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IGC estimates rice exports to zoom by 32 pc this year


January 29

Rice exports from India, producer, may go up by 32 per cent to five million tonnes this year, according to the International Grains Council (IGC).

Shipments from neighbouring country Pakistan too are expected to see a jump of 32 per cent to 3.7 mt from 2.8 mt, IGC said in the latest report.

India's rice exports are projected to increase to five mt this year from 3.8 mt in 2011, said IGC, which forecast rice exports for five major exporters. Forecast for India is based on assumption that the government will continue non-basmati rice exports that was allowed in September 2011 said IGC, which forecast rice exports for five major exporters.

Forecast for India is based on assumption that the government will continue non-basmati rice exports that was allowed in September 2011 and in anticipation of higher production. India has kept a target of a record 102 mt of rice production in 2011-12 crop year (July-June). Basmati rice shipments are allowed at a minimum export price (MEP) of USD 900 per tonne. Pakistan does not follow any MEP regime.

According to the IGC report, barring India and Pakistan, rice exports from Thailand, Vietnam and the US are expected to be lower in the current calendar year. While shipments from Thailand may drop to 7.2 mt in 2012 from 10.5 mt last year, rice exports from Vietnam are likely to decline to 6.5 mt from 7.1 mt in the concerned period. Similarly, shipments from the US are expected fall to 3.1 mt in 2012 from 3.3 mt last year. Exports from other countries are seen declining to 6.3 mt in 2012 against an estimated 6.8 mt last year.

As regards rice imports, IGC noted that the total global shipments are seen to be down at 31.5 mt this year against 34.1 mt last year, due to significantly reduced imports to markets in Far East Asia.


Maritime India - New Delhi

Govt may award only 5 port projects this fiscal


January 29

Major ports are likely to miss the target of awarding 23 port projects on a public-private partnership mode, with the government unlikely to award more than five port projects by the end of this fiscal.

"We would not be able to award more than 4-5 port projects and we are aware that we would be missing the target by a long chalk," said a shipping ministry official.

This adds to the sector's growing worries, which is reeling under capacity constraints, long pending clearances and lack of clarity in policies. The only port project - for constructing the fourth container terminal at JN Port was awarded to a consortium of Port of Singapore Authority (PSA) and ABG Ports, with an estimated cost of Rs 6,700-crore.

But this project also got stuck as the consortium partners have refused to pay the Rs 50-crore stamp duty demanded by the state government.

Besides this, two other projects in Vizag port and one at Kandla port, will be awarded by February. Twelve port projects were stuck due to security clearances since March last year, out of which eight were cleared recently. The shipping secretary will hold a meeting with chairmen of all major port trusts on February 2 to discuss why there has been no progress in awarding of projects.


Maritime India - New Delhi

Carriers remove 10 pc eastbound transpacific capacity in Q4


January 29

Container shipping capacity allotted to the eastbound leg of the transpacific trade route shrank by 10 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2011, according to the latest World Liner Supply Report.

It said that reductions in allocated capacity, which is an estimation of the service capacity allocated to a specific trade route by an operator, came from a range of shipping lines and alliances.

The CKYH Alliance, which holds the biggest market share on the trade, removed more than 15 per cent of its capacity last quarter, bringing total weekly capacity down to 83,245 TEU at the end of 2011.

Zim and other smaller lines, removed half of their eastbound transpacific capacity from the trade route in the fourth quarter.

However, CMA CGM injected more than 6,000 TEU of weekly capacity in the fourth quarter, boosting its allocated capacity by nearly 41 per cent.

On the Asia-Europe trade, carriers removed 5.6 per cent of allocated capacity during the period under review, according to the report.

Capacity fell significantly on most trades covered in the report, with the exception of the transatlantic and Europe-South America trades in both directions," it said.

Mega ships increase Suez Canal revenue 10pc as transits fall 1.1pc in 2011


Maritime India - New Delhi

New Mangalore port adds 11-mt capacity in 5-years


January 29

The New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT) has added 11 million tonnes to its total capacity in the last five years, according to the Chairman of NMPT, Mr P. Tamilvanan.He said that NMPT has added 11 million tones in its capacity in the five years. The POL (petroleum, oil and lubricants) berth, which is under construction at the port, will be ready by October this year.

This berth will add another seven mt to the total capacity at the port.He termed the arrival of container rake from Bangalore to NMPT in December last year was a land mark event.The port has witnessed good growth in the handling of containers, LPG and passengers vessels in the last few years, he said.


Maritime India - New Delhi

Vizag port handles 57 mt cargo in current fiscal


January 29

The Visakhapatnam port has so far handled 57 million tonnes (mt) of cargo during the current financial year, two million more than during the corresponding period last year, and is confident of achieving the target of 67 million tonnes, set by the Ministry, according to the port Chairman, Mr Ajeya Kallam.

