b'APRIL 5 - 18, 2021MARITIME Section 21Big ships snag unusual cargoesMassive cargo ships are outrun by nimble fleet as dry-bulk market tightens in new speed raceShipmentsoftimberandNew orders for bulk shipsForyears,containershippingwasaroughtors. First, governments from Australia to Belgium grainarebeingloadedontoamake up 6.8% of the total fleetsbusiness. Margins were minuscule, the risks werekept consumers flush with cash and their financial class of ship normally reserveddeadweighttonnage,nearthehigh and growth prospects bobbed with the unpre- systems liquid. Then Chinas factories and Ameri-forothercargoasstronglowest in data extending back todictable tides of global trade. That its now gener- can consumers recovered quickly from last years demandtomovecommodities2005, according to IHS Markitating record profits is one of the great economicinitial shocks and emerged from three years of sup-tightenstheglobalmarketfordataonBloomberg.Theressurprises of the pandemic. ply-and-demand turmoila U.S.-China trade war dry-bulk vessels. reluctancetobuynewshipsThetransformationoverthepastyearalsofollowed by the pandemicstill intertwined.LogsfromUruguayandbecauseofchangingenviron- debunks a premise expressed loudly by pundits andChina remains the manufacturing floor of the grainfromBrazilaresettomentalregulationsanduncer- politicians in recent years that U.S.-China trade,world, Cox said in early March. There are prob-beloadedonso-calledCape- taintyoverwhatwillemergethe most vital route of international commerce, waslems that are real and need to be dealt with, but it size vessels this month or next,as the dominant clean fuel, saidheading inexorably down a path of steady decline.doesnt change the fact that China has built a very accordingtoPlattsshippingWobensmith.GencobelievesTheworldwantsmorefromcapable network that in the short data.ThoserawmaterialsareammoniawillbeusedbytheChina Inc. today than ever, andrun people will find very difficult typically transported on smallerindustry in the future, he added.as illustrated by the containersto replace.vesselssuchasPanamax,Thesupplyofdry-bulkpiled high on a ship stuck in theForsixdecadesbefore accordingtoGencoShippingships was already under pressureSuez Canal this weekcompa- Covid-19, U.S. household spend-& Trading Ltd. Chief Executiveas Covid-19 restrictions on sea- nies in the U.S. and Europe needingongoodsdeclinedpropor-John Wobensmith. farers and port workers slowedit faster than before. tionatelyasAmericansspent It just shows you how tightcargodeliveries,accordingtoAccelerated by more onlinemoreonservices.Thattrend theoveralldry-bulkmarketis,Gerry Craggs, managing direc- shopping,thedemandissoflipped in 2020, to the tune of a and its only going to get tighter,tor at Stemcor S.E.A. Pte Ltd.strongthatcustomersofocean$523 billion increase in merchan-Wobensmith said in a recent inter- Government stimulus to pump- freightareincreasinglywillingdise purchases, McKinsey & Co. view.Elevatedfreightratesareup Covid-19 ravaged economiesto pay up for it, too. At Matsoncalculates. All the freighters and not something that is for the nextis also boosting demand for rawInc., a Honolulu-based companytransport assets were more or less threemonths,thishasgotlegsmaterials, he said. with a fleet of smaller, nimblersucked up by the strong transpa-going well in to 2022 because ofWere in the phase of fiscalvesselsthatchargeapremiumcifictradelane,saidLudwig the low supply situation. stimulivirtuallyeverywhereovertheratestotransportonHausmann, a partner in McKin-Dry-bulk freight rates havein the world, Craggs said in amuch larger ships, the need for aMatthew Cox, Matsons CEO seys Munich office. China right averaged about $18,000 a day sorecent interview. Its driving upquickShanghai-to-LosAngelesnow is unbeatable.far this year, nearly a 40% jumpdemand for virtually everything,service became so great that executives decided toIn Washington and in European capitals, poli-fromthemeanin2020,saidand were seeing that effect inadd a second weekly run last year and make it aticians vilified supply chains that extended to state-Wobensmith.Ratesarepoisedthe steel sector and in commodi- permanent offering. managed economies like China or Vietnam.to rise further, helped by strongties sectors. I was getting calls at 2 in the morning fromBut talk to retailers and manufacturers depen-coalimportvolumesinIndiaDry bulk has started 2021 oncustomers saying Look, youve got to do some- dent on Asia and it becomes clear the crisis rein-andVietnamandrisinggraina high note, Bloomberg Intel- thing, youve got to help me, Matthew Cox, Mat- forced those links, serving as a reminder to diversify