Global Ports Forum

China Cities Roll Out Stimulus as Changsha Targets $130 Billion

By Bloomberg News – Jul 27, 2012 12:00 AM GMT+0800

The central Chinese city of Changsha unveiled an 829.2 billion yuan ($130 billion) investment plan, joining peers seeking to shore up local economies as national growth slows.

Changsha, the capital of Hunan province, is wooing banks to finance 195 projects, which include an airport and subway lines and will take several years to complete, the official China News Service reported yesterday.

Local governments are stepping up efforts to bolster the economy, with the cities of Nanjing and Ningbo saying over the last two weeks that they will introduce measures including tax cuts and incentives to boost consumption. Premier Wen Jiabao said July 10 that promoting investment is the key to stabilizing China’s growth, which has slowed for six quarters.

“We expect Changsha, Nanjing and Ningbo to be the start of a wave of nationwide stimulus packages, with more announcements from other local governments to come,” Shen Jianguang, Hong Kong-based chief Asia economist for Mizuho Securities Asia Ltd., said in a note yesterday. “With the central government’s tight controls on local government lending previously, there has been widespread panic among local governments in regard to the recent downturn.”

Changsha’s plan “will be spread over the next few years and eventually the actual amount of investment recorded could be discounted to a third of its original target,” said Shen, who previously worked for the International Monetary Fund. Fiscal stimulus will be the focus of policy easing in the second half and the central government will expedite approvals of infrastructure investments to stabilize the economy, he said.

Lower Costs

Guizhou, one of China’s poorest provinces, is considering more than 2,300 projects involving total investment of 3 trillion yuan related to eco-tourism, according to a July 24 statement on the provincial government’s website. The statement didn’t say when the investment would begin or how it would be financed.

Growth in China’s central and western regions is outpacing eastern areas as companies shift production inland to take advantage of lower costs. The State Council, China’s cabinet, approved a plan on July 25 to promote development in six central provinces, including Hunan, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

Changsha’s economy expanded 12.9 percent in the first half of 2012, the local statistics bureau said, compared with national growth of 7.8 percent.

Investment Incentive

The cabinet’s plan “opens the door for local government stimulus such as that announced by Changsha,” Zhang Zhiwei, chief China economist with Nomura Holdings Inc. in Hong Kong, said in a research note yesterday. “As the leadership transition for all provincial governments is finished, new leaders have an incentive to push up investment.”

Zhao Kezhi was recently appointed as the new head of the ruling Communist Party in Guizhou, the Xinhua news agency said in a report dated July 17.

The State Council’s announcement signals policy stimulus will pick up and China’s growth “will surprise on the upside” in the second half, Zhang said. He forecasts economic expansion of 8.1 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier and 8.8 percent in the final three months after slowing to 7.6 percent in the April-June period, the least in three years.

Data on new loans and investment over the next few months will show how big the stimulus is in reality, Zhang said.

Increase Consumption

Fixed-asset investment in Changsha was 351 billion yuan last year, including both public and private spending, Zhang said. Even if the announced amount were to be spent over five years, the implied annual investment would be 160 billion yuan, about 0.5 percent of the nation’s total, he said.

Nanjing, capital of the eastern province of Jiangsu, announced on July 23 a “30-point” plan to increase consumption, including incentives for automobile purchases and loans for affordable-housing construction. Ningbo, a port city in Zhejiang, will implement 24 stimulus measures including a fund to support small businesses and tax cuts for qualified companies, the Ningbo Daily reported on July 17.

More local governments may follow Changsha’s lead as “they probably want to take advantage of the central government’s relaxation of policies and will try to get more new projects approved,” Barclays Plc economists led by Chang Jian said in a note yesterday.

Funds may not come from the central government this year. Chinese authorities see “adequate space in the existing budget to continue to adjust policies to support growth,” assuming Europe’s debt crisis doesn’t worsen, Il Houng Lee, the International Monetary Fund’s senior resident representative in China, said in an interview July 25 in the fund’s Beijing office. Revenue may come in above projections, allowing higher spending, he said.

To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Xin Zhou in Beijing at xzhou68@bloomberg.net; Zheng Lifei in Beijing at lzheng32@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Panckhurst at ppanckhurst@bloomberg.net

first half of 2012- China shipping & ports are still in a recession

我国航运、港口仍处低迷状态

文汇报 交通运输部新闻发言人何建中26日在例行发布会上表示，受宏观经济影响，上半年，中国航运、港口仍然处于低迷状态，且仍将持续。总体仍表现为“需求放缓，运力增加，成本上涨，运价下降，亏损扩大”的态势，大批中小航运企业存在破产倒闭的风险。

(Due to the averse macroeconomic impact of the first half this year, shipping & ports are still in a recession, and will continue on quite sometime – briefing on the 26th of July 2012 – the china Ministry of Transport spokesman He Jianzhong said.

