Sunday, 22 Jan 2012
It is reported that with the docking of Vale first monster 400,000 tonne ore carrier in China, the Brazilian iron ore producer hopes to increase competitive pressure on BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto.
After much protest from Chinese steel mills and freighters, the first of its Valemax super-size ore carriers docked in the Chinese port of Dalian on December 28.
Industry analysts say it is the latest attempt by Vale to rein in its transport costs and expand its presence in the all-important Chinese market where BHP and Rio Tinto enjoy a significant cost advantage.
But the miner decision to run its own fleet of super ships instead of using charter vessels as it has in the past also has ramifications for global shipping, especially the charter companies that have benefited from soaring shipping costs during the decade-long iron ore boom.
Chinese ship owners had petitioned Chinese authorities to prevent the Valemax ships from docking and had succeeded until last month. China Ministry of Transport is still considering whether to allow further Valemax dockings.
UBS global commodity analyst Mr Thomas Price who said it might result in dry bulk freight rates dropping more than 10% in the next year said ''Vale's decision to build its own fleet of Valemax vessels has sent shock waves through the global shipping industry.”
Vale has described the move to the Valemax vessels as strategic.
Mr Jose Carlos Martins head of Vale iron ore division said ''The Australians are 10 days from China we are 45 days.”
But Australian mining industry sources played down the threat to BHP and Rio arguing that Western Australia 35 day advantage was still likely to trump any cost savings Vale gained.
(Sourced from www.theage.com.au)
Showing posts with label Dalian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dalian. Show all posts
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Vale yet to sell huge iron ore cargo in China-traders
Wed Jan 11, 2012
* Vale cargo stored in bonded warehouse in Dalian
* Shipment may be sold in spot market at discount
* Vessel carried 350,000 tonnes of iron ore
SINGAPORE, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Brazilian miner Vale has not yet sold its first mega iron ore cargo delivered to China two weeks ago, and has instead stored the material near a port for now, traders said on Wednesday.
The 388,000-deadweight-tonne vessel Berge Everest, which carried 350,000 tonnes of iron ore, unloaded at China's Dalian port in late December, ending months of delays in getting the world's biggest dry bulk ships into China.
"It was discharged into a bonded warehouse in Dalian," said an iron ore broker in Singapore. "From Vale's point of view, it's not particularly wise to sell right now given the lacklustre demand from Chinese mills."
"There's a lot of material in bonded warehouses across the coast at the moment because of the demand situation," he said.
Vale may be waiting for Chinese demand to pick up, possibly after the week-long Lunar New Year break in late January, before selling the cargo, traders said.
The world's biggest iron ore miner, hoping to slash shipping costs to China by using a new fleet of mega dry bulk carriers, was not planning to sell the maiden cargo from Berge Everest immediately, said an iron ore trader in Hong Kong.
Vale, which sells about 40 percent of its ore to China, is counting on a fleet of 35 Valemaxes to cut shipping costs and better compete with Australian rivals BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto.
"Vale just wanted to show its Chinese clients that its vessel can berth in China," he said, adding the cargo is likely to be sold into the spot market, instead of to a single buyer on a long-term contract.
"We're quite sure it's not sold yet. It should be put in the spot market, we're quite confident," said the Hong Kong trader, who sells iron ore to mills in mainland China.
SHORT-TERM PLOY
Vale may offer a discount for the cargo of high-grade ore with 65-percent iron content given that it was the first material shipped on its Valemax, he said.
Offering a discount for the cargo could be a "short-term ploy" by Vale to draw customers to its big shipments, said Mark Pervan, global head of commodity research at Australia and New Zealand Bank.
"From a short-term point of view there potentially could be some discount. But they won't want to be doing this on an ongoing basis because it defeats the whole purpose.
"The whole reason for those ships was to try and be competitive against the Australians. So if you're going to be selling it to the market at a big discount, you'll lose any upside from the lower freight cost," Pervan said.
A spokesperson for Vale was not immediately available for comment.
Vale's first megaship cargo to China was forced to turn back in June last year due to the lack of permits . In early December, Vale Beijing, the newest member of the "Valemax" fleet -- 50 percent bigger than most ore carriers and one of the largest afloat -- developed cracks in its hull on its maiden voyage.
The China Shipowners Association has opposed Vale's fleet, worried that the vessels will give the miner monopoly on both the shipping and iron ore markets at China's expense.
