it is to succeed in attracting more shipowners and realise its International Maritime Centre (IMC) ambition, Singapore Maritime Foundation chairman Teo Siong Seng said yesterday.

Despite Singapore's strong banking sector, the ship finance arena was lacking in comparison to other shipping centres, he said. 'Singapore should have a more imaginative, or more creative ship financing sector rather than the traditional ship collateral financing,' he said.

The fact Singapore has a stable political system, pro-business environment, and good infrastructure may not be enough to woo more shipowners here. 'If we want to develop as an IMC, we have to look at various aspects to attract shipowners.' In particular, he said: 'We don't have the breadth and depth of ship financing that we have seen in other cities.'

Aside from the conservative approach, financial institutions here tend to be mainly interested in the larger shipping firms, shying away from smaller operators, said a shipping executive from a Singapore-based carrier.

One of the SMF's working groups is exploring this exact issue and has been given three key objectives, according to SMF board member RAdm Lui Tuck Yew.

These include identifying new products and services that could be developed within Singapore's maritime financing sector; identifying regulatory or other impediments to the growth of this sector; and identifying key constituents such as shipbrokers; and understanding the importance of their role in arranging financial deals. Among the possible initiatives under consideration, according to Mr Teo, is the development of a ship leasing business as well as setting up a ship investor fund.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Business Times - 27 Oct 2004

Big plan to lift Singapore maritime industry profile

Campaign also aims to woo students, professionals to maritime careers

By DONALD URQUHART

(SINGAPORE) In a bid to elevate the profile of Singapore's maritime industry and attract people to maritime careers, the Singapore Maritime Foundation (SMF) is set to embark on half-a-million dollar awareness campaign.

Hoping to dispel the perception that the maritime industry is just about ports and shipyards, the SMF is aiming to bring a more accurate, broader image of the maritime industry into the view of more Singaporeans through the launch of 'Maritime Now!'.

'The SMF is really trying to make sure Singaporeans at large understand the breadth of the entire maritime sector from the port to the shipyards, to finance, to arbitration - the opportunities available and the overall contribution of the sectors,' said SMF board member and Maritime & Port Authority (MPA) chief RAdm Lui Tuck Yew.

The common perception among many Singaporeans, particularly the youth, is that the maritime industry consists simply of a gritty world of ports, ships and shipyards.

'There are so many white collar aspects to the maritime industry which is why we felt there was a compelling need to get the message out,' added SMF board member and maritime lawyer Jude Benny.

Aside from raising the general public's awareness, the SMF is also hoping to encourage students and professionals to consider maritime careers.

'We want to show that the industry is a progressive, vibrant one that is relevant to Singapore, not just in the past, but even more so in the future,' said SMF chairman and managing director of Pacific International Lines Teo Siong Seng.

'This is critical if Singapore is to catch the next wave of opportunities in the global maritime economy,' he added. Nearly 7 per cent of Singapore's GDP now comes from the maritime industry.

This next wave is in part the rising Asian influence in global shipping, with 40 per cent of the world's cargo-carrying fleet controlled by Asian shipowners and ship managers, 12 of the top 20 container lines Asian and the top six global container ports in Asia.

But to tap this wave and to realise Singapore's ambition of becoming an International Maritime Centre (IMC), more people are needed, Mr Teo said. Currently the industry employs 120,000 people, a figure forecast to rise to 200,000 by 2019.

In particular, the SMF is hoping to further develop the maritime arbitration, ship finance and marine insurance sectors, which the industry-led body says will strengthen Singapore's position as an IMC.

The shortage of qualified professionals is across-the-board, said SMF board member and chairman of Pacific Carriers Ltd, Teo Joo Kim, who added that this is why there is such a large number of expatriates working in the maritime industry here.

Included under the 'Maritime Now!' campaign will be ongoing efforts to collaborate with various sectors of the industry through dialogue sessions, informal get-togethers, forums and working groups.

The public outreach aspect will include port and ship visits, roving road shows and maritime heritage trails.

The SMF will also be organising the Great Maritime Adventure, modelled after television reality game shows. Up to 40 teams will compete in a day-long race involving various maritime-related activities for prizes worth about $25,000.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Business Times - 28 Oct 2004

SembCorp Marine clinches long-term LNG fleet repair deal
The US$45m contract will involve dry docking for refits, repairs and other services
By GEORGE JOSEPH

(SINGAPORE) SembCorp Marine has made a breakthrough in repair contracts for LNG carriers, clinching a long-term deal from Australia's North West Shelf (NWS) venture to repair and service its fleet.

The contract for an initial five years comes at a time when Singapore is gearing itself up to become a hub player in the booming liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector and signals SembCorp's lead in the business.

The contract, estimated at a total of US$45 million over the five years, will involve dry docking for refits, repairs and other marine services at SembCorp's Sembawang and Jurong shipyards.

The company said yesterday that this is the first time a major LNG consortium has committed itself to a long-term maintenance and refit contract in the region. SembCorp said the five-year contract comes with an option for extension.

SembCorp is already one of the biggest repair and maintenance specialists for oil tanker fleets, with long-term 'favoured customer' alliances with oil majors, including Shell, BP, ChevronTexaco and BHP.

The NWS fleet will come for 30-month service checks and repairs which will require dry docking.

The company also said it will undertake about half the refits required by NWS ships while the remainder will be performed at the sites of the original Japanese consortiums of builders of the vessels.

'This is a strong affirmation from large LNG operators of SembCorp Marine's capabilities in the highly specialised LNG refit market,' said Sembawang Shipyard executive director and general manager Lee-Lin Wong. Sembawang Shipyard is a subsidiary of SembCorp.

SembCorp, which is already performing repair jobs on NWS ships, expects the first vessel to be drydocked under the new long-term contract early next year.

The NWS fleet of nine LNG carriers ply the Australia-South Korea-Japan trade routes. Each of the 93,000 tonne ships is equipped with four spherical tanks with a total cargo capacity of 125,000 cubic metres.

NWS is a joint venture equally owned by BP, BHP Billiton, ChevronTexaco, a Mitsubishi and Mitsui joint company MIMI, Shell and the Woodside companies.

The listed SembCorp Marine, which is the marine engineering arm of Singapore conglomerate SembCorp Industries, said yesterday in a statement that the contract is not expected to have any material impact on its net tangible assets and earnings per share for the year ending Dec 31.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Business Times - 28 Oct 2004

NOL reports 3Q net profit of US$234 million

SINGAPORE - Neptune Orient Lines has reported net profit of US$234 million for the third quarter (3Q), taking net profits for the year-to-date to US$588 million - almost double the earnings over the same period last year.

Core Earnings Before Net Interest Expense, Tax and Exceptional Items (EBIT) for 3Q rose to US$254 million, representing an 88 per cent year-on-year growth while net profits were US$234 million, a 13 per cent increase over last year.

Gains from exceptional items fell from US$99 million in 3Q03 to US$8 million in 3Q this year.

NOL says this year's gains were mainly from the cessation of goodwill amortisation following the early adoption of Financial Reporting Standard (FRS) 103, which no longer permits the amortisation of goodwill.

Excluding these exceptional items, 3Q net profits grew 111 per cent over the corresponding period last year.

NOL Chairman Mr Cheng Wai Keung said: 'Both the Liner and Logistics businesses have recorded consecutively higher quarterly profits as well as an improving margin trend this year'.

NOL said the outlook for the remainder of the year remains buoyant as the liner is expected to benefit from continuing strong demand growth, which should sustain utilisation rates at healthy levels.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Temasek must be rubbing their hands with glee....just bought a huge stake into the company, and its making some nice profits now! :D

Business Times - 29 Oct 2004

Oil storage space set to grow

International oil traders are looking to set up major storage facilities here

By RONNIE LIM

(SINGAPORE) International oil traders are looking at setting up major storage facilities here to better cash in on the island's booming oil trading hub status.

The industry buzz is that local 'big boy' Hin Leong Trading is exploring investing in either onshore tanks on Jurong Island or building jetty infrastructure there for very large crude carriers (VLCCs).

The trader now parks some of its VLCCs - which it uses as floating storage - near the Indonesian island of Karimun.

Another likely entrant is an international oil trader that is also looking at investing in a tank farm on Jurong Island.

These players follow trader China Aviation Oil (CAO), which will start construction of a joint venture oil terminal there early next year.

The traders are venturing into the terminal business because of a storage squeeze.

Independent tank farms have been running 'full' due to thriving business, with traders needing more space to park products and carry out blending, such as for petrol.

Another reason for the capacity shortage is strong demand for bunker fuel from ships calling at Singapore - the world's largest bunkering port.

Bunker demand is estimated to hit 23 million tonnes this year, up from 14 million tonnes seven or eight years ago.

'The supply of oil and chemicals storage here is expected to stay tight for at least the next couple of years,' an official said, as Chinese traders like PetroChina and Sinochem look for more storage here to handle the 92 octane petrol they bring from China to blend into 97 octane petrol.

Sources have told BT that physical oil trades could hit US$100 billion-US$150 billion this year, with paper trades easily double that.

This is up from about US$100 billion each for physical and paper trades last year.

Currently, Singapore has about 88 million barrels of oil and chemicals tankage, with 72 per cent in the hands of the three oil refiners - Shell, ExxonMobil and Singapore Refining.

The remainder is held by independent operators Vopak (9.3 million barrels), Oiltanking and Tankstore (each with about 6-6.5 million barrels) and a couple of smaller terminals.

Big local trader Kuo Oil started the trend of traders venturing into the terminal business in 2001 when it bought the former GATX terminal here, which it now operates as Tankstore.

The big traders prefer to have their own storage rather than keep their oil in facilities owned by competitors, who can gain a trading advantage if they know the size of other players' stocks.

While the latest projects by traders are not confirmed, two other storage projects - expected to be ready in 2006 - will help alleviate the shortage.

Vopak's $500 million fourth terminal of 9.2 million barrels will double its local capacity when completed by 2010.

Construction of the first phase of two million barrels starts in December, with this capacity operational in early 2006.

Vopak's three other terminals are at the Sebarok, Sakra and Penjuru sectors of Jurong Island.

Also expected in the first half of 2006 is another 3.8 million barrels from CAO and partner Emirates National Oil Company, which have just finalised their Horizon Terminals plan.

Building will start early next year, chief executive officer Chen Jiulin told BT recently.

The Vopak expansion and Horizon projects will add about 23 per cent of independent storage capacity in two years.

Oil trader Hin Leong could provide another three million barrels of storage.

The unnamed international trader is looking at a terminal of 1.8 million barrels, sources say, adding however, that these projects, if confirmed, are likely to be operational only after 2006.

Local power companies are also in the storage game, with PowerSeraya already a player via its 50 per cent stake in Oiltanking Singapore, a subsidiary of Germany's Oiltanking Group.

As power companies increasingly switch to piped natural gas, storage tanks are being freed for fuel oil, which is why Tuas Power has also been looking to lease spare storage to traders.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

This story was printed from TODAYonline

S'pore's status as oil trading hub may be hurt by lack of storage

Weekend • October 30, 2004

The shortage of independent oil storage facilities in Singapore could threaten its status as Asia's leading oil trading centre, an industry expert warned yesterday.

With demand far exceeding supply, companies are paying between 30 and 40 per cent more for storage space than if they took their business elsewhere in the region, such as China, the Philippines and Thailand, said Mr Esa Ramasamy, Platts' director of Oil Market Reporting, Asia.

Indeed, strong demand for bunker fuel — expected to hit 23 million tonnes this year, an increase from 14 million tonnes seven years ago — could further exacerbate the capacity shortage problem.

In order to stay ahead of the competition, Singapore would need to push its storage charges down to just 5 per cent above those of neighbouring countries. And to achieve this, oil storage capacity would have to expand, said Mr Ramasamy.

But despite pressure to increase capacity, oil storage companies are reluctant to do so.

"If I'm doing business and I have an option to increase supply or maintain supply and get a good profit, I'll definitely choose the latter," he said.

Another possibility is for Singapore to look to regional storage to supplement its capacity. One "foolproof" potential is just an hour away by sea in southern Malaysia's Pelepas.

Not only would it cost 70 per cent less to develop storage tanks there, Pelepas already has the talent and the resources to build an independent terminal for onshore storage. It also boasts a natural harbour.

Mr Ramasamy revealed that KL-based KIC Oil & Gas had approached oil traders about the possibility of building and operating storage facilities at Tanjong Pelepas, which has a potential capacity of 7.5 million barrels.

Singapore should promote Pelepas as a hub for its "own benefit" as it did Pasir Gudang, he said. — Tay Tsen-Waye

Copyright MediaCorp Press Ltd. All rights reserved.

Singapore had a hand in developing Pasir Gudang meh?

This story was printed from TODAYonline

An LNG hub will take a while

Singapore still requires more capacity and relevant infrastructure

Monday • November 1, 2004

Singapore hopes to be a natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) trading hub, but this may take some time to materialise.

"We don't know when it will happen," said Singapore's Energy Market Authority (EMA) chief executive Khoo Chin Hean. "There are forces at play in the environment. The issue is when will it be here."

Speaking on the sidelines of an LNG seminar on Friday, he said that Singapore still lacks the infrastructure and capacity to be an LNG trading hub.

The bulk of LNG purchased in Asia is sold under long-term contracts and up to now there is only limited LNG spot trading and no established marketplace.

The EMA is in the process of setting up physical trading. Competition in the gas sector is partly because the region is increasingly turning to natural gas as a fuel source, said Mr Khoo. "We envisage greater use of natural gas and this will lead to a proliferation of LNG terminals around Singapore and the US West Coast."

Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand have expressed interest in developing LNG terminals. Apart from China's massive LNG terminal programme, with up to 10 being planned or built, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan already have many LNG terminals, and three are to be built on the US West Coast.

Singapore, too, is looking into the possibility of building an LNG terminal to meet higher domestic demand for gas, Mr Khoo said. An LNG terminal is also a near-essential if Singapore is to succeed as an LNG trading hub.

