President Benigno S. Aquino III presented the accolade to ICTSI during awarding rites last 9 September at the New World Hotel, Makati City.  ABAC cited ICTSI “not only for its outstanding growth performance, but also for its commitment to the welfare for its employees, as well as its impactful corporate social responsibility programs.”  Photo shows ICTSI officers (from left): Arthur R. Tabuena, treasury director and head of investor relations, Fernando L. Gaspar, senior vice president and chief administrative officer, and Lirene C. Mora-Suarez, regional legal manager for Asia-Pacific, receiving the commissioned trophies.  Mr. Gaspar holds the top award, while Ms. Mora-Suarez holds the finalist trophy.  Over 50 companies were nominated to the awards that highlight Philippine companies making an impact in the overall growth of the ASEAN region.  A shortlist of 18 finalists vied for the six top awards, with ICTSI bagging the highest plum.  ICTSI will lead the group of top awardees in November when these Philippine firms represent the country in regional ASEAN Business Awards in Myanmar.  ICTSI is an international operator of common-user container terminals serving the global container shipping industry. ICTSI is the largest port operator in the Philippines and has a portfolio of 29 container terminal operations in 21 countries across six continents. # # #

The machine will be operated at Salzgitter Flachstahl for handling hot and cold steel slabs. The design and build project was completed by Kalmar in 12 months.

The Evertz Group, a company based in Solingen, Germany has specialised in serving steel mills all over the world with products and as service provider for over 50 years. Through the constant improvement of techniques, procedures and parts for steel production, it has become the leading name in the industry. Kalmar’s solution was devised to meet Egon Evertz’s increasing requirement to handle heavier loads.

Mr Mößner, representative of Egon Evertz said, “Kalmar was the only company that could design and build to our specification and meet the time frame required. We have been experiencing consistent growth throughout our business and as steel slabs increase in size we needed an innovative solution to handle these huge loads reliably and safely. We are certainly impressed with how Kalmar responded to our brief and also proud to have the world’s biggest reachstacker as part of our fleet.”

The Kalmar DRG650-92A5XS reachstacker is called ‘Super Gloria’ because it is now the largest reachstacker in Kalmar’s hugely successful Gloria range. The  completely new design resulted in an impressive lift capacity of 65 tonnes at 4.0m load centre in dynamic mode (drive) or 65 tonnes at 5.0m load centre in static mode (non driving).

Super Gloria will be handling new 50-tonne mega steel slabs, measuring 2.7m wide, 12m long and 350mm thick. The machine is equipped with both an electric lift magnet for handling slabs in cold conditions and a hydraulic slab grab for hot conditions (up to 800 degrees Celsius).

The high lifting capacity has been augmented with a specially raised cab to enhance visibility and a wheel distance of 9.25m to provide maximum stability. An onboard generator providing emergency power for the magnet, AdBlue fuel efficient technology and a fire extinguishing system are also featured in the specification.

Dan Pettersson, Senior Vice President, Mobile Equipment at Kalmar commented, “We are delighted that, once again, Kalmar is making history. Super Gloria is a very impressive feat of engineering and is indicative of the commitment we have to meeting our customer’s needs. It’s also a notable achievement that the Kalmar team designed, built and delivered the world’s largest reachstacker within just 12 months.”

“We are deeply appreciative for the support of our Congressional delegation and the Obama Administration, who were instrumental in elevating the visibility of our port, an important asset to South Carolina and the entire nation,” said Bill Stern, SCPA Board Chairman. “The Wando Terminal improvements ensure that the SCPA has the infrastructure necessary to handle growing import and export cargo volumes on a new generation of ocean vessels, supporting US trade goals and our nation’s role in international commerce.”

The US Department of Transportation grant represents nearly 13 percent of the total estimated cost for upgrading the SCPA’s busiest container terminal. The project includes upgrades to structural support of the wharf and fendering system, as well as modifications to crane rails to accommodate two new super-post-Panamax cranes on order for the terminal.

“This announcement couldn’t be more timely, given the information shared by industry experts at this week’s SC International Trade Conference,” said Jim Newsome, SCPA president and CEO. “The prevailing sentiment throughout the maritime community and supporting industries is that ports are facing significant infrastructure improvement needs. It is clear that post-Panamax vessels are the new standard and that port competitiveness is and will continue to be driven by the ability to accommodate big ships.”

Construction on the project will begin in the spring of 2015 and will be completed in two or two and a half years, followed by the Post-45 Harbor Deepening Project and the opening of a new SCPA container terminal on the former Navy Base by the end of the decade. 

The company is also planning to move the center for its commercial activities to Singapore from Jan 1, 2015.

“Already today more containers are handled in Asia compared to the rest of the world combined and the Asian market will continue to grow significantly faster. I want to be closer to this market in order to understand what Bromma have to do to support the needs from the Asian customers” says Mr. Holmström.

“We will continue to invest in our operations and support also to the customers and markets outside Asia – There should be no doubts about that! We are the leading global spreader supplier and we intend to stay in that position. Developing together with our existing customers in all parts of the world is essential in order to do that”, Mr. Holmström continues.

After the relocation, the global management team of Bromma will be equally split between Singapore and Stockholm plus the Managing Director of the production plant in Malaysia.