The overall performance is still weak as “the slowdown in demand, capacity increase, rising costs, tariffs decline, the loss widened” posture, a large number of small and medium-sized shipping companies in the risk of bankruptcy.)

航运、港口在一定程度上是一个国家经济特别是工业经济的“晴雨表”。经济下行、用电量下降必然导致煤炭压港，这是当前经济状况的真实反映。

上半年，中国规模以上港口完成货物吞吐量47.4亿吨，同比增长7.2%，增速较去年同期放慢了6.1个百分点。其中完成外贸货物吞吐量15.2亿吨，增长13.6%，较去年同期加快了5.5个百分点；完成内贸货物吞吐量32.3亿吨，增长4.4%，较去年同期放慢了11.3个百分点；规模以上港口完成集装箱吞吐量8459万标箱，增长8.8%，较去年同期放慢4.3个百分点。

分析中国北方几个主要煤炭大港压港的原因，主要有三个方面：一是受国内经济下行压力增大的影响，工业用电增幅回落，煤炭市场需求下降。据悉，上半年中国总体用煤量有所下降，库存有所上升。二是受市场价格因素的影响，今年外贸进口煤炭大幅增长，进一步减缓了对国内煤炭的需求。今年1到5月份，煤炭进口量达到1亿吨，同比增长65.1%，增速加快了77.5个百分点。三是今年中国南方降雨较多，水电发电量大幅增加，部分火电厂机组停机。据了解，火电机组负荷只有正常的70%。华东、华南主要电厂上半年煤炭平均库存可用天数保持在28天，甚至达到一个月左右。

针对严峻形势，何建中表示，煤炭压港不是单一的运输问题，跟整个经济运行有很大关系，涉及铁路、航运企业、港口等运输组织的各个环节。交通部门能做的，是主动加强与相关方面的联系，电煤企业、铁路部门、航运企业也要加强战略合作，积极主动联系，实现煤炭到港运输的合理化库存，发挥煤炭专线运输效应，实现船舶运输和货主需求的有效衔接。

translated for non- Chinese friends:

Shipping, ports to a certain extent a country’s economy, especially the “barometer” of the industrial economy. Economic downturn, the decrease in power consumption will inevitably lead to the coal to pressure Hong Kong, this is a true reflection of the current economic situation.

The first half of the Chinese scale above port cargo throughput of 4.74 billion tons, an increase of 7.2 percent growth rate slowed by 6.1 percentage points over the same period last year. Completion of the foreign trade cargo throughput of 1.52 billion tons, up 13.6 percent, 5.5 percentage points over the same period last year to speed up; complete the domestic trade cargo throughput of 3.23 billion tons, an increase of 4.4 percent, slowed down by 11.3 percentage points over the same period last year; ports above designated size The container throughput of 84.59 million TEUs, an increase of 8.8 percent, slowed down by 4.3 percentage points from a year earlier.

Analysis of northern China several major coal Dagang pressure port of the three main aspects: First, the domestic economy, the downward pressure on increased industrial use of electricity saw a drop of coal falling demand. It is reported that China’s overall coal consumption has declined, the stock has increased. Second, the market price factors, the foreign trade import coal this year, a substantial increase, further slowing the demand for domestic coal. 1-5 months, coal imports reached 100 million tons, an increase of 65.1%, growth accelerated 77.5 percent. Three more this year, China Southern rainfall, hydroelectric power generation increased significantly, part of the thermal power plant unit shut down. It is understood that the thermal power unit load only 70% of the normal. East, the main power plant in southern China in the first half of the average coal stocks available days remained at 28 days, or even a month or so.

Grim situation, said He Jianzhong, coal pressure in Hong Kong is not a single transportation problem with the economy as a whole is running a great relationship, involving railways, shipping companies, ports and other transport organizations. Transport sector can do is take the initiative to strengthen links with the relevant aspects of coal enterprises, railway authorities, shipping companies should strengthen strategic cooperation, proactive contact of coal to the rationalization of transport in Hong Kong stocks play the effect of coal green transport, to achieve shipping and shippers demand for effective convergence.