Greater opportunities for gas trading should surface in the not-distant future as many long term take-or-pay LNG contracts that were signed 20 years ago will expire soon, Mr Khoo said. Also, take-or-pay contracts that bind LNG tankers are due for expiry, too — freeing up vessels, which in turn will facilitate greater trading of gas.

The EMA has shortlisted several consultancies to do a feasibility study on importing LNG to Singapore and hopes to start work on this early next year. — Dow Jones

Copyright MediaCorp Press Ltd. All rights reserved.

Nov 1, 2004
Maritime industry embarks on publicity blitz to attract new talent

THE maritime industry, facing a shortage of skilled workers in some sectors, is going full steam ahead with a multimillion-dollar campaign to raise its public profile and attract students and young professionals to come aboard.

As old salts near retirement age, the industry wants to attract new blood - with plenty of openings for all, including women and foreigners - a group of maritime organisations said last week.

Skilled workers are needed not only in the shipping and engineering fields, but also in ancillary services such as ship financing, arbitration, law and information technology.

'Currently, the industry employs 120,000 people, and this is projected to go up to 200,000 by 2018. There is, therefore, great employment potential here,' said Singapore Maritime Foundation (SMF) chairman Teo Siong Seng.

The SMF has teamed up with the Association of Singapore Marine Industries and the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore to launch the 'Maritime Now!' campaign.

Mr Teo declined to give specific numbers when asked for details of the current manpower shortage, but said the campaign would address an industry-wide concern - that new blood was urgently needed to succeed the generation of maritime veterans nearing retirement age.

The SMF will pump 'several hundred thousand dollars' into the campaign over the next year, he said.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

Seriously the only main worry I have over LPG is the terrorism element. Sad that we have to consider that in the world of today eh?

http://sg.yimg.com/i/sg/providers/reuters.gif

Tuesday November 2, 7:59 PM

Singapore PSA in talks to buy HK's Asia Container

SINGAPORE, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Singapore's state-owned port operator PSA International is in talks to buy a controlling stake in Hong Kong's Asia Container Terminals Ltd. (ACT), as it seeks to establish a foothold in the rival port city.

PSA, which is owned by investment agency Temasek Holdings [TEM.UL] and owns ports from Belgium to China, is offering to buy Hongkong Land Ltd.'s 28.5 stake in ACT, a shipping source familiar with the deal said.

"PSA has also made a bid for a separate 29.5 percent stake in ACT held by U.S. logistics and ports group, CSX World Terminals," he said, adding that a deal could be reached in two weeks.

CSX World Terminals is a unit of New York-listed CSX Corp. . PSA, together with Hong Kong's Hutchison Whampoa , were among a group of seven bidders shortlisted in September to buy CSX World Terminals, a container terminal network with assets also including stakes in ports in China, South Korea and Australia.

According to Hong Kong media reports, PSA has offered the Hongkong Land, part of the Jardine Matheson Group , HK$600 million ($77 million) for the stake.

ACT's other two shareholders are Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd. and NWS Holdings Ltd. .

A PSA spokesman said he could not comment on the reports.

If the deal goes through, PSA would become the dominant shareholder in ACT, which is one of the five operators that run Hong Kong's main container terminal hub in Kwai Chung.

ACT Chief Executive Officer Craig Grossgart declined to comment when contacted.

Copyright © 2004Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.

Nov 2, 2004
NOL and 13 shipping lines to raise cargo rates to US next year

Carrying a 40-foot container to the US West Coast will cost up to 7.6% more
Seoul - NEPTUNE Orient Lines (NOL), Mitsui OSK Lines and 12 other Asian shipping firms plan to boost freight rates to the United States for a third straight year as demand for Chinese goods increases and fuel costs rise.

The 14-line Transpacific Stabilisation Agreement will raise the cost of carrying a 40-foot container to the US West Coast from Asia by US$285 (S$476), or as much as 7.6 per cent, starting next May, the group said in an e-mail statement.

Rates to the US East Coast and Persian Gulf via the Panama and Suez canals will rise by US$430.

Profits at NOL and Hanjin Shipping have surged as demand for textiles, toys and other China-made goods caused Pacific freight rates to rise by about 15 per cent this year. Demand for cargo space to North America is expected to rise by as much as 12 per cent next year.

'The rise in shipping rates won't have a significant impact on Asian exporters,' said Lehman Brothers Japan senior economist Robert Subbaraman. 'Asian exporters might pass on to the US the rise in costs... I don't think that'll reduce demand for Asian products.'

Shipping companies expect cargo shipments to the US from Asia to expand by between 10 per cent and 12 per cent next year, helped by increasing demand for China-made goods. The shipping lines predicted the same growth rate to the US from Asia this year.

'Nominal increases in ship capacity as new and larger ships are delivered in 2005 to 2006 will be sharply diminished by operating limitations due to congestion,' the group said in the statement. 'That effective capacity is not expected to keep pace with steadily growing cargo demand.'

Asian exports to the US rose 17 per cent in the first eight months of this year to US$344.9 billion, according to the US International Trade Commission.

Chinese exports contributed to the growth, increasing 29 per cent to US$121.5 billion in the same period.

Increasing cargo from Asia, especially China, has strained US ports, rail networks, highways and the Panama Canal, the group said.

'Shippers are experiencing average delays of three to seven days in getting cargo delivered as vessels sit idle at anchor and as containers are delayed in transit or at harbour and inland terminals,' the group said. \-- BLOOMBERG NEWS

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

A more detailed report......

Business Times - 03 Nov 2004

PSA makes HK$600m offer for stake in HK port operator: report
The bid is for 28.5% stake in ACT held by Hong Kong Land Holdings: SCMP
By DONALD URQUHART

(SINGAPORE) Despite signs that Hong Kong may soon be overshadowed by Pearl River Delta ports, PSA International is said to have made a HK$600 million (S$128.5 million) offer for a stake in Kwai Chung container terminal operator Asia Container Terminals (ACT).

The PSA offer is for the 28.5 per cent stake in ACT held by Hong Kong Land Holdings Ltd, one of four shareholders which also include Sun Hung Kai Properties, CSX World Terminals and NWS Holdings.

ACT is one of three key developers for CT9, along with Hongkong International Terminals Ltd, part of Hutchison International Port Holdings Ltd and Modern Terminals Ltd (MTL), at Hong Kong's main Kwai Chung container port.

In April this year, ACT took over the two, currently idle, berths at CT8 West after the completion of its portion of CT9. The two berths equipped with eight quayside cranes have an estimated annual capacity of 1.5 million TEUs.
'PSA Corporation wrote to us a few weeks ago with its proposal and the shareholders are now looking at it,' the South China Morning Post (SCMP) quoted an unidentified executive from one of the shareholding companies as saying. The deal is expected to be concluded within two weeks.

When contacted yesterday, a PSA spokesperson declined to comment on the report.

'The price at HK$600 million is extremely aggressive and it would be hard for others to match it. PSA seems to be very keen on the stake,' the SCMP quoted another unidentified executive within the ACT consortium as saying.
The purchase would require the approval of all ACT shareholders who are understood to have the first right of refusal on the purchase of any ACT stake.

Port operators in Hong Kong and South China are ineligible to bid because they are classified as competitors, the report noted, but because PSA is Singapore-based it is free to purchase a stake. There is speculation, however, that the bid might be thwarted by either CSX or one of the other shareholders, based on the fact that PSA is one of the shortlisted bidders for part, or all of CSX's global terminal network.

In September, PSA confirmed to BT it had been shortlisted by CSX Corporation which is seeking to sell off its global terminal network which includes logistics centres in Hong Kong and Shanghai as well as terminals in Tianjin, Yantai and Hong Kong.

If it were successful in acquiring both CSX's 29.5 per cent share and Hong Kong Land's 28.5 per cent, it would effectively gain majority control of ACT.
Hong Kong's container terminals have steadily been losing ground to rapidly developing container ports located at the doorstep of China's southern manufacturing belt in the Pearl River Delta. As much as US$300 cheaper per 40-foot container, the rapidly developing terminals there have seen throughput growing in the region of 30-35 per cent per year with forecasts estimating they will overtake Hong Kong's total throughput volume by 2008. The development of CT9 has been fraught with difficulties, the original concept finally getting off the ground in 1996 after four years of political wrangling between the Chinese and British governments.

Under that deal, the consortium previously led by British-controlled Jardine Matheson Holdings would give up its rights to the planned CT9 development in exchange for two existing berths in the older CT8 owned by Hong Kong-based Modern Terminals Ltd (MTL).

The development rights to CT9 were originally awarded by the Hong Kong government to the Jardine-led Tsing Yi consortium, but the Chinese government refused to give its blessing for the deal because it was angered by Jardine's overt support to then-governor Chris Patten's unilateral political reforms in the territory.

The reorganised group became known as Asia Container Terminals led by the local unit of Sea-Land Service Inc - its Hong Kong terminal stake to later become part of CSX with the acquisition of Sea-Land by Maersk - and MTL.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Muahaha...this HK port bid seems to be creating big news eh? :D

Nov 4, 2004
Jurong Shipyard bags $140m order

ONE of SembCorp Marine's shipyards has won a contract worth US$84 million (S$141 million) to build two high-capacity container vessels for a German company.

Jurong Shipyard announced yesterday that it will construct two 2,600 TEU (20-foot equivalent unit) container vessels for Reederei F. Laeisz, which is privately owned by the Schues family.

The senior vice-president of marketing at SembCorp Marine, Mr Chua Teck Lian, said: 'We are pleased that the design of our 2,600 TEU container series is well received by customers. The idea of building them was mooted in 2002 in anticipation of an expected rise in demand for this size of container ship.'

The German company already has a diversified fleet of 50 vessels that include containers, roll-on-roll-off vessels and gas carriers.

The design of the 2,600 TEU container vessel is proprietary to Jurong Shipyard, and the two ships are scheduled for delivery in March and September 2006.

SembCorp Marine said yesterday that it expects a positive contribution to its earnings from the contract. However, the deal is not expected to have any material impact on the net tangible assets and earnings per share for the financial year ending Dec 31.

In June, Jurong Shipyard won a US$628 million contract to convert a crude carrier into one of the world's largest oil rigs for a unit of the Brazilian state oil company, Petrobras.

The contract was the biggest ever secured by SembCorp Marine.

For the first half of this year, SembCorp reported a 15.5 per cent rise in net profit, spurred by a recovery in ship-repair rates and higher contributions from its ship-conversion and offshore-rig businesses. -- ARTHUR POON

Muahaha...this HK port bid seems to be creating big news eh? :D

I suppose it will have more coverage if they were to close the deal.......:eek:

I wonder if they'll buy Shenzhen next??

Time is GMT + 8 hours
Posted: 08 November 2004 2019 hrs

S'pore wants to double its share of global maritime arbitration business
By Chua Chin Chye, Channel NewsAsia

SINGAPORE : Singapore wants to double its share of the global maritime arbitration business to 8 percent over the next few years.

To get the ball rolling, it has launched the Singapore Chamber of Maritime Arbitration, or C-Ma.

The Chamber will market and raise Singapore's profile as a maritime arbitration centre.

Six major Singapore shippers, including NOL, Keppel, Sembawang and Pacific Carriers, have already pledged to use C-Ma.

Singapore is well-placed to become a global maritime arbitration centre.

Its strategic geographical location has resulted in some 4,000 international shipping companies basing their regional operations here.

Yet, many firms have chosen London to arbitrate in maritime disputes.

To change all that, the C-Ma is going all out to raise Singapore's profile.

The key message: Singapore has the legal expertise for maritime arbitration, and can do it at competitive costs.

Jude Benny, Board member, Singapore Maritime Foundation, said, "As a centre, London... they have identified very high cost of doing business, and going to London, spending two weeks there, for the purpose of resolving a dispute.. We think comparatively Singapore is about 50 percent cheaper."

Singapore's strategy will be three-pronged.

The government will build a conducive regulatory environment, help develop maritime legal expertise and promote Singapore as a regional maritime legal hub and dispute resolution centre.

Ms Lim Hwee Hua, Minister of State, Finance and Transport, said, "The whole idea of a hub is that you have the entire suite of activities. So, it's not just the major port and shipping business. You also need to have the support and ancillary services. So, having legal services here would complement that... We feel that that's an area that we can promote and beef up. And it's also an area that the legal firms in Singapore are very well placed to fulfill."

She added, "Ultimately, people must have faith and confidence that there would be clear and efficient resolution in Singapore."

She went on to say, "Firstly, not many people know that Singapore law is very closely modelled after the English law. Secondly, you only need to choose Singapore as venue for arbitration, but you can use any law that you are comfortable with."

One initiative that Singapore is offering is a "fast-track" procedure.

For example, in cases below US$75,000, a sole arbitrator can resolve the dispute within 21 days. - CNA

Copyright © 2004 MCN International Pte Ltd

I suppose it will have more coverage if they were to close the deal.......:eek:

I wonder if they'll buy Shenzhen next??
Shenzhen??? That will again be competiting with hatchinson at their home ground! :D

Anyway, it will be interesting to see how the deal does through or falls out thou. You never know how much politics can get in the way, no matter how "liberal" some societies may consider themselves to be. ;)

Shenzhen??? That will again be competiting with hatchinson at their home ground! :D

Anyway, it will be interesting to see how the deal does through or falls out thou. You never know how much politics can get in the way, no matter how "liberal" some societies may consider themselves to be. ;)

Let's just treat it as a test of "liberal" and "openess" of a society........;)

Let the "fun" begin..........:lol:

Let's just treat it as a test of "liberal" and "openess" of a society........;)

Let the "fun" begin..........:lol:
Muahahaa!

I think they should invest in shenzhen too. That is where the main battle is going, and that is where the growth will be too.

Business Times - 10 Nov 2004

PSA, Jurong box volumes up in Oct

(SINGAPORE) Containerised cargo volumes through Singapore continued to rise with both PSA International and Jurong Port recording increases last month, over the same period last year.

PSA saw a 13.3 per cent rise in volume to 2.82 million TEUs (20-foot containers) in October over the same period last year, while Jurong Port saw its volumes jump 58 per cent to 79,000 TEUs for the period, year on year.

