Dear Readers,
It is the last Thursday of January (already) and here we are with your edition of Project Cargo Weekly. As mentioned in the latest issue of PCW I spent the last 12 days in Asia and in fact just got back to Europe yesterday afternoon (y class on SAS, so I wasn’t interrupted unduly by service…?).
I spent the last 4 days of the trip in Kota Kinabalu, Borneo, East Malaysia. Kota Kinabalu (KK) is located not far from the Sultanate of Brunei and is famous not only for oil/gas but also for lush rainforests and incredible nature and wildlife. (view photos from my trip here).
By coincidence, a Danish friend of mine, active in oil/gas business, lives in KK and runs a travel agency with his wife. You may wish to take a look at the interview I made with him further below (if you book anything let me know so I can claim a free trip…? ). He has also organized group events for logistics companies before, most recently for a global project forwarder’s worldwide management meeting in KK. Rumour has it that several orangutangs were spotted in town during that time ?. Kota Kinabalu is also a place where I bought a small condo a few years back. At the time I was visiting for shipping purposes, with some heavy machinery coming into Sipitang – a paper mill owned by Indians.
There are many direct flights from outside Borneo into the island now, in particular with Air Asia being active and a huge increase in Chinese tourism. Let us hope that the environment will continue to be protected and that the hunger for profit will not jeopardize the fragile eco-balance.
The internet was down in my condo, so I was without news for a few days, but that felt like a kind of freedom too. I can recommend it, try and turn off all news channels and you will avoid listening every 5 minutes to the Washington budget circus and so many other things happening that the mainstream news media seems to repeat constantly.
For interviews this week we start off with a shipping agency based in the Middle East who are also active project freight forwarders in Saudi Arabia, a place where you do indeed need contacts to operate. Then we interview a Shipping Agency in East Malaysia and the travel agency mentioned above.
We round off our newsletter with sector news for the active salesperson as well as the video, photo and wise words of the week.
Wishing you a good read and until next time I remain…
Yours sincerely,
Bo H. Drewsen
bo.drewsen@projectcargo-weekly.com
Sharaf Shipping Agency – Saudi Arabia
Interview with
Capt. Arup Gupta
Country Manager
What is the business outlook in Saudi Arabia at the moment?
With the recent development towards both diversification and reforming the Saudi Arabia economy, the transformation of Saudi Arabia is underway with greater things to come. The outlook is very optimistic. With a population of about 36million, the recently launched ‘Vision 2030’ and the ‘National Transformation Plan’ map out the strategy of Saudi Arabia to transform the economy into a strong, diversified and vibrant one, taking away its dependence on oil-based revenues.
AML Shipping (Sabah) – Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
Interview with
Mr. Collin Wong
Manager
What are the main ports of East Malaysia? Please provide some information about the main export articles out of these ports.
The containerized volume for East Malaysia is in favor of import over export for the major ports namely Kuching, Sibu, Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan, Tawau, Miri, Labuan, except Bintulu. A few years back, Sarawak state government’s initiative to industrialize Bintulu has successfully attracted a large amount of foreign direct investment (FDI), state-backed investments, including Press Metal Berhad, OM Materials, Sakura Ferroalloy, Pertama Ferroalloy, OCIM etc., to set up mega plants in an industrial area powered by hydroelectricity called Samalaju.
Rustic Travel – Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
Interview with
Mr. Peter Stenberg
Managing Director
Being a specialist in Borneo, tell us your trip proposal for a week for the would-be traveler (not backpacker) and the average cost.
I would recommend minimum 7-8 days where 4 days should be around Sandakan and Kinabatangan River with river cruises and a stay in a nice river lodge. Then, finish in Kota Kinabalu where you can relax in a very good 5-star resort at reasonable prices. A package like that would cost around USD 1000 per person.
“K” Line takes Delivery of 14000-TEU Containership “MILANO BRIDGE”
This new ultra-large container ship (hereafter called ULCS) is same as the series delivered in 2015 and 1st ship of the 2nd generation. She will be deployed on the Asia-Mediterranean service (MED2) under THE-Alliance. “K” Line has 5 ULCSs scheduled for delivery this year, bringing the total to 10 units.
MSC Enters Deepsea Ro-Ro Shipping Sector
The Geneva-headquartered carrier will launch a fortnightly ro-ro service between North Europe and West Africa on 19 February, with a port rotation of Le Havre-Antwerp-Dakar-Conakry-Abidjan-Le Havre. The service will deploy two vessels, the MSC Immacolata and MSC Cristiana, two pure car- and truck-carrier (PCTC) sister ships built by STX in Dalian and delivered in 2012 and 2011 respectively, each with a capacity of 6,700 CEU.
Marine Equipment
MISHA to Install DESMI BWMS Fleet-Wide
Danish firm DESMI Ocean Guard A/S said it has finalized a contract to supply CompactClean ballast water management systems (BWMS) to the entire fleet of Turkish ship owner MISHA Shipping. Read more…
Renewables
Italians Chase Chile PV, Hydro
Italian multinational Building Energy has joined hydroelectric company Scotta Group in a venture to build and operate renewable energy assets in Chile. Read more…
Chinese Firm to Set Up Solar PV Cell Manufacturing Unit in AP
CETC Renewable Energy Technology Company, an ancillary of the diversified China Electronics Technology Group has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Andhra Pradesh Economic Development Board to set up a solar photovoltaic cell manufacturing plant in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh. Read more…
Pulp & Paper
Valmet To Supply A Repeat Order Of Opticoncept M Board Production Line For Pratt Industries In North America
The order is for Pratt’s new greenfield paper mill in Wapakoneta, Ohio, USA. The mill will use 100% recovered paper to produce lightweight and high-performance linerboard and corrugated medium. This will be the second OptiConcept M board production line for Pratt. Read more…
Plants & Processing
A Chinese Company, Wuxi Textiles to Build a Textile Factory in Dire Dawa City with an Investment of USD 220 Million
The first phase of the project is estimated to cost around USD 80 million, according to the company. The factory is going to rest on a 40 hectare of land adjacent to the Dire Dawa Industrial Park. Apart from Dire Dawa, Wuxi has an ongoing project in Adama town in addition to plans to venture into cotton production sector in Ethiopia. Read more…
Harvest Minerals Limited is Stepping Up Operations at its Arapua Fertiliser Project in Brazil with the Addition of a New Plant and Expansion of the Sales and Marketing Team
Four additional knife mills will be added to boost annual production capacity to over 320,000 tonnes and create a single production line. Read more…
