Global Port Tracker - North Europe edition (one-year subscription)

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Jan 31, 2013, 04:02 ET

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Global Port Tracker - North Europe edition (one-year subscription)

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Executive Summary

• The change in total container volumes in July ranged from a 0.8 per cent decrease at Antwerp to a 6.7 per cent increase at Zeebrugge. All but Bremen/Bremerhaven posted a large double-digit increase over the same month of 2009, with Antwerp experiencing a 22.5 per cent gain over July 2009.

• In July, preliminary figures indicate that five of the six ports experienced an increase in their incoming volumes, ranging from a 0.8 per cent decrease at Antwerp to a 3.2 per cent gain at Hamburg. The same five ports also experienced an increase in their outgoing volumes, with Le Havre seeing a double-digit increase. All six ports experienced gains over July 2009 levels for both incoming and outgoing cargo, with Le Havre, Antwerp and Hamburg seeing double-digit growth in both directions (and Rotterdam only for incoming cargo).

• The preliminary figures for July indicate that the six ports handled a total of 3.24 million TEUs, which represents a 2.3 per cent gain over June and a 16.5 per cent increase over the same month of 2009. Incoming volumes increased by 1.8 per cent to 1.31 million TEUs in July from June, while outgoing volumes increased by 1.9 per cent to 1.37 million TEUs.

• A total of 9.41 million TEUs were handled by the six monitored North European ports in Q2 2010, which marked the fifth straight quarter of growth. The volume was 7.7 per cent higher than Q1 2010 and 15.3 per cent higher than Q2 of 2009. Examining the most recent quarter in more detail, 3.85 million TEUs were incoming, 4.00 million TEUs were outgoing, and 1.55 million TEUs were empty, which represents a 6.6 per cent gain over the previous quarter for incoming and an 8.2 per cent gain for outgoing.

• The forecast for 2010 is for 36.8 million total TEUs across the six ports, for a 10.8 per cent increase over 2009.

• Alphaliner reported that the idle fleet could rise from the current level of 225,000 TEUs to between 600,000 TEUs and one million TEUs by the end of the year. This is in contrast to the 1.5 million TEUs of idle capacity in January 2010, although 1.21 million TEUs of new capacity has been added since then. About 320,000 TEUs in capacity has been absorbed through extra-slow steaming. Alphaliner also noted that capacity between the Far East and U.S. west coast has increased by more than 21 per cent compared to the same time last year, with six second-tier carriers launching new or supplementing existing services.

• Maersk's board has agreed to continue slow steaming as it will improve scheduled reliability, cap fuel costs, and reduce the carrier's carbon foot print. The cost savings also will enable enhanced efficiency at its terminals as slow steaming helps prevent bottlenecks. To maintain the same service frequency and compensate for lower average speed, one to two extra vessels are added per route or string.

• The Shanghai Containerized Freight Index fell 10.65 per cent in the last two months to mid-September, and recently posted its biggest-ever weekly loss when freight rates plunged to all main export destinations except Australia. The next scheduled update is 15th October, at which time Lloyd's List suggests the rates could fall by $150 per TEU.

• The WTO has revised its 2010 world trade growth forecast upwards to 13.5 per cent, from the ten per cent estimated in March. Merchandise exports of developed economies are predicted to expand by 11.5.

• The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development stated that recession is unlikely for the G7 despite the 1.5 per cent increase in GDP, short a quarter per cent of what had been expected. G7 sea trade is expected to increase with container trades rising more than 10 per cent this year, and rising again at least 10 per cent in 2011.

• China's National Bureau of Statistics and the Federation of Logistics reported that the Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index grew by 0.6 per cent month-on-month to 51.7 per cent in August, the first increase in three months. The U.S. Commerce Department meanwhile reported that wholesale inventories rose 1.3 per cent in July, the best performance since July 2008.

• COSCO group CEO Wei Jiafuo declared that carriers and customers had destroyed their credibility during the economic downturn by not sticking to their commitments, which will have major implications in the recovery.

• NYK CEO Yasumi Kudo stated that container shipping companies had "pulled off an unexpectedly swift recovery," but noted that "some containership operators have been quick to explore the possibility of expanding shipping capacity at a pace faster than the recovery of cargo traffic."

Table of Contents:

Executive Summary

Global Economic Overview

Europe Economic & Shipping Overview

Europe International Trade Forecast

North Europe Six-Port Summary

Port Of Hamburg

Ports of Bremen & Bremerhaven

Port of Rotterdam

Port of Antwerp

Port of Zeebrugge

Port of Le Havre