For the first 10 months this year, PSA handled 17.1 million TEUs locally, an increase of 14.3 per cent, while Jurong Port more than doubled its volumes to 554,000 for the period, year on year.

PSA's international terminals handled 10.4 million TEUs over the first 10 months this year, a 20.8 per cent increase over the same period last year. For the month of October, PSA's overseas terminals handled 1.04 million TEUs, a 14.3 per cent increase compared with the same period last year.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Business Times - 10 Nov 2004

NOL cargo volumes soar on China growth

(SINGAPORE) Riding the wave of China exports, Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) reported a 16 per cent rise in cargo volumes for the period Sept 18 to Oct 15, compared with the same period the year before.

The group said its APL container division carried 141,000 FEUs (40-foot containers) during the period with average revenues per FEU up 7 per cent on the corresponding period a year earlier, to US$2,867 per FEU.

This was, however, down 2 per cent from the previous period this year which NOL said was due to a change in cargo mix.

Revenue from its contract logistics services and international services rose 11 per cent to US$69,500 and 16 per cent to US$24,600 respectively for the period, year on year.

The growth in international services was a result of the group's on-going focus on international forwarding activities, it said in its monthly operational update.

Last week, NOL reported a doubling of net profit to US$587.6 million for the nine months ended Sept 17, 2004. Its third-quarter net earnings was up 13 per cent at US$233.5 million.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

I think PSA is going to smash another all-time record in cargo handled. Hey, not bad for a port which does not have the world's largest shipping line as one of its main customers! :D

Nov 4, 2004
Jurong Shipyard bags $140m order

ONE of SembCorp Marine's shipyards has won a contract worth US$84 million (S$141 million) to build two high-capacity container vessels for a German company.

Jurong Shipyard announced yesterday that it will construct two 2,600 TEU (20-foot equivalent unit) container vessels for Reederei F. Laeisz, which is privately owned by the Schues family.

The senior vice-president of marketing at SembCorp Marine, Mr Chua Teck Lian, said: 'We are pleased that the design of our 2,600 TEU container series is well received by customers. The idea of building them was mooted in 2002 in anticipation of an expected rise in demand for this size of container ship.'

The German company already has a diversified fleet of 50 vessels that include containers, roll-on-roll-off vessels and gas carriers.

The design of the 2,600 TEU container vessel is proprietary to Jurong Shipyard, and the two ships are scheduled for delivery in March and September 2006.

SembCorp Marine said yesterday that it expects a positive contribution to its earnings from the contract. However, the deal is not expected to have any material impact on the net tangible assets and earnings per share for the financial year ending Dec 31.

In June, Jurong Shipyard won a US$628 million contract to convert a crude carrier into one of the world's largest oil rigs for a unit of the Brazilian state oil company, Petrobras.

The contract was the biggest ever secured by SembCorp Marine.

For the first half of this year, SembCorp reported a 15.5 per cent rise in net profit, spurred by a recovery in ship-repair rates and higher contributions from its ship-conversion and offshore-rig businesses. -- ARTHUR POON
Aiyah...I prefer to see Jurong Corp growing to compete with PSA then forever being a small cousin of the later.

I hate monopoly businesses...

I hate monopoly businesses...
Me too. :D PSA seriously needs some homegrown competition as well to keep it up on its toes...and at least its far better to keep the competition within Singapore then competiting with others!

Me too. :D PSA seriously needs some homegrown competition as well to keep it up on its toes...and at least its far better to keep the competition within Singapore then competiting with others!

I hope it's positive competition not like those media competition.......... :bash:

Perhaps Jurong should expand its port to Tuas.....Any plans on that??.....:yes:

Actually that big reclamation project at Tuas end is speculated to be a new container port leh. Sekali run by Jurong Port?? :eek:

Actually that big reclamation project at Tuas end is speculated to be a new container port leh. Sekali run by Jurong Port?? :eek:

That will be something to watch out for........:yes:

This means locating the port almost directly opposite its competitior.........:eek:

Haha...I think location not an issue lah. Its more about the $$$. :D

But its a really significant move man. All of PSA's operation will consolidate at Pasir Panjang, while Jurong Port may operate an equally big port in Tuas!

Eh, the new port would make Sultan Lighthouse almost useless!

Eh, the new port would make Sultan Lighthouse almost useless!
Eh...how so??

Haha...I think location not an issue lah. Its more about the $$$. :D

But its a really significant move man. All of PSA's operation will consolidate at Pasir Panjang, while Jurong Port may operate an equally big port in Tuas!

Actually do you think Jurong port don't sound that international?? That should change their name to JSA or something.......:yes:

JSA?! :lol:

Actually are they privatised yet ah? They are right?

JSA?! :lol:

Actually are they privatised yet ah? They are right?

Not sure about that but I think they are part of JTC corporation.......I wonder if temasek is into this anyway?? :lol:

JTC corporation already privatised mah..if I remember correctly.

So marketing it as a JTC port sounds ok lah. :D

JTC corporation already privatised mah..if I remember correctly.

So marketing it as a JTC port sounds ok lah. :D

Actually any name will sound ok once it done something "spectacular" like snatching the biggest client from PSA......hmmm...that sounds familiar.....:lol:

Aye...actually it did snatch one of PSA's customers away recently what. :D

Aye...actually it did snatch one of PSA's customers away recently what. :D

But then seems like "small ant" compare to those big names.......maybe they might want to create a stir by snatching evergreen?? :eek::lol:

Hahaha....that might actually happen. Lots of insider info about this liao man. :D

Hahaha....that might actually happen. Lots of insider info about this liao man. :D

Really?? :eek: That'll be really exciting........:lol:

Well....they might actually not move at all...we wont know, but their expression of dissatisfaction is getting quite obviously already. You just cant have a few companies operating in a port, and expect to have equal speed and efficiency as when you have in a much more established port.

Well....they might actually not move at all...we wont know, but their expression of dissatisfaction is getting quite obviously already. You just cant have a few companies operating in a port, and expect to have equal speed and efficiency as when you have in a much more established port.

Well they want it cheap.....so they have to bear the "inconvenience" that comes with it loh.......:yes:

I guess opportunity cost kicks in all the time.......:yes:

Hmm.....well, sometimes they say its all about being cheap, but think about those customers these shippers are supposed to serve. If they dont want to have their good having to be transported to and from the two ports, then the shipper will just have to see their customers going to other shipping lines loh. ;)

Let's just treat it as a test of "liberal" and "openess" of a society........;)

Let the "fun" begin..........:lol:

Emm....here's the "test" result.......:lol:

Time is GMT + 8 hours
Posted: 19 November 2004 2126 hrs

PSA International loses bid for HK's Asia Container Terminals
By Channel NewsAsia's Hong Kong Correspondent Roland Lim

Port operator, PSA International, has apparently lost out on its bid to acquire a 29 percent stake in Asia Container Terminals in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong's biggest property developer, Sun Hung Kai Properties, told Channel NewsAsia that it had put in a rival bid for ACT, which is part of the Kwai Chung terminals that handle most of the territory's container traffic.

Reports say that offer could be marginally better than PSA's.

When contacted, PSA International declined to comment.

Our correspondent has been tracking this story from Hong Kong.

It seems that Sun Hung Kai's trump-card was the fact that existing shareholders had the right of first refusal.

Sun Hung Kai is also said to be offering to assume part of the seller's debt at Asia Container Terminals of some US$385 million.

So it is doubling its stake in ACT at what appears to be a considerable premium.

The seller, Hongkong Land, reportedly stands to reap up to US$38 million from the deal.

According to the South China Morning Post report, PSA was willing to pay a high premium because it would get them a foothold into the world's biggest container port.

Asia Container Terminal is one of five operators of the Kwai Chung container terminals, which handles the majority of Hong Kong's container traffic.

Word is that Sun Hung Kai only marginally upped their offer in a bid fend of PSA's advances.

However the story is not over because PSA is still in the running for a piece of Hong Kong's port.

It is one of five bidders for CSX Corp's global port assets - CSX is the other majority shareholder of Asian Container Terminals.

If this deal succeeds, then PSA will still win an effective 17 percent stake in Asian Container Terminals, and a minority stake in Asia Terminals, the world's biggest distribution centre,

A decision on CSX's disposals will be known by the end of next month. - CNA

Copyright © 2004 MCN International Pte Ltd

Muahaa....so much for "open contests" eh? :D

Port of S’pore, Dubai Ports bid for stake in Shell project

S RAVINDRAN
Posted online: Monday, November 22, 2004 at 0000 hours IST

MUMBAI, NOV 21: Two of the world’s largest port operators — the Port of Singapore Authority and Dubai Ports Authority — have submitted financial bids for picking up a 74% stake in global energy major Royal Dutch Shell’s proposed multi-cargo port project at Hazira in Gujarat. The project is to be executed through a separate company — Hazira Port Pvt Ltd.

“These two companies have submitted bids for the project and plan to execute the project with other consortium partners, if their bids go through,” sources familiar with the development said.

“As you know, Shell is committed to bringing value-adding partners with specialised expertise & experience to develop our multi-cargo port venture in Hazira. However, for reasons of commercial confidentiality, we are unable to share any details on the same,” a Shell spokesperson told FE.

PSA has investments in 17 port projects spanning 11 countries — Singapore, Belgium, Brunei, China, India, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Portugal, South Korea and Thailand. Last year, it globally handled over 28 million containers in terms of 20-feet equivalent units. However, more than 17 million TEUs came from Singapore alone. DPA handled around five million TEU in 2003, registering a growth of around 23% over the previous year’s figure.

Shell is an energy group and it makes sense to rope in a strategic partner for a port project. The project is a part of the Gujarat government’s efforts to give a fillip to port projects in the state.

The Shell group is already in the process of investing around Rs 3,000 crore for setting up an LNG terminal at Hazira with an initial capacity of around 2.5 million tonne which maybe scaled upto five million tonne depending upon market factors.

Originally, the project was conceived purely as a container port at an investment of around Rs 1,000 crore. However, Shell may invest another Rs 2,000 crore in this project after all the details are worked out. If this happens, Shell’s investment in India will double to around Rs 6,000 crore.

Keppel wins $43m conversion contract

Pipe-laying vessel is same one that gave SembCorp legal woes
By Lee Su Shyan
Companies Correspondent

THE vessel that has caused SembCorp Industries so much grief on the legal front - the Solitaire - is back in the news. Rival conglomerate Keppel Corp yesterday said it has won a 20 million euro (S$43.2 million) conversion contract for it.

The Solitaire, which is the world's largest pipe-laying vessel, will arrive at the Keppel Verolme shipyard in Rotterdam in January for a two-month conversion project. The vessel lays pipes along the seabed to transport oil and gas.

The lucrative contract for Keppel comes as SembCorp is still feeling the fallout from its Solitaire legal wrangle. The problems started in 1993, involving a conversion then by the forerunner of SembCorp, Sembawang Corp.

SembCorp had won a $230 million contract from Swiss-based Allseas to convert the bulk carrier into a pipe-laying vessel.

Allseas complained about a lack of progress and terminated the contract, getting England's Swan Hunter shipyard to complete the job.

The dispute has been with a British arbitration court since 1997, with Allseas claiming more than $700 million plus legal costs, while SembCorp is counterclaiming with $287 million plus legal costs.

In 2002, the court said that Allseas was entitled to terminate the contract. In May this year, the court ruled that Allseas had not breached its obligations by getting Swan Hunter to complete the job.

The latest development is that the court has heard SembCorp's appeal. The decision is still pending.

Meanwhile, work that Keppel will carry out on the Rotterdam-bound Solitaire includes regular repair and maintenance, painting, installing additional buoyancy tanks and carrying out reinforcements to the structure. Earlier this year, Keppel Verolme did some installation works on Solitaire to allow it to lay pipes in even deeper water.

Keppel Verolme aims to be the premier yard for the North Sea and West African markets. The North Sea holds Europe's largest oil and natural gas reserves.

Muahaa....so much for "open contests" eh? :D

Open?? From what we saw, there's more than meets the eye lah.......:lol:

Port of S’pore, Dubai Ports bid for stake in Shell project

S RAVINDRAN
Posted online: Monday, November 22, 2004 at 0000 hours IST

MUMBAI, NOV 21: Two of the world’s largest port operators — the Port of Singapore Authority and Dubai Ports Authority — have submitted financial bids for picking up a 74% stake in global energy major Royal Dutch Shell’s proposed multi-cargo port project at Hazira in Gujarat. The project is to be executed through a separate company — Hazira Port Pvt Ltd.

“These two companies have submitted bids for the project and plan to execute the project with other consortium partners, if their bids go through,” sources familiar with the development said.

“As you know, Shell is committed to bringing value-adding partners with specialised expertise & experience to develop our multi-cargo port venture in Hazira. However, for reasons of commercial confidentiality, we are unable to share any details on the same,” a Shell spokesperson told FE.

PSA has investments in 17 port projects spanning 11 countries — Singapore, Belgium, Brunei, China, India, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Portugal, South Korea and Thailand. Last year, it globally handled over 28 million containers in terms of 20-feet equivalent units. However, more than 17 million TEUs came from Singapore alone. DPA handled around five million TEU in 2003, registering a growth of around 23% over the previous year’s figure.

Shell is an energy group and it makes sense to rope in a strategic partner for a port project. The project is a part of the Gujarat government’s efforts to give a fillip to port projects in the state.

The Shell group is already in the process of investing around Rs 3,000 crore for setting up an LNG terminal at Hazira with an initial capacity of around 2.5 million tonne which maybe scaled upto five million tonne depending upon market factors.

Originally, the project was conceived purely as a container port at an investment of around Rs 1,000 crore. However, Shell may invest another Rs 2,000 crore in this project after all the details are worked out. If this happens, Shell’s investment in India will double to around Rs 6,000 crore.

