DURING the first half of 2010 the active container ship capacity has grown by 15.3 per cent, increasing from 11.55 million TEU at January 1 to 13.32 million TEU by the end of June, according to Alphaliner figures.
It said the 1.78 million TEU increase includes new ship deliveries of 740,000 TEU and the reactivation of idle ships, accounting for 1.16 million TEU, while 120,000 TEU of cellular capacity was removed through scrapping and conversions.
The total cellular fleet (active and idle) has reached 13.67 million TEU, up from 13.06 million TEU at the beginning of January.
"Despite the influx of newbuildings, the idle capacity dropped from 1.51 million TEU at January 1 to 350,000 TEU by end June. This was largely due to the higher-than-expected recovery in demand in the first half of the year and to the impact of extra slow steaming, which has absorbed an additional 320,000 TEU in six months," Alphaliner said.
The capacity of container ships scrapped in the first six months of the year has hit 111,000 TEU. A further 8,500 TEU was removed through conversions of container ships into other ship types, including bulk carriers and sheep carriers.
Schenker view: Post downturn, change is new logistics reality
THE logistics industry faces four new realities that will have long-term impacts, said German's Schenker AG director Detlef Trefzger, responsible for contract logistics and supply chain management.
Dr Trefzger told 500 delegates attending a recent Atlanta logistics conference that they would face 1) an increase in outsourcing generally, but particularly in automotive production to emerging markets, 2) substantial fluctuations away from traditional trade flows, 3) a demand for increasing levels of talent and expertise to handle the increasingly complex logistics challenges and 4) a widespread demand for standardised logistics solutions globally.
"There are excellent opportunities for the global logistics industry to benefit from these developments," said Dr Trefzger.
One of the new realities, he said, was the tremendous growth in new markets and emerging economies. To which he added, these regions will also demand a more significant role in the global economy.
Another new reality he identified were the results from the strong fluctuations in world trade, on the commodities markets and in production costs. These changes will lead to fluctuations in global freight flows and the demand for warehousing services.
"The result is increasingly less time to plan logistics processes," he said. "Those who miss the boat by not diversifying broadly enough and not adopting a global stance will face difficulties."
With outsourcing growing, logistics companies are taking on more of the customer's workload, "success very much depends therefore on having qualified employees. Good talent management is in demand," he said.
The strong demand for standardised logistics solutions on a global scale is the fourth market reality, he said. "Delivering consistently high standards of service quality will be one of the fundamental requirements in contract logistics. This will apply to all standard solutions, but also increasingly to customer-specific solutions," said Dr Trefzger.
(Source:www.schednet.com)