He said there was, however, a decline in dry bulk cargo by about 1.5 mt during the year compared with last year.He said the port had taken up various projects to augment its capacity. "Our proposed investment during the Twelfth Plan period is Rs 8,231 crore, of which 55 per cent comes through the private sector. Five projects have been awarded under the public-private partnership mode in the Visakhapatnam port and four of them are in progress. Three more similar projects will be awarded by March," Mr Ajeya Kallam said.

He said the port was going ahead with the introduction of modern cargo handling techniques to improve its performance and was also developing the road network in tandem with the National Highways Authority of India.

He also congratulated Visakha Container Terminal Pvt. Ltd (VCTPL) and Visakhapatnam Seaports Ltd, for their perfor-mances.The container traffic is expected to reach 2.3 lakh TEUs in 2011-12, going by the present trend, he said. VSPL has so far handled four mt cargo in the current financial year.

He said the Ministry was considering relaxation of Cabotage Law restricting movement of cargo along the coast.


Maritime India - New Delhi

Eastern Railway freight growth up by 3.12 pc in Apr-Dec 2011


January 29

Between April and December 2011, the Eastern Railway transported a total of about 41 million tonnes (mt) of freight traffic thus posting a growth of 3.12 per cent over 39.5 mt handled in the same period of previous year, according to an ER release.

Of this, the share of coal was 26.62 mt. while other goods accounted for 14.15 mt. ER's freight earning during the period amounted to Rs 2,592.61 crore (Rs 2,322.45 crore ) thus recording an increase of 11.63 per cent.

Together with an earning of Rs 1,153.78 crore (Rs 1,067.24 crore) from passenger traffic of 88 crore (83 crore), ER's total earning during the period under review amounted to Rs 3,922 crore (Rs 3,546.28 crore), thus posting a growth of 10.59 per cent, the release adds.


Maritime India - New Delhi

IMF lowers India growth forecast to 7 pc


January 29

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has lowered India's economic growth rate forecast to 7 percent for the year 2012, which is 0.5 percentage point lower than its projection made last September for the same period.

For 2013, the IMF has revised the growth forecast to 7.3 percent, which is again 0.8 percentage point lower than it earlier forecast. The IMF, in its revised estimates, has also brought down the economic growth forecast for most of the major economies, including China.

The global recovery is threatened by intensifying strains in the euro area and fragilities elsewhere. Financial conditions have deteriorated, growth prospects have dimmed, and downside risks have escalated," said the latest World Economic Outlook report released by the IMF.

Global output is projected to expand by 3.25 percent in 2012 a downward revision of about 0.75 percentage point relative to the September 2011 World Economic Outlook.

This is largely because the euro area economy is expected to go into a mild recession in 2012 as a result of the rise in sovereign yields, the effects of bank deleveraging on the real economy, and the impact of additional fiscal consolidation, the report said.

"Growth in emerging and developing economies is also expected to slow because of the worsening external environment and a weakening of internal demand," the World Economic Outlook report said.

The most immediate policy challenge is to restore confidence and put an end to the crisis in the euro area by supporting growth.


Maritime India - New Delhi

Aegis Logistic to foray into bunkering biz


January 29

Aegis, is entering bunkering and allied business. The company, which operates liquid terminals in Mumbai, Kochi and Pipavav, has also started technical services to vessels. Besides fuel and technical services, the newly-created marine products division will sell lubricants and other marine products.

To begin with, the new business will be launched in Mumbai and Kochi, said Mr Rajiv Chohan, President, Aegis Logistics. "We plan to leverage our tankage capacity at ports across the country to offer bunkering services", he said. The company, which had acquired Shell Gas's LPG bottling plant and distributions facilities in 2010, is also expanding its logistics services in chemicals and petrochemicals.


Maritime India - New Delhi

India offers petro products export to Pakistan


January 29

India has offered to export petroleum products, including petrol, to Pakistan. Details of the proposal will be worked out in the next few weeks, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister, Mr S. Jaipal Reddy, said. However, exporting petrol may not be easy, as it will require decision-making at the highest levels in both countries.

India's offer to export refined petroleum and petrochemical products by road, rail and sea assumes significance in the backdrop of the forthcoming Pakistan visit of the Indian trade minister.

Dr Asim Hussain, Mr Reddy said that India has offered to export petrol, diesel, and aviation turbine fuel, fuel oil besides sulphur, polyethylene and polypropylene to the neighbour.