What a coincidence......first the airports.....now the ports....:lol:

Open?? From what we saw, there's more than meets the eye lah.......:lol:
Haha....notice how they mention the HK media painted it as "HK inc vs Singapore"?? Goodness....so whos to blame for all these rivalries now? ;)

Haha....notice how they mention the HK media painted it as "HK inc vs Singapore"?? Goodness....so whos to blame for all these rivalries now? ;)

Post those articles.......:lol:

Here...:D

Nov 20, 2004
HK property giant pips PSA to stake in port operator

Sun Hung Kai Properties wins the battle for 28.5% of Asia Container
By Audrey Tan
Assistant Money Editor

PSA INTERNATIONAL'S bid to buy into a Hong Kong port operator has been foiled at the eleventh hour by the territory's well-known Kwok brothers.

The Kwoks' Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP) has frozen out PSA to take over Hongkong Land's 28.5 per cent stake in Asia Container Terminals (ACT).

SHKP, a major Hong Kong property player with interests in finance, telecommunications and transport, exercised its right of first refusal as an existing ACT shareholder to buy Hongkong Land's stake.

Hongkong Land and SHKP announced the deal last night, four days after the deadline for existing shareholders to submit counter bids.

It ends weeks of speculation in Hong Kong that other ACT shareholders will pay to keep PSA out after Singapore's port operator made a HK$685 million (S$146.6 million) cash offer to Hongkong Land.

As well as SHKP and Hongkong Land, ACT's shareholders include CSX World Terminals and NWS Holdings.

With its offer to Hongkong Land, PSA was angling for a majority stake in ACT, as it is also contending to buy the port assets of United States-based CSX Corp, which include CSX World Terminals.

If both bids had succeeded, PSA would have become ACT's largest shareholder.

But SHKP said in a statement yesterday that while Hongkong Land had accepted PSA's offer, it had exercised its first right of refusal and snapped up Hongkong Land's entire interest in ACT.

Both parties declined to disclose how much was paid for the stake, which raises SHKP's share of the port operator to 57 per cent.

PSA declined to comment when contacted by The Straits Times yesterday.

The corporate battle has been painted by the Hong Kong media as one of Hong Kong Inc versus Singapore.

The South China Morning Post yesterday reported that 'Hong Kong Inc has rallied to stave off Singapore's aggressive bid to secure its first foothold' in Hong Kong's port.

It added that the Kwoks appeared to be paying an 'extraordinary premium to stop Singapore's state-owned port operator from establishing itself in Hong Kong'.

The brothers - Walter, Raymond and Thomas - along with the Sultan of Brunei and Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka Shing were the only Asians among the top 50 richest individuals in the world, according to London's Sunday Times earlier this year.

PSA was said to be willing to pay a premium to acquire a strategic stake in Hong Kong, the world's busiest port.

But its bid for ACT was always contingent on the tacit approval of the other shareholders who had the right of first refusal under ACT's shareholding agreement.

ACT's assets are two berths in Hong Kong's main container port in Kwai Chung.

There are increasing worries that cheaper ports that have sprung up in south China may eventually erode Hong Kong's status as the transhipment hub for Greater China trade.

But as China's trade continues to boom, Hong Kong's container terminals have still been enjoying growth.

PSA runs container terminals in Dalian, Fuzhou and Guangzhou on the mainland but has yet to establish a presence in Hong Kong.

But Hong Kong may not have seen the last of PSA.

It is said to be one of the front runners for the global port assets of CSX Corp, which is divesting itself of its container terminal portfolio to focus on its core rail business.

PSA's biggest rival for these assets is said to be Mr Li's Hutchison Whampoa but other Hong Kong operators - such as NWS Holdings and the Wharf Group - are also in the race.

Business Times - 24 Nov 2004

PSA bids for Gujarat port project: report

By DONALD URQUHART

(SINGAPORE) PSA International appears to be taking another stab at securing a stake in an Indian port venture with the submission of a financial bid for Royal Dutch Shell's proposed LNG and dry cargo port project in Gujarat. The Singapore-based global container terminal operator has reportedly made a bid for a 74 per cent share in the multi-cargo port project at Hazira, according to India's Financial Express newspaper.

The Dubai Ports Authority - a growing, expansion-minded regional port operator - was also identified as one of the bidders. 'These two companies have submitted bids for the project and plan to execute it with other consortium partners, if their bids go through,' the Express quoted unnamed sources as saying.

A PSA spokesperson declined to comment on the report when contacted by BT yesterday. The Hazira port project was originally conceived purely as a container port, but this was changed to include an LNG (liquified natural gas) import and regasification terminal to help meet the energy needs of Gujarat's industries.

Shell is expected to complete construction of the over US$500 million LNG facility by end-December with imports beginning in the first quarter of 2005. The terminal will have an import capacity of 2.5 million tonnes of LNG annually.

'Shell is committed to bringing value-adding partners with specialised expertise and experience to develop our multi-cargo port venture in Hazira,' the report quoted a Shell spokesperson as saying.

'However, for reasons of commercial confidentiality, we are unable to share any details.'

For PSA this marks yet another attempt to gain a more meaningful foothold in India after recent failures to secure stakes in port tenders in the country, including the key Jawaharlal Nehru Port's third container terminal expansion.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Time is GMT + 8 hours
Posted: 24 November 2004 1642 hrs

PSA Int'l denies reports it is bidding for Hazira port stake
By Melvin Young, Channel NewsAsia

SINGAPORE : PSA International has denied reports that it had submitted a bid for a port project at Hazira, India.

Media reports had said that PSA was planning to buy a 74 percent stake in a multi-cargo port project at Hazira, being built by Royal Dutch Shell Group.

The Dubai Ports Authority was also named as one of the bidders.

PSA says although it had been looking at the project at one time, it did not eventually submit a bid.

The original vision for the Hazira project was to build a container port.

But the idea evolved to include a liquefied natural gas import and regasification terminal to help meet the energy needs of Gujarat's industries.

Construction of the LNG facility, costing more than US$500 million, is supposed to be completed by the end of the year, with imports starting in the first quarter next year.

The terminal can import 2.5 million tonnes of LNG annually. - CNA

Copyright © 2004 MCN International Pte Ltd

Haha...chey.....maybe people think when they highlight PSA's purchases, it creates news? :D

November 30, 2004

Port's systems win innovation awards

By Christopher Lim

TWO projects by the Maritime Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) were among 10 which won awards for innovation last Tuesday.

The winners thought up transport projects related to the land, air and sea. They received the Ministry of Transport's (MOT) Minister Innovation Awards, from Mrs Lim Hwee Hua, Minister of State for Finance and Transport last Tuesday.

The MPA's first project, Vessel Information System, allows ship inspectors to access the previous inspection records of ships, using Internet-enabled personal digital assistants (PDAs).

Seven off-the-shelf Hewlett-Packard iPAQ PDAs have been in use by MPA inspectors since January.

According to project leader Ma Yoke Long, deputy manager of MPA's operation systems, the PDAs have led to time savings as well as removed the need for inspectors to carry around bulky printed documents.

Mr Ma said that the MPA may consider using PDAs to access other MPA systems in future.

The second MPA project, the Digital Tidal Atlas (DTA), is an Internet-based system that can forecast the flow of tides and currents in the Pulau Sudong anchorage area.

This gives ships the option of not hiring harbour pilots and tugs to help them navigate.

Captain Donald D"Cruz, head of the DTA team, said: The DTA system can translate into cost-savings of some $8,000 per vessel.

The DTA is accessible by the public at www.singaporemaritimeportal.com for free.

Copyright © Singapore Press Holdings, 2004. All rights reserved.

"This gives ships the option of not hiring harbour pilots and tugs to help them navigate."

So yaya papaya ah? :D

Singapore Inc triumphs over HK inc? :D

Posted: 30 November 2004 1814 hrs

Singapore's PSA to take majority stake in Hong Kong port operator

SINGAPORE : Singapore's PSA will acquire a 57 percent stake in Hong Kong's Asia Container Terminals (ACT), giving it a slice of the territory's lucrative container business, the port operator said Tuesday.

PSA will buy the stake from Hong Kong real estate developer Sun Hung Kai Properties

"PSA has agreed to buy the 57 percent stake in Asia Container Terminals," the Singapore port operator said in an e-mailed statement to AFP.

PSA declined to disclose the value of the deal but a report in Hong Kong's South China Post on Tuesday quoted unnamed sources saying the Singapore port operator wold pay at least 2.6 billion Hong Kong dollars (333 million dollars).

The newspaper quoted a spokeswoman from Sun Hung Kai saying the company received a "very satisfactory return" for its stake in Asia Container Terminals.

The acquisition appears to be a delayed victory of sorts for PSA, whose bid earlier this month for a 28.5 percent stake in ACT owned by Hongkong Land Holdings was blocked by Sun Hung Kai Properties, which exercised its right to match any bids from outside parties.

Sun Hung Kai Properties raised its ACT stake to 57 percent after buying Hongkong Land Holdings' 28.5 percent interest.

PSA has been agressively expanding its international presence by investing in container terminals in India, China and South Korea, as well as in Europe.

It has long sought a presence in Hong Kong, which is among the world's busiest container ports on the back of the booming Chinese economy.

- AFP

^
Here's a more detailed report........

Time is GMT + 8 hours
Posted: 30 November 2004 2214 hrs

PSA takes 57 percent stake in Hong Kong's Asia Container Terminals
By Roland Lim, Channel NewsAsia

HONG KONG : Port operator PSA International has agreed to acquire a 57 percent stake in Hong Kong's Asia Container Terminal, or ACT, from developer Sun Hung Kai Properties.

No financial details were given, but the deal is reported to be worth US$333 million, with PSA assuming $77 million worth of debt.

Analysts say that puts the selling price at four times the estimated book value.

Three years ago, Asia Container Terminals was worth about US$159 million, so PSA may be paying a huge premium, going by the reported price.

But it indicates just how much PSA wants this strategic foothold in Hong Kong.

PSA has been expanding its international presence aggressively around Asia in recent years.

And now, it has finally landed a presence in Hong Kong, one of the world's busiest container ports.

The purchase comes less than two weeks after PSA lost a bidding battle with Sun Hung Kai Properties to buy Hongkong Land's 29 percent stake in ACT.

ACT is one of five operators in the Kwai Chung container hub, which handles the majority of Hong Kong's container traffic.

But still, it has yet to secure its first customer, despite having acquired two berths there.

Said Francis Lun, general manager at Fulbright Securities, "It's doubtful that with these kind of figures that PSA will be able to make a profit from Terminal 8 in the foreseeable future.

"But you also have to look at it another way: how much is a meaningful contributing stake in Terminal 8 worth? Because Hong Kong is one of the largest ports not only in Asia and China but the world, if PSA is to be a global player in the cargo handling container terminal business, it has to have a contributing stake in one of the key terminals."

ACT aside, PSA is also taking the lead in the race to buy US rail giant CSX Corp 17 percent stake in its global port network.

Reports say PSA is willing to shell out upwards of US$1 billion for its assets in Hong Kong, Germany and Venezuela. - CNA

Copyright © 2004 MCN International Pte Ltd

Its top news on the ST main page. :D

Dec 1, 2004
PSA gains foothold in HK port operations

A 57% stake in Asia Container Terminals after earlier bid failed
By Nicholas Fang
Transport Reporter

PSA International snapped up a majority stake in Hong Kong's Asia Container Terminals (ACT) yesterday to gain a foothold in the much sought after container port business in the Fragrant Harbour. The deal caps a complex and fast-moving series of corporate manoeuvres over the coveted container market.

PSA is buying the stake for an undisclosed price from real estate developer Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP). This was the firm that had dramatically foiled an earlier PSA bid for a smaller stake in ACT, one of Hong Kong's four main terminal operators, when SHKP amassed its shareholding less than two weeks ago.

PSA's plans to widen its global footprint seem to be advancing on another front as well, with reports yesterday that it is leading a group of bidders for CSX World Terminals' global port assets. These include locations in Asia, Europe and Latin America.

PSA's latest acquisition gives the company a crucial entry point into Hong Kong, the home base of its long-standing rival Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH). HPH's Hong Kong International Terminals is the territory's largest port operator. It topped the list of global container terminals last year, handling 41.5 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) containers.

PSA, in second spot, handled 28.7 million TEUs. Industry insiders said PSA's latest deals would move it closer to No. 1 and keep it clear of the chasing pack.

Last month, PSA was pipped to a 28.5 per cent stake in ACT by SHKP, which also has interests in finance, telecommunications and transport. SHKP exercised its right of first refusal as an existing ACT shareholder to buy the stake from Hongkong Land.

Reports at the time said PSA had made a HK$685 million (S$145 million) cash offer to HongKong Land. Although no price was disclosed yesterday for the 57 per cent stake, a report in Hong Kong's South China Morning Post quoted unnamed sources as saying that the deal would cost PSA at least HK$2.6 billion.

The newspaper also quoted a Sun Hung Kai spokesman as saying the company had received a 'very satisfactory return' for the sale of its ACT stake. It also said the deal includes SHKP's portion of ACT's debt, estimated at some HK$600 million. ACT's assets are two berths in Hong Kong's main container port in Kwai Chung.

Some industry watchers believe PSA will pay a significant premium for the ACT stake, compared to its offer bid for the 28.5 per cent last month. Others say it is a small price to pay for a strategic foothold in Hong Kong.

Ms Aveline Chan of Commerzbank Asset Management Asia in Singapore told Bloomberg News yesterday: 'It's always good to extend their global reach, because they can't just rely on their own home markets. It is potentially a good move for them... and a good way to boost themselves ahead of listing in the future.'

PSA declined to comment on the price yesterday. It has expanded its overseas operations in recent years to include 17 ports in 11 countries across Europe, India, East Asia and China. More than a third of its total cargo volume comes from its overseas ports. Its largest acquisition so far has been its Belgium venture, which cost almost $1 billion.

Hong Kong newspapers reported yesterday that PSA is leading the race to snap up CSX World Terminals' assets, which include a further stake in ACT estimated at about 20 per cent, as well as shares in other Hong Kong terminals. CSX World Terminals is owned by United States rail-road operator CSX Corp.

The Post report said firms are required to bid for the entire CSX network, which includes existing terminals or undeveloped sites in ports in China and in South Korea. The bidders include Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-Shing's flagship Hutchison Whampoa and Wharf Holdings.

