Felixstowe Docks in trouble?

ccrasher26

pickles110564 wrote: »

At the moment the Port has only options open to Volunteers and at this stage are not looking to make any redundancies.

I do believe Mr Pickles that you have just changes my words? As I said what if they dont get the 200 people volunteer what will the next stage be? And as for only volounteers what about all those staff members at risk? Where will they all go? Will they be forced out of the gate volunterily??
As normal some people think that the bad is good? Why are we making redundancies when they are still expanding? Its been anounced that Landgaurd will be closing soon due to lack of business (and other reasons) there is no sign of things improving yet, could we be expanding and nothing to fill the new area? (Except maybe some affordable housing once this recession really hits hard!)

pickles110564

ccrasher26 wrote: »

I do believe Mr Pickles that you have just changes my words? As I said what if they dont get the 200 people volunteer what will the next stage be? And as for only volounteers what about all those staff members at risk? Where will they all go? Will they be forced out of the gate volunterily??
As normal some people think that the bad is good? Why are we making redundancies when they are still expanding? Its been anounced that Landgaurd will be closing soon due to lack of business (and other reasons) there is no sign of things improving yet, could we be expanding and nothing to fill the new area? (Except maybe some affordable housing once this recession really hits hard!)

I guess they must have a plan B if plan A does not work.
I did not realise that you were discussing what is going on with the staff.
The Port needs to expand so that it can compete against the other Ports that are being developed at the moment, we need larger deep water berths otherwise the largest Shipping Lines will go elsewhere.
By the Port continuing it Huge expansion plans we will be online before any other developing UK Port giving our commercial team a fantastic advantage to go out and get a greater % of the available work.
It could be quite possible that there might only be a few large players left after the recession and the Port must put itself into prime position.
Everyone still needs to do what the Port has always done in offering first class service to all our customers making sure that there is only one choice they need to make and that FELIXSTOWE PORT continues to be Britains Premier Port.

jetski690

pickles110564 wrote: »

I guess they must have a plan B if plan A does not work.
I did not realise that you were discussing what is going on with the staff.
The Port needs to expand so that it can compete against the other Ports that are being developed at the moment, we need larger deep water berths otherwise the largest Shipping Lines will go elsewhere.
By the Port continuing it Huge expansion plans we will be online before any other developing UK Port giving our commercial team a fantastic advantage to go out and get a greater % of the available work.
It could be quite possible that there might only be a few large players left after the recession and the Port must put itself into prime position.
Everyone still needs to do what the Port has always done in offering first class service to all our customers making sure that there is only one choice they need to make and that FELIXSTOWE PORT continues to be Britains Premier Port.

You sure you didn't put in for that PR job.

harryhound

As a one time freight forwarding clerk, even after 40 years I still get this Pavlovian reaction:

Liverpool:mad:

Felistowe:beer:

It is called "good will" in the accounts.

pickles110564

Almost 10% of global box fleet lies idle
Janet Porter - Friday 13 February 2009
CLOSE to 10% of the world’s container vessels are currently unemployed as owners and operators take drastic steps to bring supply into line with shrinking cargo demand, writes Janet Porter.
New Lloyd’s MIU figures updated yesterday show that 427 boxships are idle, representing 9.1% of the number of vessels in the world fleet.
The data indicates that considerably more containerships are at anchor than previously thought, particularly among smaller units.
In capacity terms, the inactive fleet stands at 828,009 teu, equivalent to 6.8% of the total.
Lloyd’s MIU, a Lloyd’s List sister company, has included all ships that have not moved for 20 days according to their automatic identification system signals. Vessels in West Africa, where long port delays are a frequent occurrence, have been excluded from the calculations.
Of the 427 ships that are idle, 41 units with combined slots of almost 270,000 teu have a nominal intake in excess of 5,000 teu.Another 71 in the 2,501 teu-4,999 teu bracket are at anchor, while 138 ships in the 1,001 teu-2,500 teu category are without work.
In the smallest sector of ships with less than 1,000 teu capacity, there are 177 inactive vessels.
The size of the surplus containership fleet has grown enormously since the freight trades began to crumble in the final quarter of last year.
BRS-Alphaliner, which also produces containership statistics, estimates that the amount of idle capacity went up more than five-fold from 150,000 teu to 800,000 teu between late October and early February.
The need to remove ships from service reflects falling trade volumes, withDrewry Shipping Consultants estimating that global container handling activitywas down by 1% in November compared with the same month a year earlier. Until then, trade had continued to grow, albeit at a rapidly declining pace throughout 2008.
The European Liner Affairs Association published data earlier this week showing that westbound volumes on the key Asia to Europe route fell by 12% between October and November.
The December numbers, due out any time now, are expected to show that the speed of the decline accelerated just before Christmas.
A few lines are now taking determined action to restore some sense to freight rates, with Hapag-Lloyd the latest to attempt to obtain increases on a number of routes after acknowledging that the erosion in Asia-Europe trade conditions suffered in 2008 had continued during the early weeks of 2009.
“Freight rates worldwide have reached a level that no longer covers costs,” Hapag-Lloyd said in a message to shippers.
New Asia-Europe tariff rates are to be set at $1,000 for a 20 ft container; $2,000 for a 40 ft, and $2,100 for a 40 ft high cube container with effect from April 1.
At the same time, Hapag-Lloyd will seek to impose higher all-in rates for eastbound Europe to Asia shipments, along with increases for transatlantic and Australia/New Zealand services.

pickles110564

CAT threatens Tees import centre closure over rates demands


Felicity Landon - Friday 13 February 2009

VEHICLE logistics group CAT has warned that a £500,000 ($720,800) backdated business rates bill could force the closure of its Renault import centre at Teesport, with the loss of more than 80 jobs, and might lead to the withdrawal of value-added and storage activities from the UK entirely within 12 months.