Obama: Fast track deepening of Savannah, Charleston harbors
Posted: July 19, 2012 – 9:42am

By Mary Carr Mayle
Savannah Morning News
The planned Expansion of the Savannah Harbor got a major shot in the arm late Wednesday when the Obama Administration announced it would expedite the project, with all federal reviews completed and a Record of Decision coming no later than November.
As part of his “We Can’t Wait” initiative, the president listed seven “nationally and regionally significant infrastructure projects” at five major ports, promising to put each on a fast track designed to save time and drive better outcomes for local communities.
The initiative is part of a Presidential Executive Order issued in March charging the Office of Management and Budget with overseeing a government-wide effort to make the permitting and review process for infrastructure projects more efficient and effective.
“President Obama is committed to improving federal permitting and reviews to ensure that smart infrastructure projects like the Port of Savannah can move as quickly as possible through the decision making process, boosting job growth and strengthening the economy,” Jeffrey Zients, acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, said Wednesday.
“By working more efficiently in a coordinated fashion across the federal government and putting in place aggressive schedules and accountability systems, we are committing to accelerate the final steps of this review for the Port of Savannah project.”
Georgia Ports Authority Executive Director Curtis Foltz said he was delighted with the announcement.
“To have the President of the United States acknowledge the importance of the Port of Savannah — its infrastructure improvement needs and the role it plays in the economic recovery of the Southeast — is significant,” Foltz said.
The Savannah Harbor Expansion Project, which will deepen the Savannah River channel in anticipation of larger container ships calling on the port after the completion of the Panama Canal expansion in 2014, has been in the works for more than a dozen years.
“The (U.S. Army) Corps of Engineers has completed a feasibility report that examined the benefits and costs of deepening the existing channel at Savannah Harbor from its current depth of 42 feet to a depth of 47 feet,” the White House said in its release.
“The proposed project would enable the Port of Savannah to accommodate larger cargo vessels and other ships, ultimately facilitating more efficient movement of goods. The study involved a multi-year collaborative effort with the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Interior and the Department of Commerce, all of whom must also approve the final report.
“As a result of this collaboration, the project includes an extensive mitigation plan, which is an integral part of the recommended improvements and are intended to restore, preserve, and adaptively manage the surrounding ecosystem, which includes the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge.”
The Obama Administration also announced the establishment of a White House-led Navigation Task Force that will consist of senior officials from various White House offices, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the Departments of Transportation, Commerce, Homeland Security, and the Treasury. The Task Force will develop a Federal strategy and coordinated decision-making principles that focus on the economic return of investments into coastal ports and related infrastructure to support the movement of commerce throughout the nation.
Improvements at the ports of Miami, New York/New Jersey, Jacksonville, Fla., and Charleston, S.C. also will be expedited, the White House said.
According to the Post and Courier in Charleston, the administration pledged that all federal reviews of the Charleston Harbor deepening plan will be completed by September 2015, nine months earlier than the shortened time line announced just a week ago by the Corps of Engineers.
The new study deadline, combined with project-shortening measures announced last week by the Corps, means the harbor could potentially be deepened by 2019, five years earlier than once estimated.
Charleston is pursuing a plan to dredge its harbor from 45 to 50 feet or more.
At the Port of Jacksonville, the administration announced the fast-tracking of two projects — the first to finalize the federal feasibility study examining the costs and benefits of deepening the harbor and the second to expedite the permitting of the port’s proposed intermodal container facility.
Both projects will be completed by July of 2013, the White House said.

May 24 (Bloomberg) — Persian Gulf states risk creating a glut in container capacity as they spend $46 billion on port projects amid sputtering global economic growth.

More than 35 ports stretching from Kuwait at the head of the Gulf to Oman on the Indian Ocean plan to add space for as many as 60 million standard containers in little over a decade, more than doubling capacity from the current 50 million boxes.

The plans will extend an oil-funded infrastructure splurge that’s also set to endow the Gulf with some of the world’s biggest airports. Unlike those hubs, which will serve a global market, its ports rely on a local population of 40 million people and lack the urbanized hinterland that helps sustain major global harbors such as Rotterdam and Hong Kong.

“You have a fragmented group of nations each seeking to establish a large-scale port, and the danger is that there’s no overall coordination,” said Neil Davidson, senior adviser on ports at Drewry Shipping Consultants. “The key question is how robust demand will be over the next 10 years, and that really depends on oil revenue and the spending power it brings.”

Gulf ports are expanding even as shipping lines rein in supply after a glut of vessels led to a price war, causing losses of at least $6 billion. Capacity cuts prompted rates on Asia-Europe routes to more than double to $2,732 per 40-foot container in the week to March 1, according to Drewry estimates.

Close Competitor

Abu Dhabi is leading the charge with its new Khalifa port, scheduled to open in the fourth quarter with capacity for 2 million containers, increasing to 15 million by 2030.