and iron ore exports from Brazil,ligence analyst Lee Klaskow saidsons CEO, said in an interview. suppliers and proving eulogies to globalization were he said. in a report last week. China andMatsonsmainbusinessisshuttlingstaplepremature. Shipping and inventory carrying costs New York-listed Genco ownsanexpectedglobaleconomicgoods to Hawaii and Guam and it ranks outside thehave surged, but not enough to avoid new supply 41 vessels, according to its web- recovery have set up one of thetop 20 largest container lines. But its stock jumpedrisks ranging from weather and tariffs to disease.site. The firms shares have morestrongestopeningquartersforalmost 40% last year and the industry as a whole than doubled in the past year. dry-bulk demand in a decade. is healthier than ever, topping more than $200 bil- t RadeSR eSiliencelion in estimated revenue in 2020. Its conceivableFirmshavebasicallydecidedthattheycan that the largest players including Denmarks A.P.manage that and still pursue these efficiency gains, Moller-Maersk A/S and Chinas Cosco Shippingsaid Robert Koopman, chief economist at the Geneva-Holdings Co. ended a tumultuous year with theirbased World Trade Organization. That helps explain most profitable quarter to date. why trade has been resilient.Another $1.9 trillion in U.S. fiscal stimulusAsk Heath Pittman about the crisis and hell may keep the good times going in 2021. Maersktell you about three months he spent in Chicago CEO Soren Skou said that we have to expect thatensuringfreightkeptmovingsoshelvesstayed some of that money will be used to buy goods thatstocked at Rural King, an Illinois-based chain of need to be transported. about125general-merchandisestoresinsmall-Still,runningfullsteamhasrevealedhowtown America.temperamental the backbone of the global tradingRuralKingsinternationallogisticsmanager system is when stretched: Crews are overworked,used 10 times as many 40-foot-long containers to thousands of containers have tumbled overboardimportlawnmowersfrom Vietnamin2020than in high seas and the vessel blocking Suez threat- the year before. Pittman wasnt going to be caught ens wider economic problems if it snarls traffic forshort in 2021 either, importing nearly triple last Port of Gulfport namesmore then a few days. yearsnumberofcontainersofmowers. Acon-Beyondthesetbacks,oceanfreightcompa- solidation facility in Vietnam will open in June, new CEO & Executive Director nies have been propelled by a confluence of fac- (NIMBLEcontinued on page 23)ACL AJOT_SailSchedule_2020_ACL2/27/209:33 AMPage 1TheMississippiStatePortnomicdevelopment,homeland Authority(MSPA)Boardofsecurityandpolicyadvising,OCommissioners has named Jonmaking him an ideal candidate toONNEESSHHIIPPNass the new CEO and Execu- lead our State Port.tive Director of the Port of Gulf- Jon comes from the Maine port, following a national searchPort Authority where he helped led by Tim McNamara, Head ofdevelopNorthernNewEng-Odgers Berndtsons Transporta- landsonlycontainerterminalC onCo nttaaiinneerrss,,RROORROO,,BBrreeaakkbbuullkkCCaarrggootion and Infrastructure Practiceand secured tens of millions of in Washington, D.C. dollars in funding for port and rail infrastructure. He also led efforts on a public-private partnership to construct Maines only publicly available climate-controlled stor-age, supporting the states food and beverage industries.JonwasalsotheDeputy CommissionerattheMaine DepartmentofTransportation, worked as a senior policy advisor in the State of Maine GovernorsRORO Customer ServiceOffice, and served seven years inA SERVICE AL1 SERVICE AL2 SERVICE 877-918-7676the U.S. Congress, most recentlyCutoff Friday Cutoff Thursday Cutoff Mon day Export Customer ServiceJon Nass, new CEO and ExecutiveascounseltotheU.S.SenateFROM NEW YORK LOLO RORO LOLO LOLO 800-225-1235Director of the Port of Gulfport Committee on Homeland Secu- TO Transit Time Transit Time Transit Time Transit Time Export Documentation After nearly an eight-monthrity. Jon previously served on aANTWERP 1620 18888-802-0401DUBLIN 12 process, the MSPA Commission isU.S.DepartmentofStatePro- BELFAST 13Import Customer Servicevery pleased to announce we havevincial Reconstruction Team as aGTEBORG 21888-802-0403selected a new executive directorfield officer embedded in a U.S.HAMBURG 13 17 15 22 Logisticsto lead the Port of Gulfport team,Armyinfantrybattalionoperat- LE HAVRE17 866-821-7449Credit & CollectionssaidMSPAPresidentE.J.Rob- ing in the city of Baqubah, Iraq. LIVERPOOL 9 13 888-225-7747erts. Jons extensive backgroundJons tentative start date at theLONDON GATEWAY20 19includesportmanagement,eco- Port of Gulfport is June 1, 2021. ROTTERDAM11 20'