Tanjung Priok super port - WorldCargo News Online

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PORT DEVELOPMENT
This shot of Delta DDE 2 shows how tight the Amazonehaven is, as the
container barge is backing out. The grabs in the foreground are on a floating
crane moored near the end of the EMO coal and iron ore terminal
selves in the associated distribution
park, although as yet there are
no firm bookings.
Opening up
Currently the only deepsea market
competitor to ECT is APMT,
which operates on a 100-ha parcel
(formerly known as Delta
Sealand terminal) on the Delta
terminal where ECT occupies the
remaining 270-ha. ECT also operates
the Euromax terminal on
the Yangtzehaven, which is now
the approach channel to the MVII
terminals. Last year, ECT handled
around 7.7M TEU in Rotterdam,
including the City terminal in the
Waalhaven (formerly known as
Home terminal), while APMT
handled 4M TEU.
Now that the main construction
work for MVII is complete,
it will be possible to extend
Euromax into the newly reclaimed
land area.
ECT is currently refurbishing
and upgrading the Delta terminal.
It is understood to have ordered
11 ZPMC cranes with a 24-
wide deck coverage and a clear
light height above quay of 50m. It
has also ordered 11 ASCs from
Kalmar and 22 hybrid drive AGVs
from VDL as replacements for ageing
equipment at Delta, but there
is no indication where the STS
cranes will be deployed. ECT declined
WorldCargo News’ request
for information.
Steady going
The last three years have seen
Rotterdam’s container volumes
relatively stable at around the 11M
TEU level - 11.15M TEU,
11.88M TEU and 11.87M TEU
in 2010, 2011 and 2012 respectively.
While this is not the growth
pattern the port enjoyed when
MVII was planned, HBR is comfortable
with these figures, noting
that competing ports are in a similar
position, if not worse.
Antwerp, the third biggest
container port in Europe, has remained
consistent at around 8.5M
TEU, while second place Hamburg
saw bigger fluctuations. Its
2010 throughput of 7.9M TEU
jumped to 9M TEU in 2011 and
fell back to 8.64M TEU last year.
Containerised tonnage has
grown faster than volumes, due to
a reduction in empty backhauls to
the Far East. The figure for Rotterdam
was 125.4 Mt last year,
marginally up from 123.6 Mt in
2011 while the 2010 tonnage was
over 10 Mt lower at 112.3 Mt.
Containerised tonnage was the
biggest segment after liquid bulk,
comfortably above dry bulk,
which fell slightly to 78.1 Mt.
Container focus
The port remains firmly focused
on containers for long term
growth. There is no provision for
major bulk handling facilities on
MVII as HBR considered there
is sufficient capacity at the
Waalhaven, Europoort and at
Maasvlakte I, in the form of EECV,
EMO and 15 smaller terminals
such as Rotterdam Bulk Terminal,
European Bulk Services,
Marcor, ADM and so on.
It also considers that the traditional
staples of heavy bulk imports,
such as thermal coal, iron
ore and coking coal are in decline.
While thermal coal handling is
projected to remain stable, if not
grow, for the next decade or so,
fossil fuel power generation will
eventually be overhauled by renewable
energy. Even if biomass,
a substitute for coal burning, takes
over from coal, it will not need
the heavy handling plant and large
open stockyards that coal requires.
The European steel making
market is also changing. It will
emerge as a far slimmer industry
focused more on high grade rolled
steels rather than trying to compete
with basic steels, which will
be imported from China and even
from the US, where shale gas is
driving down energy prices.
MVII is about handling semiprocessed
commodities and consumer
goods carried in containers,
and the logistics to sort, store
and distribute this traffic, along
with the formation of business
park “clusters” to support these
activities. There are advanced plans
for developing an industrial park
for a bio-based chemical industry
on the site next to Lyondell. Together
with partners, HBR is developing
the infrastructure for the
site, such as jetties and mains services
connections for gas, water,
electricity etc. This approach, believes
HBR, offers businesses the
advantage of being able to concentrate
on their core activities.
Dukes of Alba
HBR is placing mooring piles for
ship-to-ship transfer, which it sees
as a growing, but possibly, short
term market. Demand for this type
of activity is growing strongly, especially
in the liquid bulk sector,
due mainly to oil coming from
Russia, which is shipped to Asia
in larger tankers than the panamax
size that can access the Baltic.
There is also interest from the
dry bulk sector, particularly for
grains and other agri-bulks, while
the area could also be employed
for biomass transhipment from
transatlantic bulkers to barges for
delivery to Dutch and German
inland power plants. This activity,
on a limited scale, is currently carried
out in the Waalhaven, which
is limited in space and also entails
a long passage upriver for the deep
sea vessel. HBR is investing
around €10M in the moorings and
they will be ready next year.
Financing
With MVII phase 1 now opened,
HBR has been able to determine
the actual costs. In 2006 it was estimated
that €1.7B would be spent
on the first phase. On top of that,
due to the project’s complexity
and size, a “contingency” of
€200M was added to allow for
setbacks and deviations from the
plan, taking the budget to €1.9B.
It appears that the first phase came
in at €1.55B, or €150M under
budget, while the €200M contingency
fund was not necessary.
The net result of the port authority
in 2012 was almost
€228M, some €33M above the
figure for 2011. CFO Paul Smits
noted: “These figures imply we
The first two ASCs from Hans Kuenz have been erected at APMT’s MVII
terminal. They are just visible in the middle of the picture on p39 (Photo: Provoice)
can continue to invest in our port
area. This is very important for
development in the long-term.
“At the same time it offers the
opportunity to increase dividends
to our shareholders [Rotterdam
municipality 70% and the Dutch
State 30%]. At the end of last year
we had already agreed with the
customers to reduce port dues to
below the level of 2008.”
The two most important
sources of income are site leases
or rents and port dues. Lease/
rental income increased by 9.3%
to €291.7M, driven by the new
leases on MVII, price indexation
of current contracts, and the renewal
of a number of contracts at
more competitive prices. Port dues
increased by 0.6% to €307.3M,
which was a lower rate of growth
than the increased throughput due
to higher discounts. Considerable
port due discounts also apply in
2013. In total, operating income
increased by 4.6% to €615.3M.
A total of €625.7M was invested
in the port in 2012, of
which €394.1M related to MVII.
Investments are thus higher than
operating income, but in the next
few years investment volume will
be considerably lower as the first
phase of MVII is over and it will
generate lease income..
The port has proposed a dividend
of €85.6M. In addition to
its share of that, the Dutch State
has also been “repaid” €290M of
its original contribution to the
construction of MVII. The favourable
financial returns provided the
opportunity to reduce the debt
eight years earlier than was originally
agreed in 2005. ❏
Maasvlakte II panorama in April 2013. (Photo: Aeroview)
40
May 2013