The media think it's a surprise too......;)


Business Times - 01 Dec 2004

PSA buys HK port stake for HK$3b in surprise turnaround

Seller is HK firm that outbid it some 10 days ago

By DONALD URQUHART

(SINGAPORE) For the princely sum of almost HK$3 billion (S$632 million), PSA International has gained a surprise foothold in Hong Kong's container port, where it looks set to become a major player with its anticipated winning CSX World Terminals bid.

The arrival of PSA on arch-rival Hutchison Port Holdings' territory will be good for Hong Kong's competitiveness, but will come at some cost to existing operators, analysts say.

The first act of the Kwai Chung container terminal drama looked all but over just 10 days ago when Hong Kong developer Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP) pipped PSA's bid for a 28.5 per cent share in Asia Container Terminals (ACT).

That stake, much sought-after by PSA, was held by Jardine Matheson Group's Hong Kong Land Holdings (HKLH).

The acquisition gave SHKP a majority 57 per cent stake in the Kwai Chung terminal. But in a surprise turn of events, SHKP is selling its entire stake to PSA.

Jim Wong, director of regional transport and transport infrastructure with BNP Paribas Hong Kong, estimated the price to be about HK$3 billion. That includes an estimated HK$800 million of debt belonging to each of the SHKP and former-HKLH stakes.

The price was 'a tad on the high side', Mr Wong said. 'But that means that PSA should be highly motivated to make ACT a success.'

The remaining shareholders in the complete - but as yet non-operational terminal - are CSX World Terminals with 19.7 per cent and NWS Holdings.

A PSA spokesman confirmed yesterday that the Temasek-linked group has agreed to buy SHKP's stake in ACT, but declined to comment further.

The sale quickly killed speculation that terminal operators at the world's busiest container port had circled their wagons to protect their home turf from an aggressive foreign foray.

Instead, the deal highlights the business acumen of SHKP, which analysts say is turning a tidy profit of at least HK$1 billion, and has focused the spotlight on PSA's potential leap from non-starter to key contender among the territory's box handlers.

Analysts widely expect PSA to emerge victorious in its bid to acquire the global terminal assets of US-based CSX Corporation, which aside from ACT includes a 67 per cent stake in Kwai Chung's CT3 terminal.

'The market now believes PSA is likely to be winning the bid for the CSX assets given that PSA was relatively aggressive in acquiring the ACT stake and has also been relatively aggressive in the CSX bid,' Mr Wong said. This would have a major impact on the competitive landscape inhabited by existing terminal operators including Hutchison, Wharf Holdings, China Merchants Holdings and Cosco, he added.

The global CSX empire would give PSA majority control of both ACT and CT3, along with minority shareholder NWS. This effectively gives PSA over two million TEUs (20-foot containers) of Hong Kong's annual throughput, compared with Wharf's 2.5 million TEUs and Hutchison's 7.5 million or so TEUs.

PSA will definitely be a key player, Mr Wong said. 'The entry of PSA is good for Hong Kong as a whole, but probably bad for some of the existing operators.

'I think it will be worse for the likes of Hutchison, Wharf and China Merchants who are open to both market share and price competition.'

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

I dunno if its a coincidence, but I notice PSA is like buying over some struggling terminals? No wonder they are up for sale!

Business Times - 07 Dec 2004

NOL's monthly cargo volumes jump 20%

(SINGAPORE) Neptune Orient Lines Ltd, Singapore's biggest shipping line, said it transported 20 per cent more cargo between Oct 16 and Nov 12 from a year earlier, helped by new services and rising export demand. The company's container shipping unit, APL, carried 142,900 40-foot-equivalent container units in the period, it said in a statement to the Singapore Stock Exchange. Average revenue rose 5 per cent to US$2,783, the company said.

'Volumes increased supported by the impact of new services deployed in the second half, healthy utilisation levels and growth in overall ship capacity this year,' the company said. Neptune Orient and other shipping lines are benefiting from rising demand for toys, clothes and other products made in Asia from North America and Europe. About 80 per cent of global trade is carried by sea. Container volumes and freight rates have reached records this year.

Sales from contract logistics services rose 20 per cent to US$70.6 million, while revenue from international services rose 29 per cent to US$28.6 million. - Bloomberg

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Business Times - 07 Dec 2004

TROUBLE AT CAO
Jurong Island oil project to go ahead without CAO

ENOC in talks with new partners for US$150m storage terminal project

By RONNIE LIM

PROJECT Horizon - a planned US$150 million-plus oil storage terminal on Jurong Island - will go ahead despite China Aviation Oil's withdrawal, an Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC) official said yesterday.

'We are already talking to other potential partners,' said Yip Kum Weng, trading manager of ENOC Supply and Trading. But ENOC will go ahead with new partners or not, Mr Yip told BT on the fringes of an energy forum on Sentosa yesterday.

It expects to call construction tenders next month for a first phase terminal of about 700,000 cubic metres, he said.

CAO, which last week reported losses of US$550 million from speculative trades in oil derivatives, pulled out of Project Horizon project last month.

In March, the Chinese company, which has a virtual monopoly on jet fuel imports into China, announced with great fanfare that it would acquire 20 per cent of ENOC's wholly-owned subsidiary Horizon Terminals, which among other things operates tank farms in the Middle East.

CAO said it would then form a joint venture with Horizon to build, own and operate the tank farm project on Jurong Island.

Up until Oct 8, CAO maintained that it was still very much in the project. Indeed, its now-suspended chief executive Chen Jiulin told BT at that time that the partners had agreed to increase the scale from a 500,000 cu m terminal costing US$135 million to a 650,000 cu m terminal costing US$153 million.

Mr Chen said then that under negotiations CAO had concluded with Horizon Terminals, CAO would take a 25 per cent stake in the project, Horizon Terminals would hold the majority 45 per cent and three other parties would have small stakes. At least, that was the plan - until CAO's house of cards crumbled.

As crude oil prices hit historic highs above US$50 a barrel, the company found itself facing outstanding positions on 52 million barrels. So on Oct 10, as its derivative losses mounted, CAO Singapore made its first report of such transactions and the potential losses to its parent.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Just saw on the news.....PSA's bid for CSX may be trumped by an operator from Dubai or something?

Time is GMT + 8 hours
Posted: 09 December 2004 1852 hrs

Dubai Ports International buys CSX's port assets for US$1.15b
By Channel NewsAsia's Hong Kong Reporter Roland Lim

HONG KONG : PSA International has lost out in its bid for CSX's global port assets which include its most profitable terminal in Hong Kong.

Dubai Ports International, the investment arm of the Dubai Port Authority, came up tops with its bid of US$1.15 billion.

Until a few weeks ago, PSA was thought to be the front runner in the race for CSX's port assets in Hong Kong, China, South Korea and Australia.

Thursday's announcement is seen as a blow for PSA, which just bought a 57 percent stake in Asia Container Terminals last month.

When contacted, PSA declined to comment.

According to media reports in Hong Kong, PSA put in a tender of about US$1 billion, short of the US$1.15 billion put up by Dubai Ports.

The Dubai offer is understood to have come in at a very late stage, and analysts say it comes at a huge premium.

Some estimate that the Dubai offer is some 20 times earnings before interest, tax and depreciation.

But its management is confident that business will grow, and says it expects EBITDA to double within the next five years in China alone.

Container Terminal 3 at Hong Kong's main Kwai Chung Container Port is the most profitable asset in CSX's portfolio.

And when the deal is completed in first quarter of next year, Dubai Ports will become the world's sixth biggest container port operator.

The premium paid seems indicative of the rare opportunity to buy Hong Kong, into one of the world's busiest container ports.

Right now, more than 60 percent of the Pearl River Delta's cargo goes through the territory.

Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman, Dubai Ports, said, "This is a growth area, we have confidence in this market..."

Other than Hong Kong, the deal also involves a combined nine terminals, with a total capacity of 14 million TEUs across the globe.

For PSA, Thursday's deal may have more than just one downside.

It means Dubai Ports will own the 29.5 percent stake in Asia Container Terminals, now held by CSX.

And it can scuttle the PSA deal, if it decides to match the offer dollar for dollar.

The option expires on Saturday and Dubai Ports says it is weighing its options.

There is also market speculation that Dubai Ports may try to flip its Asian assets of the CSX network to Hutchison, which is a rival port operator to PSA. - CNA

Copyright © 2004 MCN International Pte Ltd

Business Times - 09 Dec 2004

PSA handled 12% more containers in Nov

SINGAPORE - PSA has reported that it handled 12 per cent more containers last month at its ports globally as demand for products made in Asia increased in Europe and North America.

The port operator handled 2.74 million standard boxes in November, an increase from 2.44 million a year earlier.

PSA handled 1.69 million containers in Singapore last month and traffic at the ports in which PSA invests, such as China's Dalian and Belgium's Antwerp, rose 15 per cent to 1.06 million.

PSA handled 30.2 million standard containers globally in the first 11 months of this year, 16 per cent more than the same period in 2003.

In Singapore, it was 18.8 million containers in the same period, a 14 per cent rise from last year's 16.5 million boxes.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Wah...the menouverings of the port purchase is really intriguing to watch!

I hope PSA dosent manage to buy anything in Hong Kong, and I hope Dubai decides to sell off some parts of its global acusition to PSA! :D

Dec 11, 2004
CSX deal tags Dubai as emerging port of call

Don't write off DPI which has solid domestic track record, say analysts
By Nicholas Fang
TRANSPORT REPORTER

WATCH out for the bold new kid on the global port scene.

That is the warning from industry observers to established port giants such as Singapore's PSA International and Hong Kong's Hutchison Whampoa after a stunning coup this week by Dubai Ports International (DPI).

A relative unknown, DPI burst onto the scene on Thursday, upstaging the world's top two container port operators, with its successful eleventh hour US$1.15 billion (S$1.9 billion) bid for CSX World Terminals' international port assets.

The appearance of DPI, the international investment arm of state-owned Dubai Ports Authority, in the bidding process surfaced only last week and seemed to have caught the leading contenders for the deal - PSA and Hutchison - napping.

Some observers have looked down their noses at DPI's ability to run an international port network with operations spanning Asia, Europe and the Americas, given its relatively small size and lack of international experience.

But other experts warn it would be dangerous to write off Dubai as a potential challenger to the industry leaders, given its modest but solid track record in running its domestic port operations.

Mr John Ong, who runs Singapore port and shipping marketing consultancy firm Channel & Trends, said Dubai has a reputation as a credible port operator at its home port.

'There is a belief that the port is just there to support the free trade zone in Dubai and that it doesn't make much money. But they have operated it well and shipping lines rarely complain when they call there,' he said.

Other pundits say Dubai bears some resemblance to PSA in terms of operational ability before the Singapore port operator decided to venture abroad, although it is not quite in PSA's league yet.

IDEAglobal economist Nizam Idris told The Straits Times that while Dubai should not be discounted as a future rival, PSA should bear in mind that winning and losing deals is part of doing business on an international stage.

'They should not lose sight of the big picture and remember to focus on the war and not just one lost battle. It's all part of the drive towards internationalisation,' he said.

Prior to the CSX deal, DPI did not rank among the top 10 global port operators and was expecting to handle some 7.8 million standard containers or 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) globally this year, compared to the 28.7 million that PSA moved last year.

DPI said yesterday that the CSX deal, which involves nine terminals with 24 berths around the world and a projected future capacity of 14.6 million TEUs, would move it up to sixth place in the global rankings.

It already runs ports in the Middle East, India and Romania among others, and the CSX deal will give it a valuable North Asia foothold with operations in South Korea, China and Hong Kong.

One market-watcher said that the reason DPI was willing to pay such a hefty price for CSX was the strategic North Asia assets.

He also pointed out the similarities between this and PSA's recent bid for Hong Kong's Asia Container Terminals (ACT), estimated at some HK$2.6 billion (S$559 million), which was also viewed as being over-priced.

When asked about rumours that PSA's archrival Hutchison, which is owned by Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka Shing, could be manoeuvring to keep PSA out of its backyard at all costs - including a possible collaboration with DPI - industry insiders said this was an unlikely scenario.

'Hutchison has the Hong Kong market pretty well sewn up and I doubt Mr Li will be too bothered if PSA gets the 57 per cent stake in ACT, which has only two berths anyway,' said a local analyst.

'If DPI chooses to exercise its right to match PSA's offer for ACT, which they can now do after acquiring the option from CSX, they would have to pay the high premium for ACT anyway on top of their CSX outlay, and this doesn't make much business sense.'

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Joining the big league

PRIOR to the CSX deal, Dubai Ports International (DPI) did not rank among the top 10 global port operators and was expecting to handle some 7.8 million standard containers or 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) globally this year, compared with the 28.7 million that PSA Cannot distribute vertically moved last year.

DPI said yesterday that the CSX deal, which involves nine terminals with 24 berths around the world and a projected future capacity of 14.6 million TEUs, would move it up to sixth place in the global rankings.

Time is GMT + 8 hours
Posted: 14 December 2004 1647 hrs

Shell moves to design, engineering phase of proposed S$1.6b naphtha cracker
By Melvin Yong, Channel NewsAsia

SINGAPORE : Shell says it is moving ahead with plans for a major petrochemical cracker in Singapore.

The naphtha cracker project is potentially worth at least S$1.6 billion.

And it doesn't include other possible multi-million dollar investments in downstream chemical plants.

Shell says the next phase will involve a detailed design and engineering package for building the cracker on Pulau Bukom.

The facility is expected to produce about 1 million tonnes of ethylene a year.

Construction is expected to start in 2006 and the plant is scheduled to be operational in the first half of 2009.

The project will involve modifications and additions to the existing Bukom refinery owned by Shell Eastern Petroleum.

It will also include building a new world-scale ethylene cracker on Bukom Island, and a new mono-ethylene-glycol or MEG plant on Jurong Island.

Both the cracker and the MEG plant will benefit from integration with Shell's existing investments in Singapore.

The plans for the cracker had been put on hold in May this year, when Shell's long-time partner Sumitomo pulled out of the joint-venture project to focus on a US$4.3 billion petrochemical complex in Saudi Arabia.

Shell told Channel NewsAsia it's going ahead with the Singapore project without Sumitomo.

