Heilongjiang Lighthouse International Logistics Co., Ltd.

Marine terminal companies holding operating concessions at India’s major landlord ports now have an opportunity to better compete with private ports, an industry domain being increasingly dominated by the Adani Group.

The government has released revised draft policy guidelines allowing old terminals with operations on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis, who had been victims of a flawed pricing mechanism, to migrate from regulated service rates to a market-driven tariff regime.

“In the past, tariffs were regulated due to limited competitive landscape but the evolving market and competitive landscape necessitates deregulation,” the Indian Shipping Ministry said in its provisional document.

The ministry further noted: “The original objective of introducing the tariff regulations in 2005, inter alia, included safeguarding interest of users, while ensuring fair returns to the port and encouraging competition and efficiency.”

It went on to add: “The long-term objective outlined in the tariff guideline 2005 was competitive pricing. The market and the competitive landscape in the Indian port sector has since witnessed a significant shift.”

The Tariff Authority for Major Ports (TAMP) had been tasked with determining and approving tariff rates at public-private-partnership (PPP) terminal projects.

Royalty amounts mandated to be shared with landlord ports or the government had been the chief bone of contention or pain point, as competition intensified.

The PSA terminal at Tuticorin Port has borne the brunt of such lopsided contracts, with little relief from years of litigation.

On the other hand, private minor ports have the autonomy to fix their tariffs, gaining significant competitive advantages over BOT terminals. Here, Adani Ports has made steady inroads into the Indian container market, with its flagship Mundra Port the busiest in the country.

“The non-major ports presently account for about 45% of the traffic, and there is no parity in the tariff regulation mechanism between the major ports and the minor/non-major ports,” the ministry explained in its document.

“Thus, need was felt to address the disparity in differing regulations and tariff guidelines subsisting at major ports, in order to provide uniform user experience and ensuring level playing field for PPP operators by allowing them to play a greater role in determination of tariffs and better respond to competitive market forces.”

Amid tariff complications, port investments from other global leaders, particularly APMT, haven’t been that promising in recent years, with the exception of DP World, which recently won a new terminal concession at Kandla.

India has massive port plans in the offing, requiring a more consistent and pro-industry policy framework to propel private investment interest. A greenfield project, costing about US$ 10 billion, near Nhava Sheva, is the most notable one.

India has 12 major or government ports and more than 200 minor or non-major ports across its vast coastline of some 4,600 miles.

China's international trade in goods and services rose 4 percent year-on-year to about 4.18 trillion yuan through August 2024, official data released by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange Control of the People's Republic of China showed on Friday.

In dollar terms, the country's total exports and imports in international trade in goods and services amounted to $322.4 billion. The country's total exports and imports of international trade in goods and services amounted to US$322.4 billion and US$263.5 billion. The country's exports and imports totaled US$322.4 billion and US$263.5 billion, respectively, recording a surplus of US$58.9 billion. THE SURPLUS AMOUNTED TO US$58.9 BILLION.

Among them, China's merchandise exports totaled about 2.07 trillion yuan in August, while imports totaled nearly 1.5 trillion yuan. The surplus at the same time reached 572.4 billion yuan.

Last month, China exported 230.8 billion yuan worth of services and imported 383 billion yuan worth of services. The passive balance amounted to 152.2 billion yuan.

From February 2024, THE Alliance, which includes Hapag-Lloyd, Nippon Yusen (NYK), Yang Ming, MOL, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K-Line) and Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM), will become the new organization called Premier Alliance, which consists of ONE, Yang Ming Marine and Hyundai Merchant Marine. comprising ONE, Yang Ming Marine and Hyundai Merchant Marine. Hapag-Lloyd will leave the alliance and join the Gemini Corporation, a partnership with Maersk, which was formed after the dissolution of the 2M alliance between MSC and Maersk.

Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), the operator with the world's largest fleet, signed an agreement to assist the Premier Alliance in filling the void on Asia-Europe routes following the withdrawal of Hapag-Lloyd. As a result of MSC's involvement, the Premier Alliance will become a significant, albeit initially smaller, player.

The Panama Canal announced that the new Long Term Slot Allocation (LoTSA) methodology will be implemented starting 1 October 2024, for all market segments except LNG and LPG.

The LNG and LPG segments will adhere to the previously announced date in Advisory to Shipping No. A-25-2024.

After the LoTSA methodology was announced, several customers in the full container market segment requested additional time to thoroughly assess the new initiative.

In response, the implementation date for these segments has been postponed to allow for greater participation and to ensure the success of the LoTSA methodology.

The Long-Term Slot Allocation Method for Neopanamax vessels, part of the Transit Booking System, was developed to enhance transit certainty and flexibility for clients.

This method will offer various transit booking slot packages to different market segments, allowing a single client to secure multiple bookings in one transaction.

Parts of Hong Kong’s Kwai Tsing Container Terminals remain closed for clean-up operations after an oil spillage occurred on the night of 20 August.

The spillage of bunkers happened while Taiwanese liner operator TS Lines’ 1,100 TEU container ship, TS Kobe, was fuelled at terminals 6 and 7, which are operated by Hongkong International Terminals.

The marine fuel was supplied by Yee Lee 2, a barge operated by local bunker supplier Yee Lee.

Hong Kong’s Marine Department said that it was alerted to the oil spillage around 2200hrs local time on 20 August, and immediately executed spillage response measures.

The oil slick is understood to have spread to waters around Kwai Tsing’s terminal 4 and the Tsing Yi and Stonecutters districts in Hong Kong.

VesselsValue’s ship-tracking data indicates that TS Kobe, which serves TS Lines’ North Vietnam 2 service, remains anchored at the incident spot.

Representatives at TS Lines and Yee Lee declined to comment when contacted by Container News, citing ongoing investigations into the spillage Hong Kong bunker barge operators told Container News that the cleanup could take at least a month.

In June, a severe bunker leakage in Singapore took two months to be fully cleared up, with beaches reopened this month.