Congested Asian ports struggle to sate Chinese demand

Singapore (Reuters): Australia, India and Indonesia are under the gun to expand port capacity so exporters can cash in on China’s commodities boom or face losing billions of dollars in business to other markets.

China, already the top iron ore importer and coal user, is expected to consume even greater amounts of commodities over the next few years to help fuel the rapid growth of the world’s second largest economy.

But major congestion at ports from Newcastle to Paradip to Balikpapan could force the world’s most populous country to turn to imports from suppliers further afield, such as the United States and Canada, which don’t have the same bottlenecks.

“It seems that (Asia Pacific) port capacity is constantly running behind actual demand,” said Klaus Nyborg, chief executive of Hong Kong-based dry bulk shipping firm Pacific Basin (2343.HK), one of Asia’s biggest small-sized shipowners.

“This is because many ports are owned by governments and therefore the process is much longer than it would be if they were privatized,” he added.

Port congestion ties up around 10 percent of the world’s dry bulk fleet, analysts said.

“It really comes down to Australia. If they can sort themselves out, then congestion will decline,” said Bjorn Bodding, an analyst with shipbroker RS Platou Markets.

A long parade of more than 40 ships queues daily at Australia’s Newcastle, the world’s busiest coal terminal, and waits an average of two weeks to load its cargo due to rail and other bottlenecks between the mines and the port.

In Indonesia, low water levels in the key Barito river during the dry season can limit coal barge trips to offshore loading facilities for up to five months a year.

And in India, trade has been limited because the bulk of its ports are too small to take 150,000-tonne cape vessels, most commonly used for long-haul dry bulk shipments from key iron ore ports such as Paradip on the southeast coast.

In response, governments, mining companies and port operators have promised to spend billions of dollars to build new terminals, lay more rail tracks and upgrade cargo handling facilities.

Australia has earmarked more than $40 billion for port development projects, while India aims to spend $500 billion and Indonesia $140 billion to overhaul roads, railways and harbors over the next five years.

But with the global economic recovery still in a fragile state, analysts doubt funding will be delivered as promised.

Concerns are already emerging that India may miss its 2012 investment target because of bureaucratic hurdles.

“It’s difficult for governments these days because China can easily turn off the tap and use their own supplies, leaving countries with a huge bill to pay without the returns,” said Simon Francis, managing director of UK-based Global Ports, which publishes a daily sea congestion index.

But failure to spend now may mean missing the China boom.

Chinese coal consumption is expected to soar to 2.7 billion tonnes in 2015 from 1.8 billion tonnes last year, while steel output is seen climbing to 880 million tonnes from 568 million tonnes in the same period, according to government estimates.

Australia’s Newcastle, whose customers include mining giants BHP Billiton  and Rio Tinto, exemplifies the difficulties commodity exporters face when deciding how much they can realistically deliver in a year.

Australia last month raised its forecast for coal shipments in 2011 by nearly 7 percent to 328 million tonnes, but analysts consider this improbable.

“They are being wildly optimistic. I would be cautious on those estimates,” said Mark Pervan, head of commodity research at ANZ National Bank.

The Port Waratah Coal Services, which operates export terminals at Newcastle, urged miners last month to cut coal exports by as much as 10 million tonnes because it could not cope with contracted volumes.

Port authorities, railway operators and mining companies blame each other for the bottlenecks, analysts said. The problem is compounded by the slow process of obtaining environmental approval, government funding and support from the various stakeholders in implementing multi-billion dollar development projects.

“The industry will need more consolidation to solve the problem,” Pervan said.

Newcastle does have a number of major expansion projects planned and underway, including the possible construction of a fourth terminal.

“I think in five years’ time things will be much better as long as promised infrastructure goes ahead,” said Peter Kopetz, analyst with Australia’s State One Stockbroking.

Maersk warns over cost pressure for ports

REUTERS: Container port operators in mature economies face “very strong cost competition” from faster-growing emerging markets, the Financial Times on Tuesday quoted the head of APM Terminals as saying.

Kim Fejfer, head of the A.P. Moller-Maersk-owned port operator, said the cost competition was due to excess capacity and slowing growth rates as this year’s sharp rebound in container shipping cools off, according to the paper.

“If you operate with over-capacity, you are squeezed by your customers and you see very strong cost competition,” the paper cited APM Terminals chief Kim Fejfer as saying.

Fejfer said port congestion was returning in the fastest-growing emerging markets, but sluggish growth in the mature markets meant continued excess capacity in many ports, including New York/New Jersey and Antwerp.