Liebherr states that the world market for MHCs saw a notable downturn in 2009, with a depression across all manufacturers of 40 percent on the previous year. Comparatively, the company states that it recorded a slightly better reduction in orders, which were down by only 30 percent. Furthermore, it reports that turnover for the calendar year 2010 was EUR 210 million, slightly up on the previous year. Within these figures, business from Europe accounted for 38 percent, followed by 18 percent from Latin America, 15 percent from India, and 12 percent from Africa, with the rest of the market shared between North America, the Middle East, Far East Asia and Australia. The introduction of the Pactronic hybrid drive system was the big story for Liebherr in 2010; at the end of the year, the company reports that its order backlog for MHCs amounted to more than EUR 10 million. The new LHM 550 Pactronic model accounted for more than 25 percent of this business. The main news for company’s MHC portfolio at this year’s TOC Europe is the presentation of the new model LHM 420. The manufacturer states that this new heavyweight crane is the successor of the LHM 400 and bridges the gap between the LHM 550 and the LHM 280. The LHM 420 will be available in two variants, with maximum lifting capacities of 84 and 124 tonnes. Its maximum radius is 48 meters, making the LHM 420 ideal for loading and unloading from a wide variety of vessels, from handysize to post-Panamax classes. The crane is specially designed for container movement, bulk material, heavy loads and any other cargo handling tasks. After the LHM 550, the LHM 420 is the second product line serially equipped with the energy-saving and performance-enhancing Pactronic system. Demag, the parent company of Gottwald Port Technology, reports that it generally considers the financial year 2009/10 an overall success. Indeed, the company states that the rapid implementation of its restructuring programme has created a basis for further growth. Its group order intake increased by 8.2 percent year on year to EUR 910.6 million in 2009/10, with all segments contributing. The manufacturer states that the late cyclical nature of its business explains the delay before this positive order situation is reflected in revenue. Because of this, Demag Group revenue decreased by 11.1 percent compared with the previous year to EUR 931.3 million. Despite this, Demag slightly exceeded its revenue target of EUR 900 million. The industrial cranes segment reported revenue of EUR 440.8 million (in 2008/09 the figure stood at EUR 545.8 million) and operating earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of EUR 4.8 million (2008/2009: EUR 29.7 million). The company also states that it has further reduced its cost base by successfully implementing measures from the restructuring programme and succeeded in lowering the break-even point well below the initially planned EUR 470 million. Demag states that it has intensified its focus on developing markets in the last financial year, opening a new plant in Chakan, India, in 2010, and thereby increasing its production capacities on the subcontinent almost fivefold, by around 8,000 square meters to more than 10,400 square meters. Indeed, the company has placed a focus on developing MHC business in the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries as part of its strategy. A facet of this business tactic has been the recent performance trial at Indian client Jindal Steel & Power Limited (JSPL), of a Gottwald G HMK 6407 B mobile harbour crane in continuous-duty coal handling. With an average capacity of more than 1,000 tonnes per hour, the four-rope grab crane unloaded an entire Panamax vessel carrying 62,324 tonnes of coal in only 61 hours and two minutes. A further order from an Indian-based customer came from the Archean Group, for a G HPK 8200 B floating crane, a variant of the company’s Model 8 of Generation 5, used for open-sea trans-shipment of export coal from barges to ocean-going vessels off the Indonesian coast in the province Bengkulu (also known as Southwest Sumatra). Italian manufacturer Italgru has also scored some success in the Indian market, having supplied two GS 1100 P (now converted to IHC 1360) cranes to Kandla Port Trust India (KPT). The cranes have aITALGU S.r.l. pleased to announce to have secured a prestigious contract for supply of two nos Mobile Harbour Cranes model GS 1100 P (now this model has been converted to model IHC 1360) having lifting capacity of 63 t at the hook from Kandla Port Trust India (KPT), a leading Government Port in India, handling 70 mtpa of different cargo at present.Picture: same model in operation in the Port of […]a lifting capacity of 63 tonnes at the hook. Within Italy, Italgru delivered a new model IHC 2120 crane to the stevedoring company, Terminal Calata Orlando (Leghorn Port). This crane has a capacity at the hook of 120 tonnes. “With diesel-hydraulic driven, proportional electronic-type controls that optimise the performances, our harbour cranes are particularly suitable for works in which high lifting power and high speed must combine with the utmost precise and smooth movement,” Italgru states. “The range of Italgru mobile harbour cranes starts from the IHC 320, with a minimum capacity of 25 tonnes, and is completed by the IHC 3160, with a maximum capacity of 160 tonnes.”