CAT, based in France, is the latest in a series of automotive companies considering their future in UK ports as a direct result of the controversial new port business rates system.

Its UK management is now looking to team up with the campaign groups on the Humber and Mersey to fight the bills that have been backdated by the Valuation Office Agency to 2005.

“We have received a bill for £500,000 for backdated rates, which is outrageous and altogether unfair,” said Greg Brown, centre manager for CAT Teesport.

“We will be contacting our local authority regarding the suspension of any rate payments until the government decides what to do. We hope that the backdated rates are withdrawn and a new system introduced in 2010. If this does not happen, we may find ourselves in a very difficult position. Our owners in France may decide to pull away from UK sites, operating from European ports.”

Pressures from the additional rates costs combined with significantly reduced car volumes in the current climate had already forced CAT UK to cut staffing levels by 50% and further reductions could be ruled out, said Stuart Warren, CAT’s region director and UK managing director.

The rates demands represented “a significant drain” when the automotive and logistics industries were already under severe strain.

“Ultimately, volumes and overall costs will determine whether CAT-UK has to close down one of its two major import centres, even in the short-term.”

Within a 12-month planning horizon, land and other costs “could lead to a withdrawal of value-added and storage activities from the UK entirely”.

There has been widespread anger among port tenants on the Humber, Mersey and elsewhere over double billing, where they are being asked to pay rates bills going back to 2005, despite having paid rates as part of their rent to the port operators during this time.

CAT has been paying PD Ports for the use of land on a non-exclusive basis, for which rates are now being demanded, but alongside this it has separate areas including workshops for which it has been paying rates to the local authority, said Mr Brown. “But now they want it again — and backdated.”

CAT is responsible for importing, processing and delivering all new Renault cars and vans into the UK. Annual volumes over the past ten years have varied between 100,000 and 210,000. The company operates two major import centres, at Teesport and at Southampton, which has also been affected by the rates issue, although to a lesser degree.

Activities at the import centres include pre-delivery inspection, preparation for the UK market, fitting security equipment and accessories, and administration and documentation.

The cars are shipped into Southampton and Teesport from plants in Spain and France. Activities currently performed in Teesport could be moved to a French, Belgian or Dutch port, said Mr Brown.

“It would be too easy to us to keep the stock back there and ship when the customer wants the vehicles.

The cars could still come through Teesport but on a just-in-time basis, so we would need only a very small site or even just a straightforward in and out system and a central location away from the port.”

pickles110564

Idle boxship capacity at all-time high and rising
Nearly 400 ships at anchor or lay-up as trade volumes fall


By Janet Porter - Thursday 19 February 2009
CONTAINER shipping faces at least another four years of misery, and probably more, as supply continues massively to outstrip demand.
Figures from AXS-Alphaliner show that the number of unemployed boxships has soared over the past couple of weeks as lines continue to cancel services.
By the beginning of this week, an estimated 392 ships with combined total capacity of 1.1m teu were idle, according to AXS-Alphaliner.
This represents a huge jump from the 303 ships of 800,000 teu out of work at the start of the month, and figures from Lloyd’s MIU last week putting the amount of idle boxship capacity at almost 830,000 teu.
At 1.1m teu, the number of slots withdrawn from service equates to 8.8% of the total cellular fleet, way above the previous peak of 5% touched two decades ago when US Lines went bankrupt and its ships seized, and the 3.2% recorded at the height of the 2002 market slump. The latest data include 19 units with nominal capacity in excess of 7,500 teu.
With so much tonnage now either at anchor or in lay-up, AXS-Alphaliner estimates that demand would have to grow at an average of 15% over the next three years to restore equilibrium by early 2013.
That scenario seems totally unrealistic, with a slightly more probable growth figure of 10% pushing supply and demand balance back to 2014.
But the main container trades are witnessing a drop in overall volumes at the moment, with little on the horizon to suggest there will be a turnround in the foreseeable future.
Asian export ports are reporting a huge decline in outbound traffic as retail spending in the US and Europe remains in the doldrums, while recent statistics from the European Liner Affairs Association showed a steep decline in container line liftings towards the end of last year, when the full impact of the credit squeeze hit economies around the world.
AXS-Alphaliner said that its projections were based on the current fleet and orderbook, and an assumption that 160,000 teu per year will be scrapped. Its figures also do not allow for any possible newbuilding cancellations.
Maersk Broker has provisionally forecast that at least 120,000 teu will be broken up this year, followed by 70,000 teu in 2010, but it also said that the final figures for demolition activity were likely to be higher.
The first month of 2009 saw just over 40,000 teu sold to breakers.
On the supply side, around 1.8m teu is scheduled for delivery between now and the end of the year, adding 14.6% to the fleet in 2009, followed by another 12.1% in 2010.
Contracting activity remains at a standstill, while the shipyards are keeping tightlipped about whether they have agreed to delay deliveries.
Negotiations continue, but most industry sources do not think any firm agreements have yet been reached, with the South Korean yards determined to make clients stick to the terms of their contracts despite pressure from owners and their bankers to reschedule production programmes.
As banks try to find any loophole they can to extract themselves from credit agreements, some owners are resorting to legal action to force the finance houses to keep to their contractual commitments.

jetski690

I'm not sure your the same Pickles that I know, All your last posts have been all doom and gloom, nothing like the Pickles I know.

pickles110564

jetski690 wrote: »

I'm not sure your the same Pickles that I know, All your last posts have been all doom and gloom, nothing like the Pickles I know.

I will snap out of it sooner or later dont want to end up sounding like vinegartits.
He did not get it quite right saying that all those businesses in Felixstowe were in the process of closing did he.

jetski690

I would say he got a darn site more right than you did though.:p