But it remains committed to its existing partnership with Sumitomo through Petrochemical Corporation of Singapore.

PCS is a 50:50 joint venture between Shell Chemicals and a Japanese consortium led by Sumitomo Chemicals.

PCS is expected to have a commercial relationship with the project that builds on the existing infrastructure of the Merbau complex on Jurong Island.

Shell is building the Singapore cracker to meet growth demand in the region for petrochemicals.

It's collaborating with the Singapore Economic Development Board.

Detailed discussions on the next phase will take place next year.

The EDB says the talks will include the issue of equity stakes.

Crackers serve to break down heavier hydrocarbons into lighter products with higher commercial value.

One of those lucrative products is ethylene, a major petrochemical used in things like plastics, synthetic fibres, solvents and paints. - CNA

Copyright © 2004 MCN International Pte Ltd

Business Times - 14 Dec 2004

2 investors to replace CAO in Jurong project

EMIRATES National Oil Co (Enoc) has found two other shareholders to replace crippled China Aviation Oil (CAO) in a planned oil storage terminal on Jurong Island and hopes to increase the capacity to 720,000 cubic metres, industry sources said yesterday.

The shareholders' identities will be withheld until early next year, while the project seeks bids for construction tenders in the coming weeks, the source said.

The terminal is currently envisioned to have a capacity of 720,000 cubic metres and have three jetties, which could raise project costs above US$150 million.

Completion is set for July or August 2006.

Through wholly owned subsidiary Horizon Terminals, Enoc entered into a deal with CAO in March this year to build the independent oil terminal. But CAO, which is now seeking court protection from its creditors following US$550 million in speculative oil trading losses, pulled out at the start of November.

As late as Oct 8, CAO had optimistically told the media that the terminal's planned capacity had been increased from the original 500,000 cubic metres to 650,000 cubic metres.

But in an affidavit submitted to the Singapore courts, former CAO chief executive Chen Jiulin said CAO on Oct 10 was in such dire need of cash to cover its positions on speculative oil derivatives that it approached its China state-controlled parent for help.

The company has engaged Deloitte & Touche Financial Advisory Services to help draft a restructuring plan, which must be filed with the Singapore High Court within six weeks.

The Horizon project was one of several key investments announced by CAO that have fallen through since the company started racking up its trading losses.

Satya Capital, a consortium of Indonesian investors, has sued CAO and its parent company for at least $47.2 million after the parent blocked Satya's planned sale of a 20.6 per cent Singapore Petroleum Co stake to CAO in November.

UK-listed Fortune Oil Co, which had been planning to sell a 24.5 per cent stake in South China Bluesky Aviation Oil Co to CAO, has also said it is now 'considering alternative ways forward'.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Business Times - 20 Dec 2004

PSA valuation seen driven by overseas gains

It could be as high as 16x earnings if port operator buys aggressively

By JOYCE KOH

WITH PSA's listing back in the speculative spotlight, valuation of the port operator takes centre stage. And market watchers say that it hinges on PSA's overseas growth.

If PSA shows it can be aggressive in acquiring ports around the world and its overseas operations are able to drive the bottom line, then valuation could be toppish at 14-16 times earnings.

On the other hand, should PSA be seen to be hampered by the shrinking local market and intense overseas competition, it would have to fall back on its stable dividends and strong cashflow to attract investors.

In its last annual report, PSA, which employs 12,144 people, reported FY2003 earnings of $682.7 million and turnover of $3.4 billion. Its net assets stand at $3.44 billion, and it has cash and cash equivalents of $1.45 billion.

Back in 2002, when PSA aborted its listing aspirations, its parent Temasek Holdings had said it would review the possibility again 'when the market is more conducive'.

Temasek spokeswoman Eva Ho added at the time: 'We expect PSA's overseas investments to contribute strongly over the next couple of years. Before that happens, we think it may not be prudent to go ahead with the IPO.'

These are the same issues market watchers are once again raising.

Said Kevin Scully, managing director of Netresearch-Asia: 'Is there going to be any compelling earnings story? When SingTel listed, 70 per cent of its business came from Singapore, but today this is less than 50 per cent. PSA has to start demonstrating it can do the same.'

Mr Scully added that investors would be interested to know if PSA's listing would be a vendor or new share issue, since the former might just mean that its major shareholders are divesting.

Indeed, analysts say the question of where growth is going to come from is especially pertinent for PSA's valuation since Singapore's role as a manufacturing and regional hub looks to be declining as it moves more into services and high-value-added industries.

Market watchers say that with PSA's own ability to generate tonnage likely to fall, and neighbouring ports such as Malaysia's Tanjung Pelepas up and running, PSA needs to stamp its presence in overseas markets such as China and Indochina to arrest pressure on rates and to tap those growing economies.

Others, however, remain sanguine about PSA's prospects, noting that as a 'national asset', it is in a 'uniquely strong position' in tying up overseas deals.

Said one analyst with a foreign bank: 'I am surprised that the listing hasn't taken place since throughput last year had been very strong and had hit historical highs both in terms of volume and financials. It might make more sense to capture the upturn rather than the peak.'

But he noted that with greater global economic growth in the pipeline and more free trade agreements expected to be signed, port operations can be a booming business - and PSA will have to convince investors of that.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

21 December 2004

MPA to reduce Singapore's port fees from 1st January 2005
By Michael Lim, Channel NewsAsia

SINGAPORE : Some good news for ship owners whose vessels are calling at Singapore's port.

The Maritime and Port Authority is revising down its port fees starting from 1st January next year to make Singapore's port more competitive.

The review will cover 3 sectors within the maritime industry: ship repairs, bunkering and cruises.

It is not yet Christmas, but the shipping community already has something to cheer about.

From Jan 1, the rate for vessels undergoing shipyard repairs exceeding 95 days will be reduced by 50 per cent.

Vessels staying at the port for less than 24 hours as well as seasonally-based passenger ships will also see a 20 per cent rate reduction.

Those making at least six calls in the period of six months will be able to enjoy a 20 per cent rebate.

Yeo Cheow Tong, Minister for Transport, said: "These revisions in port dues are expected to benefit some 4,000 ships annually and save about S$2.5 million a year for the shipping community. If we add to this the existing 20 percent port dues concession for container ships, it means a total savings of some S$8 million per annum for the shipping community."

That's not all.

MPA will be reducing its rates by 20 percent for car carrier operators who are committed to growing their car trans-shipment business in Singapore.

Choo Chiau Beng, Chairman and CEO, Keppel Offshore and Marine, said: "I think the industry will be very happy that the government has taken a very pro-industry trend to attract shipowners to repair their ships in Singapore."

Heng Chiang Gnee, President, Association of Singapore Marine Industries, said: "I am sure the industry players will see that it is a very positive. I think in terms of comparing ourselves with other shipyards in other parts of the world currently in term of port dues we are still high. So such a reduction will certainly help the industry."

Transport minister Yeo Cheow Tong says 2004 promises to be another record-breaking year for Singapore's port

It was a historic maritime moment for the city state on Tuesday as total vessel arrivals for its port crossed the one billion gross ton mark.

Cosco Shanghai, which arrived at 8 o'clock in the morning, helped set the 185-year record.

Singapore is expected to maintain its position as the world's busiest port in terms of shipping tonnage, ahead of Rotterdam and Hong Kong.

The city state is also the number one bunkering hub in the world. - CNA

Copyright © 2004 MCN International Pte Ltd

MPA slashes port dues to bolster S'pore's position

22 Dec 04

Move will benefit 4,000 ships, with $2.5m in fees saved

By DONALD URQUHART

(SINGAPORE) Upping the ante in a competitive industry, the Maritime & Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) has slashed port dues in a bid to maintain Singapore's status as a regional maritime hub.


The move is expected to benefit nearly 4,000 vessels calling here annually, amounting to total savings of nearly $2.5 million. Combined with the ongoing 20 per cent concession on port dues for container vessels, the total savings amount to about $8 million a year, the MPA said.

The reduced tariffs were announced by the MPA yesterday at a ceremony marking the handling of more than one billion gross tons at PSA Corporation's Pasir Panjang container terminal.

'It's a gesture and that's because port dues do not make up a large part of the cost of calling at a port,' Transport Minister Yeo Cheow Tong told reporters. 'But for the MPA, it is a big gesture as it is a significant reduction in what the MPA is collecting,' he added.

Asked about PSA's competitiveness, where box-handling charges make up a far larger proportion of a container vessel's expenses when calling at Singapore, Mr Yeo said: 'The government can play a small part, but the biggest part really is PSA as a key port operator.'

Mr Yeo added that PSA had increased its competitiveness over the last two to three years. On PSA's recent failure in its bid for the global container terminal assets of US-based CSX Corporation, which included prime Hong Kong terminals, Mr Yeo said: 'I think they are being prudent in the amount they are prepared to pay.

'If you have unlimited funds, you can pay any amount; but the amount you pay may make the project uncompetitive, so I think PSA has to be very careful in how it bids for projects to ensure the price it pays is the reasonable one, the fair one and results in the project being viable.'

On PSA's bid for a 57 per cent stake in Asia Container Terminals (ACT) from Hong Kong's Sun Hung Kai Properties, PSA International's chief executive officer Eddie Teh declined to be drawn into discussion.

The revision in port dues, to take effect from Jan 1 next year, was taken after consultation with industry participants.

In particular, the new port charges will benefit vessels calling at the port for periods of less than 24 hours for the sole purpose of taking on bunker and ship supplies, or for crew changes. These ships will now pay $1.80 per 100 gross tons.

In a bid to woo more offshore oil and gas business to Singapore shipyards, port dues for vessels undergoing shipyard repairs for more than 95 days in duration will be cut by 50 per cent to $0.50 per 100 gross tons.

This typically includes conversion jobs for floating production storage offloading vessels - an area in which Singapore is a global leader.

And to regain lost cruiseship business, passenger vessels of 300 gross tons and above will get a 20 per cent rebate on port dues subject to various conditions. These include requirements that vessels make at least six calls at PSA terminals or the Singapore Cruise Centre within a six month period under the same agent.

Some praise from the customer of PSA......:yes:

December 22, 2004

S'pore cuts port fees by 20-50%

Move to sharpen competitive edge, attract more ships

By Khushwant Singh

SINGAPORE, already the world's busiest port and the leading bunkering hub, has further sharpened its competitive edge by announcing cuts in port dues yesterday.

From January, vessels sailing in to pick up bunker oil and ship supplies or to change crew, and are in port for less than 24 hours will enjoy a 20 per cent reduction in port dues to $1.80 per 100 gross tonnes.

Ships can go up to 16,500 gross tonnes and beyond.

There is also a 50 per cent discount for vessels undergoing long-term repairs, and other discounts for large passenger vessels and car-carrier operators, which call here regularly.

These discounts would total $2.5 million in savings next year for shipping operators.

Transport Minister Yeo Cheow Tong announced these discounts yesterday at a ceremony marking the first-ever crossing of the one billion gross-tonne mark in terms of shipping tonnage within a year.

Addressing a 100-strong audience comprising diplomats and members of the shipping community at the Pasir Panjang Terminal building, he said that the reductions would take effect from Jan 1.

Reacting to the cuts, Mr Nick Papadeas, director of Ceres Shipping, said: Singapore already offers one of the lowest rates among major ports and these discounts will definitely attract more ships.

He also praised the service offered to shipping operators by the Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) and the Port of Singapore Authority (PSA).

He said: Pick up the phone any time of the day or night and somebody will look into your problem and rectify it. There are few ports in the world with this level of efficiency.

The vessel, which helped the port cross the one billion shipping tonnage mark, is the 65,531 gross-tonne container ship, Cosco Shanghai.

Cosco is the biggest shipping line in China and in December last year, it embarked on a joint venture with PSA to develop two dedicated berths at Pasir Panjang Terminal.

In his speech, Mr Yeo said: We will maintain our position as the world's busiest port in terms of shipping tonnage, ahead of Rotterdam and Hong Kong.

Singapore will also retain its position as the number one bunkering hub in the world with total bunker sales expected to rise by 12 per cent to reach more than 23 million tonnes this year.

Mr Yeo also said that the high level of understanding and trust between PSA and its two trade unions was a competitive advantage which Singapore offers to investors and customers.

He added that this good industrial relationship enabled PSA to quickly overcome the port congestion problems it faced earlier this year, when there was a huge surge in the number of ships calling at the port.

Copyright © Singapore Press Holdings, 2004. All rights reserved.

Business Times - 22 Dec 2004

Lower port dues may hasten PSA listing

Move will make it more competitive and boost its appeal to investors: analysts

By JOYCE KOH

BESIDES benefiting the Port of Singapore Authority (PSA), the lower port dues announced yesterday look set to hasten the pace for a possible PSA listing, said analysts. The steps to protect PSA's current business by upping its competitiveness vis-a-vis other regional players will boost its attractiveness among investors, market watchers told BT yesterday.

'It is positive for PSA since it makes it more competitive, but it is also positive for a flotation since it looks like the government is preparing it for listing,' said Wong Kok Hoi at APS Asset Management. 'These things are seldom coincidental.'

BT reported on Monday that after a three-year hiatus, some market insiders think the world's second busiest container port could finally be ready for a listing on the Singapore Exchange.

Yesterday, Singapore's Transport Minister Yeo Cheow Tong said port fees will be lowered for ships calling to take on supplies or to change crew, as well as for some cruise ships and car carriers.

But even as analysts applaud the move to improve overall cost competitiveness at the port, some are sceptical this will really boost business for PSA, calling it a 'defensive strategy'.

'Its business volume might not go up since there's only a certain cargo going through Singapore. Basically, this will deter people to go elsewhere,' said Kevin Scully, managing director of Netresearch-Asia. 'It (lower port fees) is to prevent more traffic from going over to lower cost ports rather than to attract new shippers,' he reckoned.

Mr Scully noted even though PSA has an edge over other regional port operators because of its faster turnaround time, the fact that port dues have to be slashed could signal it is in danger of losing business to other players.