Staying focused
Demag states that it has “significantly reduced” the cost base in its port technology trade, while its order levels have been on the increase, particularly in the fourth quarter of the financial year. Within this, MHC business levels were particularly pleasing. The company re-entered talks on major automated terminal projects with several port and terminal operators; however, it states that no concrete orders have been received to date in this area. The company states of its overall performance in the financial year: “By rigorously focusing on efficient cash and working capital management, we repaid net debt in full in the financial year 2009/10 and even achieved a net cash position of EUR 7.2 million. Free cash flow before financing and restructuring payments amounted to EUR 25.0 million.” In January, Gottwald reported that it had been awarded a contract to supply a G HMK 8410 MHC to Puerto Angamos in Mejillones, Chile. The Generation 5 (Model 8) crane will be the largest Gottwald mobile harbour crane for container handling in the Americas. With the new crane, Puerto Angamos intends to significantly upgrade its container handling capabilities in view of the anticipated increases in vessel size at the port (the operator is expecting to service super post-Panamax vessels in future). The G HMK 8410 will be the second Gottwald machine at Puerto Angamos, where a Gottwald HMK 280 E crane has been in operation since 2002. Commercial operation is scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2011. In September last year, a further, notable order for Gottwald came from customers in South Korea. Ssangyong Engineering & Construction Co Ltd ordered two more
Generation 4 cranes – one HMK 170 E and one HMK 260 E – while Dongbu Express acquired its third Generation 5, Model 4, G HMK 4306 B four-rope grab crane for professional bulk handling. Demag also boasts that it has noted strong order growth in the first quarter of this financial year. The Group’s order intake has surged by 53.9 percent year on year, and is up by 10.8 percent when compared to the same quarter last year. Meanwhile, the Group’s EBIT has comparatively increased by 36 percent year on year. Demag generated an order intake of EUR 284.0 million in the first quarter of the financial year 2010/2011 (in the same quarter of 2009/2010, the total was EUR 184.5 million). This improvement came from all areas of Demag’s business. The first quarter of 2010/11 showed further improvement for Demag in the port technology sector, thanks to an incremental demand in MHCs, which increased by a remarkable 109.3 percent. Revenue in the port technology segment rose by 38.7 percent (Q1 2009/2010: EUR&n
bsp;37.9 million). Port operations are as such key in the positive outlook of Demag for the coming years. The company states: “From today’s perspective, we aim to achieve Group revenue in the range of EUR 970.0 million to EUR 1.0 billion in the financial year 2010/2011. No later than financial year 2012/2013, Group revenue is expected to re-attain the record level reached in the financial year 2007/2008 (EUR 1,225.8 million). The new emerging-market product families are planned to deliver another sharp jump in revenue in the financial year 2014/2015.”
Significant orders for Sennebogen
German manufacturer Sennebogen has recorded two significant MHC orders from Eastern Europe – one for two 870 Crawler Special cranes operating at the Vladivostok Commercial Seaport in Russia, employed solely for coal handling. Equipped with a 21-meter boom, 4.5-cubic-meter clamshell grab and a 1-meter pylon, both machines operate continuously. The second notable Eastern European order came from the Port of Yuzhne in the Ukraine which, with water depths of up to 15 meters, is the largest harbour in the country and serves up to Capesize ships. Another notable deal for the company has been the delivery of 11 Sennebogen MHCs to MMK-Atakas port, a joint venture between the Russian steel giant MMK Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works and the Turkish Atakas Group within the Port of Iskenderun, Turkey. With operating weights of between 45 and 250 tonnes, the machines are used mainly for scrap handling tasks and also supply material to the steel works based at the port. Equipped with scrap metal grabs between 1.2 cubic meters and 12 cubic meters, clamshell grabs and hooks, the manufacturer states that the machines are extremely flexible and meet all requirements in the field of port materials handling. Each day, around 14,000 tonnes of material from ships of up to 60,000 dwt (Panamax size) are unloaded and around 20,000 tonnes are loaded at MMK-Atakas port.
Versatile and Fundamental
The abundance of news coming from the MHC market seems to be positive; indeed, manufacturers have the confidence to express genuine optimism about its development. And, given the versatility of MHCs and their importance to global maritime cargo handling, there’s good reason for this upbeat outlook.