The low quality of China's iron ore has made it heavily reliant on imported material, a market controlled by Vale, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton .
A Reuters poll of analysts in mid-December showed China's iron ore imports would jump to a record 720 million tonnes in 2012, with its steel output rising to 728 million tonnes, also an all-time high.
China's iron ore imports rose nearly 11 percent to 686.06 million tonnes in 2011, and traders said firm Chinese demand should keep spot iron ore prices .IO62-CNI=SI, which stood at a seven-week high of $142.30 a tonne on Tuesday, high.
(sourced Reuters)
* Vale cargo stored in bonded warehouse in Dalian
* Shipment may be sold in spot market at discount
* Vessel carried 350,000 tonnes of iron ore
SINGAPORE, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Brazilian miner Vale has not yet sold its first mega iron ore cargo delivered to China two weeks ago, and has instead stored the material near a port for now, traders said on Wednesday.
The 388,000-deadweight-tonne vessel Berge Everest, which carried 350,000 tonnes of iron ore, unloaded at China's Dalian port in late December, ending months of delays in getting the world's biggest dry bulk ships into China.
"It was discharged into a bonded warehouse in Dalian," said an iron ore broker in Singapore. "From Vale's point of view, it's not particularly wise to sell right now given the lacklustre demand from Chinese mills."
"There's a lot of material in bonded warehouses across the coast at the moment because of the demand situation," he said.
Vale may be waiting for Chinese demand to pick up, possibly after the week-long Lunar New Year break in late January, before selling the cargo, traders said.
The world's biggest iron ore miner, hoping to slash shipping costs to China by using a new fleet of mega dry bulk carriers, was not planning to sell the maiden cargo from Berge Everest immediately, said an iron ore trader in Hong Kong.
Vale, which sells about 40 percent of its ore to China, is counting on a fleet of 35 Valemaxes to cut shipping costs and better compete with Australian rivals BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto.
"Vale just wanted to show its Chinese clients that its vessel can berth in China," he said, adding the cargo is likely to be sold into the spot market, instead of to a single buyer on a long-term contract.
"We're quite sure it's not sold yet. It should be put in the spot market, we're quite confident," said the Hong Kong trader, who sells iron ore to mills in mainland China.
SHORT-TERM PLOY
Vale may offer a discount for the cargo of high-grade ore with 65-percent iron content given that it was the first material shipped on its Valemax, he said.
Offering a discount for the cargo could be a "short-term ploy" by Vale to draw customers to its big shipments, said Mark Pervan, global head of commodity research at Australia and New Zealand Bank.
"From a short-term point of view there potentially could be some discount. But they won't want to be doing this on an ongoing basis because it defeats the whole purpose.
"The whole reason for those ships was to try and be competitive against the Australians. So if you're going to be selling it to the market at a big discount, you'll lose any upside from the lower freight cost," Pervan said.
A spokesperson for Vale was not immediately available for comment.
Vale's first megaship cargo to China was forced to turn back in June last year due to the lack of permits . In early December, Vale Beijing, the newest member of the "Valemax" fleet -- 50 percent bigger than most ore carriers and one of the largest afloat -- developed cracks in its hull on its maiden voyage.
The China Shipowners Association has opposed Vale's fleet, worried that the vessels will give the miner monopoly on both the shipping and iron ore markets at China's expense.
The low quality of China's iron ore has made it heavily reliant on imported material, a market controlled by Vale, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton .
A Reuters poll of analysts in mid-December showed China's iron ore imports would jump to a record 720 million tonnes in 2012, with its steel output rising to 728 million tonnes, also an all-time high.
China's iron ore imports rose nearly 11 percent to 686.06 million tonnes in 2011, and traders said firm Chinese demand should keep spot iron ore prices .IO62-CNI=SI, which stood at a seven-week high of $142.30 a tonne on Tuesday, high.
(sourced Reuters)
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Qingdao Port plans to be regional hub
Sunday, 27 Feb 2011, China Daily
China Daily reported that Qingdao Port is seeking a more ambitious position among its major Northeast Asian rivals as it tries to transform itself into a regional shipping center offering premium businesses in cargo handling, logistics and related industries.
Mr Chang Dechuan chairman and chief executive officer of the Qingdao Port Group said "Over the next five years Qingdao Port will add 300 million tons of capacity to augment throughput to 600 million tonnes and 20 million TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) of containers by the end of 2015."
