Dutch firm markets ‘one-way’ containers

 

The one-way containers are complementary to carriers’ own equipment – specifically that share of their containers that won’t be filled with return cargo.

Some 20m ocean containers move across the planet, carrying freight to every corner of the globe. After being unloaded at their destination port, 40% of the containers continue over land, while 20% are returned empty by sea.

The Rotterdam firm K-tainer has come up with a new sustainable alternative to this procedure: one-way containers.

The new and used containers offered by K-tainer Trading and K-tainer Leasing come with a unique arrangement that reduces carbon emissions and completely refunds these savings to the user transporting the container as there is a third party in K-tainer’s concept, between the buyer and the seller, namely the carrier. Container shipping lines, exporters and road haulage firms have up to 30 days to use the containers free of charge, and can leave them with the buyer after unloading.

A diverse range of clients are already taking advantage of this option. The main draw for users is that the carbon savings refund enables them to increase the sustainability of their logistics service.

The one-way containers are complementary to carriers’ own equipment – specifically that share of their containers that won’t be filled with return cargo.

“Imagine a shipping company sends 10 containers per week to Ireland, but only has enough freight to fill six containers on the return voyage. In this situation, the shipping company can benefit from henceforth using four of our one-way containers on its Ireland route, and leaving them there,” explained K-Tainer director Walter Ferreira.

K-tainer has been rewarded for this novel concept with a Lean & Green star, an international award recognising logistics companies that have truly explored every angle to reduce the sector’s carbon emissions.

“We have a new fleet of containers built in China, but of course, we don’t ship those empty either: we get a party to fill them with cargo,” said Ferreira.

Source : Splash

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Container Demand, A Boost For Indian Makers

 

An acute shortage of marine containers since October 2020 due to a global equipment imbalance has severely affected Indian trade. However, it has also come as a blessing in disguise for it has led to an awakening — both in the government and in the trade — on the need for India to aggressively restart container manufacturing locally and be less dependent on China, which has a monopoly with over 90 per cent market share globally.

Local container manufacturing is also critical for the success of Centre’s AatmaNirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India) programme.

Container manufacturing is not new to India. As containerisation started to flourish two decades ago, Indian companies manufactured them locally. However, the momentum fizzled out as Chinese companies gained dominance due to cheap labour, availability of abundant raw material and the ability to scale quickly — all of which were largely missing in India.

But action is now being taken — albeit a bit late — to revive local container manufacturing. Earlier this month, Container Corporation of India (Concor) placed orders for 1,000 containers each from Braithwaite & Company Ltd and Public Sector undertaking BHEL. Concor, which earlier always sourced containers from China, discovered that locally made containers were cheaper by about 25 per cent. Each container costs about ₹2.5 lakh. It is looking to source more from within India.

There are reports that Gujarat government is exploring a plan to make Bhavnagar a hub for container manufacturing.

Bijoy Paulose, Managing Director of the Chennai-based VS&B Containers, said the company annually procures around 4,000 boxes, and all from China. India once had container manufacturers such as Balmer Lawrie (Chennai and Kochi); DCM Hyundai (Chennai); Nathaniel and Transfreight (Mumbai) and HIM Containers (Kolkata). However, these companies all shut down 10-20 years ago. Only DCM is doing local containers in Delhi, he added.

China has a monopoly and can quickly undercut the prices and squeeze the Indian initiative unless the government looks at serious intervention to prevent dumping. There is an annual demand for nearly 4,000 boxes in India. India now has raw materials such as Corten steel needed for the manufacture of these containers. However, 25 years ago even screws were imported, he added.

In the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, local production will benefit the domestic trade during any future disruption, said Sai Krishna, Assistant Vice President, ICRA Ltd, an investment information and credit rating agency. However, matching China on the costs will be a challenge for Indian container manufacturers, he added.

The government can help by providing exemptions for manufacturers on key inputs such as steel or steel scrap. The key to success will be to build scale, else on the cost front the initiative might not take off, he said.

According to Sunil Vaswani, Executive Director, Container Shipping Lines Association (India), the limited access to available containers is driving up the buying price of new containers since manufacturers charge a premium due to the high demand.

A relaxation of 40.8 per cent import duty after 18 per cent GST on Corten steel and/or suspension of iron ore exports will help Indian container manufacturers. Favourable policy framework, cost/price competitiveness and quality will boost the business. This would not only help India become self-reliant in the sector but also give the world another option — which would help during the peak demand months of the year — for sourcing of containers, so far largely restricted to China.
Source: The Hindu Business Line

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India looks to enter container manufacturing

 

India is looking to enter the container manufacturing sector in a big way as the country aims to boost its exports.

Container manufacturing is expected to be part of India’s Atmanirbhar Bharat programme, which is a vision for India envisaged by prime minister Narendra Modi to make India a self-reliant nation. Under the program, five pillars were outlined – economy, infrastructure, system, vibrant demography and demand.

The country’s decision comes at a time when there is a major container shortage on major liner routes resulting in substantial freight rate hikes. The shortage of containers has also been causing delays in shipment of India’s major export goods including rice.

“We need to address the issue of containers at the earliest especially as we focus on boosting exports on one hand and reducing imports on the other,” Ajay Sahai, director general, Federation of Indian Export Organisation told India Narrative.

India’s Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways has already set up a committee to study the feasibility of manufacturing containers at Bhavnagar in Gujarat.

Currently China is the largest container manufacturing country in the world with a market share of more than 95%.

Commenting on the news, Andy Lane from Singapore-based CTI Consultancy told Splash: “Currently there is some demand for additional production. Longer term the global container fleet will remain at around 1.6 times the liner ship capacity, and India will need to compete with China here. China has an additional advantage that the containers roll out of the factory straight for export stuffing.”

Source - Splash

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