Pakistan is currently importing these products. Imports from India will be advantageous for Pakistan as it will save on the freight cost since several Indian refineries are located close to the India-Pakistan border. The refiners who will benefit include IOC, RIL Essar Oil, and the soon-to-be-fully commissioned refinery at Bhatinda.

As of now, Pakistan has banned imports of Indian petrol. Though it allowed diesel imports in 2009, due to preferential prices offered by Pakistan's allies such as Kuwait, supplies from India did not really take off.

Mr Reddy also said that Indian refiners would be willing to look at the feasibility of constructing product pipelines to Pakistan, provided long-term guarantees for product offtake can be given by Pakistan.

The total trade between the two nations currently is $2.7 billion, of which India's exports is $2.3 billion.


Maritime India - New Delhi

Decision soon on mega industrial zones


January 29

The Centre will shortly announce details of four Mega Industrial Zones that will be created along the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat after assembly elections are over.

This was stated by Mr Anand Sharma, Union Minister for Commerce & Industry and Textiles.

"As soon as forthcoming assembly elections are concluded and their results declared, the Commerce and Industry Ministry will declare comprehensive details of the proposed zones in consultation with the State concerned," he said. The Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor project which would be funded by India and Japan is expected to catapult economies of the seven States through which the corridor will run.


Maritime India - New Delhi

RBI may intervene in forward forex markets


January 29

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may intervene in the forward foreign exchange market, in addition to the spot market, to help manage liquidity in the banking system, RBI source said.

"If and when we are doing it (intervention), we may do a combination of spot and forwards so liquidity impact is shifted to a future date," the source said.

Banks borrowed Rs1.59 trillion from the RBI's repo window on Jan. 27, compared with Rs1.45 trillion on Jan. 25, and significantly higher than the RBI's comfort zone of Rs 600 billion, indicating the tightness in liquidity.


Maritime India - New Delhi

Mombasa port loses biz as exporters opt for Dar es Salaam


January 29

Kenya Port Authority (KPA) is losing business to rival Dar es Salaam port as delay in cargo clearance in Mombasa prompts traders from neighbouring countries to turn to Tanzania.Data from KPA shows that the Mombasa port handled 18.9 per cent less or 552,449 tonnes of cargo from Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda and the DRC in the nine months to September.

As a result, the port relied on Uganda and South Sudan-that have little choice on their logistic corridor-to grow its export cargo volumes to 3.9 million tonnes in the nine months compared to 3.8 million tonnes in the same period last year. Shippers attribute the trend to the shorter period it takes to transport cargo from the port of Dar es Salaam compared to Mombasa which is facing congestion that has seen transporters take more than a month to reach Rwanda from three weeks.

"We are losing business to Tanzania because of inefficiency at the port," said Gerald Kagumo, the vice chairman of East Africa Freight Forwarders Association. With the reform going on there (Tanzania), Kenya is going to lose even more business, said Mr Kagumo. Tanzania Port Authority has announced a $1.4 billion (Sh120 billion) upgrade with its eye on South Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi-which are also key target markets for the Kenya port, also on the expansion trail.

Eastern Africa is witnessing increased trade with the establishment of the common market-which allows for free movement of goods, capital and people in a market of 130 million people.This has seen logistics firms such as port operators angle themselves for new business, prompting Kenya and Tanzania to announce plans to establish new ports in Lamu and Tanga respectively.

But the loss of business to Tanzania is set to hit the earnings of KPA, logistic firms like transporters and clearing and forwarding agents. Kenya is hinging its port business on South Sudan and Uganda, at least in the short term, since its takes longer to haul goods from Tanzania to the twin markets.Cargo to and from South Sudan rose 48.3 per cent to 249,571 tonnes in the nine months to September from 168,287 tonnes in the same period last year.

This saw its share of cargo business at KPA increase by two percentage points to 6.4 per cent - making it the fastest growing market. As investors take interest in South Sudan and the world's newest nation race for alternative logistic corridor to avoid hostility from Khartoum, it's expected that its share will move to the double digit zone.

Uganda share of export cargo at KPA stood at three million tonnes or 78.8 per cent of the export volumes-making it a key market for the Mombasa port. But Kampala has stepped up the search for alternative routes through Tanzania following the near cut-off of the country from its trade partners by the mayhem that followed Kenya's disputed 2007 presidential election.

President Yoweri Museveni has stepped up negotiations with Tanzania for an alternative railway passage connecting the port of Tanga to Uganda despite the higher transport costs.

Cargo destined to Rwanda dropped 27.5 per cent to 162,995 tonnes in the period under review while DRC's fell 17.1 per cent to 262,846 tonnes in the same period. Those to Burundi fell 74.6 per cent to 1,375 tonnes.


Maritime India - New Delhi



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