Located in Jiaozhou Bay on the southern tip of Shandong Peninsula, the port is the world seventh largest by throughput and the eighth largest container port. In 2010, it handled a total throughput of 350 million tons and container throughput of 12 million TEUs. But its management looks beyond these accomplishments especially as a group of neighboring rivals such as the Chinese ports of Tianjin, Yantai and Dalian and South Korea Busan are also quickly developing and eroding its advantage in certain sectors.
With a total area of 10.56 square kilometers, Qingdao Port is less than one-fourth the size of other domestic ports, undermining its efforts to become a major bulk-cargo shipping center and regional shipping hub. It has been overloaded for some time, handling more than the 150 million-ton maximum capacity it was designed for. Expansion of its facilities is high on the agenda.
Mr Chang said the port will invest CNY 30 billion to achieve its goal of becoming Northeast Asia's regional shipping center. He said that that by 2015 Qingdao Port will comprise four port areas
1. The Dongjiakou area will serve as a shipping and storage center of bulk cargo and energy
2. The Qianwan port will be a container shipping hub in Northeast Asia
3. The Huangdao port will be an oil product and chemical logistics hub
4. The old port will handle grains, chemical fertilizer, steel, aluminum, equipment, cold chain shipping containers and feedstuff.
In 2010, the Port of Qingdao maintained its leading position in raw-material handling. It is the world's largest iron ore port, and China's largest import port for crude oil.
It has completed the construction of a 300,000 tonne crude oil dock and a 300,000 tonne ore dock in Dongjiakou port is under construction. Mr Chang said "We are always paying attention to state-of-art facilities, and with the renovated hardware, we are able to reshuffle the nation's shipping industry."
Qingdao Port plans to be regional hub Qingdao Port gets foreign foothold
Chang revealed that the funding for all the expansion projects will be raised by the port itself. Aside from dock construction, the money will also be used to introduce new technologies and restructure work processes. Mr Chang said "This project could be Qingdao Port's main step toward becoming a great international port."
Over the years, the port has focused on developing the container sector, with cooperation from investors from home and abroad.
Mr Chang Dechuan chairman and chief executive officer of the Qingdao Port Group said "Over the next five years Qingdao Port will add 300 million tons of capacity to augment throughput to 600 million tonnes and 20 million TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) of containers by the end of 2015."
Located in Jiaozhou Bay on the southern tip of Shandong Peninsula, the port is the world seventh largest by throughput and the eighth largest container port. In 2010, it handled a total throughput of 350 million tons and container throughput of 12 million TEUs. But its management looks beyond these accomplishments especially as a group of neighboring rivals such as the Chinese ports of Tianjin, Yantai and Dalian and South Korea Busan are also quickly developing and eroding its advantage in certain sectors.
With a total area of 10.56 square kilometers, Qingdao Port is less than one-fourth the size of other domestic ports, undermining its efforts to become a major bulk-cargo shipping center and regional shipping hub. It has been overloaded for some time, handling more than the 150 million-ton maximum capacity it was designed for. Expansion of its facilities is high on the agenda.
Mr Chang said the port will invest CNY 30 billion to achieve its goal of becoming Northeast Asia's regional shipping center. He said that that by 2015 Qingdao Port will comprise four port areas
1. The Dongjiakou area will serve as a shipping and storage center of bulk cargo and energy
2. The Qianwan port will be a container shipping hub in Northeast Asia
3. The Huangdao port will be an oil product and chemical logistics hub
4. The old port will handle grains, chemical fertilizer, steel, aluminum, equipment, cold chain shipping containers and feedstuff.
In 2010, the Port of Qingdao maintained its leading position in raw-material handling. It is the world's largest iron ore port, and China's largest import port for crude oil.
It has completed the construction of a 300,000 tonne crude oil dock and a 300,000 tonne ore dock in Dongjiakou port is under construction. Mr Chang said "We are always paying attention to state-of-art facilities, and with the renovated hardware, we are able to reshuffle the nation's shipping industry."
Qingdao Port plans to be regional hub Qingdao Port gets foreign foothold
Chang revealed that the funding for all the expansion projects will be raised by the port itself. Aside from dock construction, the money will also be used to introduce new technologies and restructure work processes. Mr Chang said "This project could be Qingdao Port's main step toward becoming a great international port."
Over the years, the port has focused on developing the container sector, with cooperation from investors from home and abroad.
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