Indeed, while still small compared with PSA, Tanjung Pelepas has often been seen as a nifty challenger to PSA's business. The Johor-based port most notably clinched two of PSA's biggest customers, Maersk Sealand and Evergreen Marine Corp, in 2000 and 2002 respectively.

The Johor-based port is expected to exceed the four million TEUs mark by the end of the year. Last Thursday, its chief executive Mohd Sidik Shaik Osman said in an interview with Lloyd's FTB Asia: 'Newbuildings are at an all-time high, global trade is still high. We need to continue investing in facilities and equipment to meet expectations of even higher productivity and turnaround.'

Certainly, the fee-cutting exercise announced yesterday is only part of an ongoing process to make PSA more competitive.

After it lost its Evergreen business to Tanjung Pelepas, PSA cut handling charges for empty containers by half and fees at its cargo terminals by 10 per cent. It also allowed shipping lines to take stakes in its terminals, and embarked on an expansion strategy outside its Singapore base, acquiring more port terminals in countries including Belgium, China and Japan.

In July last year, the port operator cut the wages of virtually all its 5,182 staff based here by up to 14 per cent, and said it was revising its wage system.

In March this year, Transport Minister Mr Yeo said that while PSA faces strong challenges from other emerging regional ports, the government will continue to release more land for container terminal development to meet Asia's growing cargo volumes, and keep a tight rein on costs to remain competitive.

'The Singapore government will continue working with our port operators to help them enhance their cost competitiveness,' he said then.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Dec 22, 2004
PSA close to gaining foothold in Tianjin

PSA International is close to obtaining a foothold in the northern Chinese port of Tianjin under a joint venture with three other partners, reports said yesterday.

PSA will join Orient Overseas (International), P&O Nedlloyd and Tianjin Port Group in a US$200 million (S$329.6 million) deal to build, manage and operate a new terminal complex in the city, a two-hour drive from Beijing.

Sources close to the deal said yesterday that the shareholding structure of the joint venture had been agreed upon, Hong Kong's South China Morning Post (SCMP) newspaper reported. 'We are just waiting for some of the listed firms to gain approval from their shareholders,' a source was quoted as saying.

The SCMP report said that Orient Overseas, P&O and PSA would each take 20 per cent stakes in the Tianjin venture, expected to start next year. It will involve extending the port's waterfront by 1.1km, creating space for a further three or four berths.

Trade journal Lloyd's List reported on Monday that a signing ceremony for the deal had been carried out last week but PSA declined to comment yesterday.

The project could give a welcome boost to PSA's international expansion plans, which faltered over its recent aggressive bid for CSX World Terminals' international assets, which included operations in Tianjin.

That deal would have secured PSA its first operations in northern China apart from Dalian, where it made its first foray in the mid-1990s.

But Dubai Ports International (DPI) outbid it. Missing out on the deal also dented PSA's ambitions to gain a foothold in Hong Kong through CSX's shareholding in Asia Container Terminals (ACT), one of the main terminal operators there.

The SCMP report also said that PSA's plans to acquire a 57 per cent stake in ACT from Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP) could be in jeopardy as ACT's other shareholders were said to be preparing to exercise their options to match PSA's offer.

The deadline for exercising options was understood to have been on Monday. When contacted then, DPI and SHKP declined to comment. \-- NICHOLAS FANG

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

Business Times - 23 Dec 2004

PSA in the dark over Asia Container Terminals bid

(SINGAPORE) PSA International Pte, operator of the world's second-biggest port, has not been told whether its bid for Hong Kong terminal operator Asia Container Terminals Ltd is being overridden by existing shareholders, group chief executive Eddie Teh said.

PSA International said on Nov 30 it would buy Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd's 57 per cent stake in Asia Container Terminals for an undisclosed amount. Original shareholders CSX World Terminals, which was acquired by Dubai Ports International this month, and NWS Holdings Ltd, then said they have pre-emptive rights to block the deal and buy the stake themselves.

'We don't really know what's happening,' Mr Teh said on Tuesday. 'We don't have any access into the internal shareholders arrangements and haven't been informed of the outcome yet.'

Dubai Ports International on Dec 9 successfully bid US$1.15 billion to beat PSA's offer for the port unit of CSX Corp, the third-largest US railroad operator. The deal was a blow to PSA's expansion ambitions, as CSX World Terminals owns 29.5 per cent of Asia Container Terminals, and also operates a network of global terminals.

The CSX takeover first raised the possibility Dubai Ports would also veto PSA's offer, in a second blow to the Singapore-based company's Hong Kong ambitions. NWS said it may also exercise its rights, according to a Dec 13 report in the Hong Kong Economic Journal.

Spokespeople for the companies would not comment on their decisions although the deadline passed at 5pm Hong Kong time on Monday.

Asia Container Terminals operates two berths at container terminal 8 in Kwai Chung. - Bloomberg

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Dec 23, 2004
SHIPBUILDING ORDERS
Jurong Shipyard pulls in $143m deals

JURONG Shipyard, a subsidiary of listed SembCorp Marine, has won two shipbuilding contracts worth $143 million from Taiwan's Wan Hai Lines.

The shipping line is also keen to have Jurong Shipyard repair its ships.

'In addition to shipbuilding, Wan Hai and Jurong Shipyard should look into expanding in the business relationship to cover shiprepair activities,' said Wan Hai chairman Chen Chao-Hon.

'Jurong Shipyard, with her shiprepair facilities in both China and Singapore, could serve as an alliance partner to service Wan Hai's container fleet dry docking requirements,' he said at a signing ceremony.

Wan Hai's new orders for the two 2,646 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) container ships were signed in Taipei recently and brought the total order from Wai Hai to six container ships.

SembCorp Marine senior vice-president for marketing Chua Teck Lian said it looked forward to expanding its cooperation with Wan Hai to include shiprepair.

Jurong Shipyard will start building the first ship in the second quarter of next year, with the second one to follow in the third quarter. Both vessels are scheduled for delivery in 2007.

SembCorp Marine shares yesterday slipped two cents to $1.23.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

Wohoo....PSA saved some cash today! :D

Wohoo....PSA saved some cash today! :D

They should just buy other ports in China........:lol:

They should just buy other ports in China........:lol:
Hiak hiak hiak.....most important, is to go buy into Shenzhen instead! ;)

24 December 2004

Analysts say shipper NOL in good shape to go into the new year
By Michael Lim, Channel NewsAsia

SINGAPORE : One company that came under the spotlight this year was Neptune Orient Lines.

And that's after investment company Temasek Holdings surprised the markets with a general offer for the company.

The move has caused much speculation about the future of the shipping line.

It came as a big surprise to the market in August when investment firm Temasek Holdings made a general offer for all the remaining shares of Neptune Orient Lines that it did not already owned.

It is now three months after the event, and Temasek owns some 69 percent of the shipping line - but there is still plenty of speculation as to why Temasek made the move in the first place.

Kevin Scully, Managing Director, Net Research Asia, NRA Capital, said: "I think it's still not clear. I think there was some speculation NOL was about to make a major acquisition and there would be no dominant shareholders. So I think Temasek wanted to protect Singapore's interest."

Chris Sanda, Associate Director, Equity Research, DBS Vickers Securities, said: "There is always recurring rumours that they will be out there buying something. NOL has consistently message that they are looking to prudently acquire capacity. I don't think they are going to go out there and do a big giant blockbuster deal. The last time they did a big blockbuster deal it almost cost them the entire company."

But that speculation aside, there are also other questions still waiting to be answered such as Temasek's future plans for NOL.

Temasek has said that it will not change the operations at NOL.

But there was talk it would completely privatise the shipping line.

Then again - there are some who think the direct opposite might happen.

Mr Scully said: "If you look at it, it's actually one of the companies that has been identified as non-core holding by Temasek. So to me they should actually divest if no acquisition really materialises in the next 12 to 24 months."

Even as the market awaits clearer signs from Temasek about the future for NOL, one thing is for sure.

As a company, NOL is in pretty good shape.

The shipping line has benefited from a rising demand for cargo, thanks to an improving economy.

And expectations are, that demand will continue to rise - allowing NOL to raise freight rates.

Chris Sanda said: "NOL the company is doing exceptionally well. They are adding capacity very prudently. Their rates are going up quite nicely. They are looking quite good in 2005. They are controlling cost quite nicely...their profits are growing quite well and they should continue to grow well into 2005."

But there are downside risks.

Some analysts warn that an impending slowdown in the global economy may impede growth.

And competition may become more intense - as rival shipping lines take delivery of new super large container ships.

Mr Scully said: "There is a lot of new capacity coming on stream. So I think business will start to slowdown especially when rates start to ease off and there could be a little bit more competition in terms of rate for cargo."

But until then, its performance this year should put NOL in good stead to fight for its market share. - CNA

Copyright © 2004 MCN International Pte Ltd

Business Times - 28 Dec 2004

Some port delays, but no major damage to shipping

But ports in Sri Lanka and eastern India are closed

By DONALD URQUHART

(SINGAPORE) Shipping in the region escaped relatively unscathed from the deadly wave surges that swept across South and South-east Asian waters on Sunday. But ports along India's east coast and Sri Lanka were forced to close as water levels rose.

For the hundreds of ocean-going commercial ships that ply the waters of the Indian Ocean and adjoining waters it was pretty much a day as any other, with most shipping executives polled by BT indicating no damage to vessels or injuries to crew. This included one vessel belonging to Singapore-based Pacific International Lines (PIL), which was located nearly on the epicentre of the earthquake responsible for the monster surges. According to PIL managing director SS Teo, the vessel's crew felt virtually nothing.

The reason ships at sea were not affected is because the destructive potential of a quake-generated wave is only realised close to shore as the water becomes shallow, according to Lee Fook Hou, associate professor of engineering at the National University of Singapore.

'In deep water, the tsunami is often not so obvious and not so damaging because there is a lot of water depth to hold the energy,' Prof Lee said.

'The problem is when it hits the coastline, the water depth becomes much shallower, and this transforms the tsunami into the damaging large wave that we have come to know.'

But the force of Sunday's waves did cause varying degrees of damage to ports along India and Sri Lanka's eastern coastlines.

While PSA International's Tuticorin Container Terminal on India's south-east coast was not damaged according to a PSA spokesperson, the Port of Chennai to the north did not escape the ocean's wrath.

Three ships collided in port after their mooring lines snapped, damaging a quay crane and Hyundai cars waiting for export.

At the container terminal, half-a-dozen boxes were washed off the pier, but most of these have been accounted for, although port operations there have been suspended.

PIL's Mr Teo said one vessel of the consortium PIL is a member of is waiting to dock, and the company is assessing damage to containers that were sitting dock-side.

Similarly, Bengal Tiger Line director Bill Smart said that while there was no damage to any of BTL's vessels, the Chennai closure means a delay of three days per vessel, if the port is up and running by last night.

Regional Container Line reported no impact on its operations, adding: 'We will monitor all our ships deployed around and plying through the affected areas to ensure that they keep their usual schedules with business as normal.'

At least one vessel was not so lucky. Singapore-based Sea Consortium's container ship Jaami had the bad luck to enter Sri Lanka's Colombo port just as waves pounded the island nation.

The vessel was pushed into the breakwater repeatedly. The hull was punctured and the vessel took on water, forcing the crew to abandon ship.

Salvage operations are about to get under way, a spokesman for the company said last night.

A Neptune Orient Lines spokesperson said one of its APL container ships was temporarily delayed at Colombo following the completion of cargo operations as port authorities closed the port following the wave surges.

The impact of the surges was felt as far away as Oman, where a Maersk Sealand vessel was grounded in Salalah Port.

Meanwhile, not far from the epicentre of the underwater earthquake, ExxonMobil Oil Indonesia reported a minor disruption to gas processing. The problem was fixed on Sunday afternoon, a spokesperson said.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Dec 29, 2004
QUAKE AFTERMATH
Freight rate hikes unlikely as port damage is limited

By Nicholas Fang
Transport Correspondent

FREIGHT rates are unlikely to rise in the wake of Sunday's tsunami disaster as most ports in the region suffered minimal damage, said shipping lines yesterday.

Most major shipping players said the bulk of the damage had been restricted to urban or tourist areas and had left commercial and port districts largely untouched.

However, one line - Thailand's Precious Shipping - said there might be a hardening of rates as countries increase shipment of supplies to affected areas.

Precious Shipping's managing director, Mr Khalid Hasim, told Bloomberg News yesterday: 'I suspect freight rates will start to harden in areas where ships have been caught in congestion or unable to load and discharge cargo.

'The industry unfortunately thrives on disasters.'

He added that there would likely be an increase in the amount of steel, cement and wood carried into these areas as rebuilding begins.

But other mainline operators said that their operations have seen little impact and that they do not expect significant increases in rates in the immediate future.

Mr Ji Hai Sheng, president of Singapore-listed shipping firm Cosco Corp, said the company's operations in Malaysia, India, Bangladesh and Singapore had not experienced any delays or disruptions.

He told The Straits Times yesterday: 'Most of the damage was in scenic areas and not at ports or commercial districts. In fact, our offices in Sri Lanka said that there was no effect on our operations there.'

But he also agreed that there may be an increase in the shipment of cargo from international aid organisations to the worst-hit areas.

'Most of this will be air cargo but there may be a spillover into sea freight,' he said.

Other lines, such as Singapore's Neptune Orient Lines, Taiwan's Wan Hai and global giant P&O Nedlloyd, said operations are unaffected.

Among some of the ports affected by the recent disaster, the major ports of Chennai and Colombo in the Bay of Bengal, were shut immediately after the first waves hit on Sunday, but both were operating yesterday.

Bengal Tiger Lines (BTL), a feeder line which operates two vessels to Chennai from Colombo and four from Singapore, said that two out of six quay cranes at Chennai had been damaged by the tsunamis, creating delays of four to five days per vessel.

BTL director Bill Smart said there had also been some delays in Colombo. 'I understand this is a manpower issue as there have been slowdowns in the local transport systems there and this has meant some delays in workers getting to the port,' he said.

But he said it was too early to assess the cost implications of these delays and the subsequent impact on freight rates.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

Dec 31, 2004
New ferry terminal to open

THE new ferry terminal that replaces the two existing jetties at Changi Point will open next Wednesday.

