& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

China's shipping industry in choppy waters

Ann/China Daily
Along Shanghai's North Bund near a strip of colonial-era buildings is a cluster of shipping service providers whose performance serves as a barometer for the shipping industry in the mainland's busiest port.
But soaring oil prices, higher labor costs and the yuan's steady appreciation have the industry in choppy waters.
But Gu Jianming, general manager of SIPG Logistics Co, the city's largest provider of comprehensive logistics service, is optimistic about the company's profit in financially shaky 2008. However he admits he feels the pinch of rising fuel prices.
As a subsidiary of Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG), China's largest port and container transportation group, SIPG Logistics posted 2 billion yuan in sales revenue in 2007, with registered capital of 100 million yuan.
Its logistics services range from international freight forwarding, shipping, to multi-modal transportation and warehousing. Its road transportation and distribution services are hardest hit by rising gas prices.
China's gas prices have risen 20 percent this year. And if the 30 percent hike in labor costs is factored in, SIPG Logistics is likely to have a double-digit loss in its road transportation business by the end of this year, Gusays.
"We're confident of achieving 220 million yuan in profits in 2008, but it could be as high as 300 million yuan, if the oil prices and yuan appreciation weren't so high," he says.
Yang I lanbin, deputy general manger of China Sailing International Shipping Agency, agrees. He esti
mates that his company has lost "millions of yuan due to the rising yuan". China Sailing handles 10 percent of the market for vessels and containers volume of Shanghai port's shipping agencies and it handles an average of 80,000 billings per month.
The profit margin of the 90 Shanghai port shipping agencies may be trimmed to 20 percent this year from almost 50 percent, analysts say.
"We re not the hardest hit. Smaller players may have suffered more," Yang says. "The days when agencies could pocket fat profits are gone."
Official statistics show the container throughput of the Shanghai Port reached 2 43 million TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) this June from
2.22 million TEUS a year earlier. However, its growth rate of 9.5 percent is much lower compared to the over 19.3 percent in the same period in 2007.
Faced with this situation, SIPG Logistics says it will concentrate on serving Fortune 500 multinational, companies which have been less affected by China's slumping exporting industry and the rising yuan.
"We will focus on chemical logistics services, including dangerous materials warehousing and distribution." Gu says, adding that providing logistics services for large scale engineering projects is another core strategy to differentiate itself from the other logistics companies on the
Bund. "These services require a higher entry level, and that's where our edge is."
Foreign logistics companies are also taking initiatives to control risks brought by surging oil prices.
SIPG Logistics' cooperative partner, Copenhagen-based Maersk Line is the world's largest container ship operator, with a fleet of more than 500 container vessels and more than 1.9 million containers.
Its current strategy is cutting costs by adopting fuel efficient measures. An executive from Maersk Line says the company will adopt more fuel-efficicnt solutions in order to cut energy consumption used for cooling up to 50 percent
In addition. Maersk plans to reduce the speeds of vessels on selected trade routes. "Bunker consumption increases exponentially when vessels travel at higher speeds. Hence, reducing a vessel's speed from 24 knots to 20 knots reduces the bunker consumption by approximately 40 percent." the executive says.
The airfine industry is also feeling the pinch.
Ram C Menen, divisional senior vice-president of Dubai-based Emirates SkyCargo, the largest carrier in the Middle East, says "fuel costs ' remained our top expenditure for the ■ fourth year running, accounting for | 30.6 per cent of total operating costs | in 2007-08 compared with 29.1 per cent the previous year." SkyCargo's J revenue of $ 1.8 billion contributed 19 1 percent to Emirate airline's total transport revenue in 2007.
SkyCargo generates 54 percent of its revenue from Asia-Pacific region, and China is the largest contributor.
The firm is working on a fuel nsk management program, partly with a full time Texas-based oil industry specialist to look for the best possible jet fuel prices and terms. The program has helped save the company $242 million in the 2007-08 financial year, Menen notes.
DHL, a German-based international mail, express, logistics and finance company, has increased its fuel surcharge to 27 percent in July from 14.5 percent in the same period in 2007. DHL has to charge fuel fees from its customers due to soaring cnide oil prices, the company says in a statement on its website.
For smaller players, it could be door-die.
"Our top priority now is how to survive thecut rent gloom." Gusays