Share of containerized cargo in the port’s total cargo turnover accounted for 47%.

General cargo (exclusive of containers, vehicles, oil products) maintained positive momentum in January. This went up by 16.4 percent. The growth in January was due to the increase in exports y-o-y, mainly metallurgical coke (up 14.3%), steel products (up 27%), pulp and paper (up 27.4%). Cabotage cargo handling volumes rose 8.8 percent.

Ruslan Alikhanov, President of FESCO Transportation Group said in a statement: “Steady trend of 2013 towards cargo handling volume increase in Commercial Port of Vladivostok continued in January 2014. This is due, on the one hand, to modern technological processes used in the port that boost the efficiency of cargo handling, and, on the other hand, to the growth of trade turnover between the Far East and SEA countries. In January Commercial Port of Vladivostok enjoyed the gain of general cargo export as well.”

While container throughput at the second-largest German port declined from 6.1 (2012) to 5.8 million TEU (down 4.7 per cent), the number of vehicles handled remained at the previous year’s level. In 2013, a total of 2,178,720 automobiles crossed the quays at the Weser in 2013, which is just 3,273 fewer than in 2012. “Once again, Bremerhaven succeeded in defending its position as the leading automotive port in Europe against its rivals Zeebrugge and Emden,” said Senator Martin Günthner.

In terms of total ocean freight throughput, the ports of Bremen/Bremerhaven were faced with a decline of 6.2 per cent in 2013, with total annual performance down from 84.0 to 78.8 million tonnes. Incoming ocean freight reached a level of 39.1 (2012: 42.2) million tonnes, outbound freight amounted to 39.7 (41.8) million tonnes. Last year, Bremerhaven accounted for 66.2 million tonnes of the total ocean freight handled by the twin ports, while Bremen-City handled a share of 12.6 million tonnes.

General cargo throughput at Bremen’s ports decreased from 73.6 to 68.9 million tonnes (down 6.4 per cent). Conventional – i.e. non-containerised – cargo, declined from 8.4 to 7.9 million tonnes (down 6.0 per cent). In the bulk cargo segment, the figure fell from 10.4 to 9.9 million tonnes, which is a decrease of 4.9 per cent.

Günthner summed up: “In 2012, Bremen’s ports had still succeeded in beating the negative trend at other European locations and achieved the best performance in their history. However, in 2013 – later than the competition – we were also confronted with the impact of the economic crisis in many parts of the world.“ The Senator expects throughput figures to stabilise in 2014.

During the course of the year, Gulftainer accomplished a significant throughput of 6 million TEUs at its terminals. This achievement reinforces Gulftainer’s position as one of the leading operators in the Middle East and supports its goal of handling 18 million TEUs and operating 35 terminals across five continents by 2020.

Across the Middle East in 2013, Gulftainer’s facilities in Iraq and Saudi Arabia witnessed double digit growth and continued to gain momentum as markets expanded due to improved infrastructure and investment prospects. In Iraq, Gulftainer, which currently operates two container berths in Umm Qasr, anticipates an influx in new business opportunities this year as a result of the opening of the newly built 750,000m2 Umm Qasr Logistics Centre.

In Saudi Arabia, following the acquisition of Gulf Stevedoring Contracting Company (GSCCO) in June 2013, Gulftainer achieved 34% growth at the Jubail Container Terminal, and saw the import markets grow by 10 per cent.

In the UAE, Gulftainer achieved a healthy three percent increase in cargo throughput over the last year. Its Khorfakkan Container Terminal (KCT), despite a slower year-on-year growth due to the loss of cargo impacted by the international sanctions against Iran, has grown at an average of 6.5 % per annum over the last five years.  In Lebanon, Gulftainer has begun civil works to develop facilities within the port of Tripoli and aims to start handling vessels by the end of the year.

On a global level, growth in Brazil has been significant with the first container traffic being handled in the Port of Recife in more than a decade. Trade is expected to grow significantly in the coming months as extensive investment and expansion plans are undertaken by the port authorities at Recife.

“The overall growth achieved in the last 12 months has exceeded anything we’ve done in previous years, said Peter Richards, Managing Director of Gulftainer. “We are at an exciting stage where we are being invited by port authorities to enter and establish our facilities in new territories. We are keen on extending our expertise in domestic and international markets to meet our growth strategy and are continuously reviewing new projects. We are confident of meeting our goals and with the long-term investments we fully intend to develop our market share and continue to break expansion records as we go.”

The meeting was held on 27th and 28th at Busan New Port and North Port in order to improve logistics flow at Busan Port by sharing information and Busan Port logistics public data.
BPA introduced the government 3.0 policy on the public data usage, and presented mid-long term roadmap of BPA at the meeting.

In addition, BPA introduced 16 pieces of Busan Port logistics information ‘Open API(Open Application Program Interface)’ including Busan Port operation code information, vessel container information, RFID(Radio Frequency Identification, advanced technology to manage information wirelessly by using IC chip), and listened to operators’ opinions.

Open API is an information sharing service which enables internet users to not only search information through the internet but also to develop their own applied programs including mobile applications.

BPA President Ki-tack Lim said: “We will provide rapid logistics service by sharing public data related to Busan Port in accordance with the government 3.0. We plan to create new jobs through using public data.”