And when it does, the area surrounding the two jetties will be converted into a waterfront park and a walkway overlooking Changi Creek.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), which is developing the site, is still studying the plans, and no decision has been made on the size of the area to be re-developed or the time frame for its completion.

A spokesman for the URA was only able to say that the old jetties will be demolished and dredging will be carried out 'so that the unsightly seabed will not be exposed during low tide'.

The new terminal, located next to the jetties, will have seven berths for boats sailing to islands in Singapore waters and another for vessels sailing to Pengerang in Johor, as well as a lounge for passengers, and its own customs, immigration and quarantine facilities.

Pengerang, a fishing town and eco-tourist destination, is located at the eastern tip of Peninsula Malaysia, 10km from Desaru.

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), which will manage the terminal, said in a statement that the new premises will be able to handle more than the 450 or so travellers who use it daily.

People travelling to Pulau Ubin or Pengerang make up the bulk of these passengers.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

Saw an article which says that Singapore has most likely maintained its world number 1 position with 390 billion metric tons of cargo for the year 2004, while Shanghai has overtaken Rotterdam with 380 billion tons! Rotterdam has 354 billion tons.

01 January 2005

PSA waives port charges for transportation of relief supplies
By Debra Soon, Channel NewsAsia

SINGAPORE : PSA is donating S$100,000 to the Singapore Red Cross Society for the tsunami victims.

This is to support a drive by the Singapore Port Workers' Union (SPWU) and the Port Officers' Union, who have appealed to staff to raise funds.

In addition to cash, the port operator will waive all port handling charges incurred in its Singapore Terminals for the transportation of relief supplies bound for victims of tsunami-stricken countries.

Shipping lines that are transporting such cargo through the Port of Singapore, can contact PSA Singapore Terminals for the waiver of port handling charges. - CNA

Copyright © 2004 MCN International Pte Ltd

Saw an article which says that Singapore has most likely maintained its world number 1 position with 390 billion metric tons of cargo for the year 2004, while Shanghai has overtaken Rotterdam with 380 billion tons! Rotterdam has 354 billion tons.

what does it mean? world's busiest port based on amount of cargo handled? i only knew of worlds busiest in terms of # of ships (HK) and tonnage of vessels (SG). Measuring in amount of cargo handled is very meaningful mah.

The standard means of measuring the size of ports is by total volume of cargo handled - not by weight of shipping, not by shipping movements, not by containers only etc. 2004's ranking is 1.Singapore 390 million (not billion!) tons, 2.Shanghai 380m, 3.Rotterdam 354m.

Whoops! Sorry for the error. :D

03 January 2005

PSA Marine in towage service JV with Fuzhou Port Authority

SINGAPORE : PSA Marine, a unit of Singapore's port operator PSA International, has formed a joint venture with China's Fuzhou Port Authority.

The venture will provide towage services to shipping lines calling at the Port of Jiangyin, including PSA's Fuzhou-Jiangyin International Container Terminal.

Operations will start in March.

This is PSA Marine's first foray into providing towage services at a port in China.

It says the move will give the firm a strategic presence in a market with a large growth potential.

For a start, the joint-venture company, Fuzhou Jiangyin Fuxing Towage Limited, will invest in two modern harbour tugs.

More tugs will be added with the increase in number of vessels calling on the Port of Jiangyin. - CNA

Copyright © 2004 MCN International Pte Ltd

Jan 5, 2005
$8m Changi ferry terminal opens

A NEW $8 million ferry terminal at Changi Point opens today, making it safer and faster for travellers to board a boat to Pulau Ubin or Pengerang town in Johor.

Its sheltered gangways and floating pontoons can move up to 2.5m with the rising tide, allowing passengers to climb on and off the bumboats safely.

In addition, passengers coming from Pengerang can expect to clear Customs faster with improved immigration and quarantine facilities.

'What is even better is we don't have to pay to use this new terminal,' said boat operator Ah Heng, who is in his 40s.

The new terminal includes a 1.5km jogging and cycling track from Changi Beach Club to Changi Village and a 2.2km coastal walkway that hugs the scenic coastline from Changi Beach Club to the terminal.

Bigger, with more berths

THE terminal is split into areas: one for bumboats that ferry people within Singapore waters and the other for vessels that take people across international borders. The domestic terminal operates 24 hours daily, while the international terminal operates from 7am to 7pm every day.

With a built-in area of almost 2,000 sq m and 14 berths, the new terminal can handle far more passengers than the 440 handled daily at the four berths of the old terminal.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

Woopee! No more jumping from boat to boat to get to the boat we want! :lol:

Woopee! No more jumping from boat to boat to get to the boat we want! :lol:

Haha....yeah.....felt very "dangerous" doing that in the past.....:lol:

Haha....yeah.....felt very "dangerous" doing that in the past.....:lol:
You got go Ubin before meh?

Jan 4, 2005

TIGHTER SECURITY ON FERRIES

FERRIES that ply to regional destinations will have their security measures audited before their operators can renew their annual licences.

The new rule, which came into effect last Saturday, requires operators to such places as Malaysia, Batam and Bintan to have more stringent procedures for checking passengers and baggage and ensure all entrances into ferries are monitored at all times when in port.

The measures are part of an ongoing effort to enhance safety and security in the ports, said the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore in a statement.

The annual licence costs $250.

Jan 8, 2005
Shipping firms get new tax rebate

By Grace Ng

THE shipping industry here can look forward to a new tax break on all foreign exchange and derivative gains in the latest of a series of government initiatives to boost Singapore's standing as a maritime hub.

Singapore-flagged ships and companies under the Approved International Shipping Enterprise scheme will have their foreign exchange and derivatives gains automatically regarded as shipping-related hedging gains, and will hence qualify for tax exemption.

This will take effect from year of assessment 2006, that is, for income earned this year, said Transport Minister Yeo Cheow Tong, in a speech at a Singapore Maritime Foundation (SMF) New Year reception yesterday.

'With this enhancement and certainty, we hope to encourage more shipping companies to undertake their risk management activities from Singapore,' he said.

Shipping companies in Singapore have been clamouring for such a change, as they currently have to provide justifications to the tax authorities on a case-by-case basis, said SMF chairman Teo Siong Seng.

Shipping companies trade freight derivatives, a type of stock market instrument, to hedge against the risks of volatility in freight rates, which are affected by volatile cycles of the shipping market, as well as the dangers of ferrying people and goods across oceans.

The large fluctuations in freight rates attract speculation on future price movements and drive the popularity of financial tools for risk management.

Found out Singapore retained her top port position in 2004....via an article on Rotterdam! :D

Port Of Rotterdam Achieves Record Volumes In 2004

AMSTERDAM (AP)--The Port of Rotterdam Thursday reported a record volume of 354 billion metric tons of cargo for 2004, an 8% increase on the year.

But Rotterdam fell definitively behind both Singapore and Shanghai as the world's busiest seaport, with Singapore likely to finish the year at 390 billion tons of cargo and Shanghai at 380 billion tons. Both Asian ports benefited from strong growth in China, as did Rotterdam.

China "is often pointed to as the reason, but I see it more as the catalyst of a complicated process," incoming president Hans Smith said in a statement. Only in 1979 did Rotterdam grow more quickly.

Increases were seen in shipments of coal, dry mass goods, crude oil, oil products - and in containers, which showed a 16% increase. "Over a year or two containers will have passed raw oil as the largest category of goods" moving through the port, Smith said.

Rotterdam is located at the end of several major river systems and is the major departure point for goods leaving the European mainland.

The port's former president, Willem Scholten, resigned Nov. 1 after he was found to have exceeded his authority by signing secret agreements to back more than EUR100 million in loans to private companies. Scholten said he acted in interest of the port, and new management is currently in discussions with banks about whether the agreements can be enforced.

Dow Jones Newswires
12-30-041141ET
Copyright (C) 2004 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Woopee! No more jumping from boat to boat to get to the boat we want! :lol:

That's actually very fun! :D:D:D

That's actually very fun! :D:D:D
Haha...actually I would agree...although it is a chore having to help the ladies up to the jetty! :D

21-12-2004

SINGAPORE CELEBRATES ITS FIRST BILLIONTH SHIPPING TONNAGE MARK

MPA revises port dues to further enhance Singapore port’s competitiveness

Maritime history was made today when, for the first time, total vessel arrivals for the Singapore port crossed the one billion gross tons mark in terms of shipping tonnage.

Setting the "billionth" shipping tonnage record was MV COSCO Shanghai, a container ship of 65,531 gross tons (GT). It arrived at the port at 0800hrs (ETA TBC) today.

To celebrate this milestone achievement, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) held a ceremony-cum-reception to welcome the vessel. The event was held at port terminal operator PSA Corporation Ltd (PSA)’s Pasir Panjang Terminal (PPT), where MV COSCO Shanghai was berthed.

Witnessing the occasion was Guest-of-Honour, Mr Yeo Cheow Tong, Minister for Transport, and some 150 guests from the maritime industry.

Speaking at the event, Minister Yeo commented that crossing the milestone is a reflection of the strong growth achieved by Singapore’s port and maritime industry. He attributes the success of the port largely to the efforts put in by the port and maritime community. Whether it is to tranship cargo, repair a ship, or take bunkers, Singapore is a choice port of call because of its efficient services, pro-business environment and skilled workforce.

Revision of Port Dues

To further enhance the Singapore port’s competitiveness, the MPA has undertaken a review of the port dues. The review was conducted in consultation with various industry players. In line with the MPA’s vision to develop Singapore as a leading International Maritime Centre (IMC), the review has also taken in consideration the various sectors of Singapore’s maritime industry such as ship repair, bunkering and cruise.

Vessels Undergoing Shipyard Repairs Exceeding 95 days in the Shipyard

With effect from 1 January 2005, port dues rate for vessels undergoing shipyard repairs exceeding 95 days will be reduced by 50 per cent to S$0.50/100 GT or part thereof per day. These vessels typically undergo major repair or refurbishment works such as Floating Production Storage Offloading (FPSO) conversions, and the lowered port dues will make such conversion works more cost competitive and attractive in Singapore.

Vessels taking Bunkers, Ship Supplies and/or Crew Change without Cargo Operations

Vessels calling at the port for the sole purpose of taking bunkers, ship supplies or for crew changes, and staying less than 24 hours, will enjoy a 20 per cent reduction in port dues to S$1.80/100GT or part thereof.

Passenger Vessels (300GT or more)

Passenger vessels of 300GT and above, paying per call dues under the same agent, making at least six calls at PSA Terminals or Singapore Cruise Centre to Singapore within a period of six months from the month in which the first call is made, will be granted a 20 per cent rebate on the port dues payable for all the calls made by the vessel within that 6 month period. This will encourage more seasonally based passenger ships to make more calls to Singapore.

Furthermore to develop the fast growing car carrier sector, the MPA will be reducing port dues by 20 per cent for car carrier operators who are committed to growing their car transshipment businesses in Singapore.

Based on 2003 figures, the revisions will benefit some 4,000 ships annually, totalling about S$2.5 million in savings a year for the shipping community. Together with the 20 per cent port dues concession given to container ships since 1996, the savings for the shipping community from port dues will amount to some S$8 million each year.

OPL Surcharge

12 As a part of the review, the MPA has also addressed the need to further enhance maritime security. Therefore, the existing Outside Port Limits (OPL) surcharge (S$20/10GT or part thereof) currently levied on bunker barges and tankers, will be extended to all harbour craft, except those harbour craft used for land reclamation projects in Singapore.

End of Release.

13 January 2005

Emirates National Oil Company may expand storage capacity in Singapore
By Michael Lim, Channel NewsAsia

SINGAPORE : Horizon Terminals says it could expand its oil storage capacity in Singapore.

The Dubai-based firm, wholly-owned by Emirates National Oil (ENOC), could build an extra 120,000 cubic metres of capacity at its proposed oil storage terminal on Jurong Island, costing S$326 million.

That will take its total capacity to about 1 million cubic metres or 6.3 million barrels of oil.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, ENOC announced that it had joined forces with four other companies to form Horizon Singapore Terminals.

It also confirmed that South Korea's SK Corp is taking a 15 percent stake in the venture.

Jurong Island is where Horizon's proposed bulk-liquids terminal will be built.

Construction of the S$326 million facility is scheduled to start in the first half of this year, and be operational by July 2006.

Horizon Terminals - the main driver - will own a majority 52 percent stake in the Singapore joint venture.

Its other partners are Kuwait's Independent Petroleum Group, Boreh International, Martank of Holland, and SK Energy Asia, a unit of SK Corp.

The terminal will have 30 storage tanks, which can hold nearly 1 million cubic metres of petroleum or petrochemical products.

Lim Swee Say, Minister in Prime Minister's Office and Second Minister for National Development, said, "The entry of an experienced terminal operator like Horizon will further strengthen our value proposition to members of the oil industry. It will enhance Singapore's standing as a premier regional logistics hub for petroleum and petrochemical products."

Hussain Sultan, Group CEO and Board Member, Emirates National Oil Company, said, "I think this is a major petroleum hub with plants here and with everyone here we need to start somewhere. This is a good start for us and we could not be a global player without having a presence in Singapore."

Horizon Singapore Terminals has also awarded contracts to build the facility, starting with a major deal to construct the storage tanks.

Hussain Sultan said, "Punjlloyd were the successfully tenderer in the case of the tank farm. We will be deciding over the next few days with regard to the other 3 contracts, which is the jetties, the mechanical and electrical instrumentation and civil works."

China Aviation Oil is said to have withdrawn from the project, after recently announcing its massive losses from trading oil derivatives.

But ENOC says CAO missed the deadline to invest in the project.

Hussain Sultan said, "China Aviation have not ... been a shareholder in the project. You can only be a shareholder if you start paying, and saying yes when the real crunch comes, I am going to be a shareholder and like everyone else, when we call for the first chunk of the equity, everyone pays."

ENOC says even with CAO out of the picture, its plan to go into China remains on track.

In fact, it is now looking to set up similar facilities in India and China. - CNA

Copyright © 2004 MCN International Pte Ltd