Yet the complex, built on a man-made island and with an industrial zone two-thirds the size of Singapore, is situated just 25 miles south of Dubai’s Jebel Ali, the world’s ninth- biggest container port and the busiest outside East Asia.

Further west, Qatar, the top exporter of liquefied natural gas, is spending 19 billion riyals ($5.2 billion) on a port with a planned volume of 6 million containers, due to open in 2016. Little over 100 miles away in Bahrain, Khalifa Bin Salman Port, run by Denmark’s A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S, could double capacity to 4 million boxes in two or three years, said Hassan Almajed, director of the country’s General Organisation of Sea Ports.

Abu Dhabi, holder of 7 percent of known oil reserves, will spend $7.2 billion on the first phase of Khalifa, which it says will focus on terminating cargo, reducing any overlap with Jebel Ali, where goods are trans-shipped from one vessel to another.

‘Complementary’

Mohammed Sharaf, CEO of DP World Ltd., the world’s No. 3 container-terminal company and the operator of Jebel Ali, says there’s room for both ports, even as his company boosts capacity at the Dubai site 36 percent to 19 million boxes by 2014.

“If anything, we’d like to see infrastructure built more quickly,” Sharaf said in an e-mailed response to questions from Bloomberg News. “We see the development in Abu Dhabi as complementary to what we’re doing. Shipping lines are ordering bigger and bigger vessels to achieve economies of scale and ports need to meet those new needs and meet them efficiently.”

Abu Dhabi Ports Co. Chief Executive Officer Tony Douglas concurs, suggesting the Gulf’s economies and populations will grow quickly enough to sustain the expansion of its ports.

“At the moment there isn’t enough capacity in the region,” he said in an interview. “Unless economies in the region slow down, it’s unlikely there will be overcapacity.”

Colonial Inheritance

The expansion of ports is also being driven by the Asian boom, said Nasser Saidi, chief economist at Dubai International Financial Centre, with India accounting for 11 percent of Gulf trade in 2010, versus 2 percent in 2001, and China 10 percent, up from 4 percent, according Qatar National Bank figures.

“Much of our infrastructure is based on what the old colonial powers wanted when the idea was ‘we sell you goods, you sell us oil,”’ Saidi said. “Today’s world has changed and we need to think of where we stand in the global supply chain.”

Still, the International Monetary Fund says GDP growth in Gulf Co-Operation Council countries will slow from 5.3 percent this year to 3.7 percent in 2013, and that “even with high oil prices, fiscal sustainability is an immediate issue,” with “tighter and higher-quality government expenditure” warranted.

While population growth and higher living standards should spur imports of everything from foodstuffs to luxuries, Gulf nations will remain “pretty small,” and “even if they become more prosperous, that alone does not create a very compelling case for trade,” said Jarmo Kotilaine, chief economist at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia-based The National Commercial Bank.

Iran, Africa

Plans among GCC nations Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E., Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait to end their reliance on petrochemicals may soak up extra container capacity. Abu Dhabi aims to derive only 40 percent of GDP from oil by 2030 compared with 60 percent today, and Khalifa will be surrounded in by enterprises including the Gulf’s largest smelter, spurring box traffic.

Arabian ports are also positioning to tap future demand from neighboring areas with underdeveloped infrastructure, such as Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan and East Africa.

While Oman has a short stretch of Gulf coast, it’s focusing expansion 650 miles to the south, where the port of Salalah will lift capacity by 50 percent to 9 million boxes as early as 2016 if demand continues at the current rate, according to CEO Peter Ford. The facility, part-owned by A.P. Moller-Maersk, expects to handle 4 million boxes this year, a 23 percent gain on 2011.

“We’re ideally positioned to connect East African, Indian, Red Sea and Gulf markets with Europe and Asia,” Ford said in an interview. “But I do see developments where it’ll be difficult to fill the capacity. That’s a great risk for those countries.”

At the other end of the Gulf, Kuwait aims to build a port able to handle 1.33 million containers a year which could later tap a hinterland spanning Syria to Iran, though the plan has led to tensions with Iraq, which wants to develop its own facility.

Overall, though, there’s too much capacity, said maritime consultant Juergen Sorgenfrei of IHS Global Insight, so much so that the Gulf risks repeating errors made in the Mediterranean 20 years ago, when ports such as Gioia Tauro in Italy mushroomed without ever becoming major centers for trans-shipment.

“Today it’s nothing, and we’re going to see the same thing in Arab states if they create overcapacity,” Sorgenfrei said. “There will be winners and losers.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Tamara Walid in Abu Dhabi at

twalid@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chad Thomas at

cthomas16@bloomberg.net
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By Alistair OsborneLast Updated: 7:15PM BST 26/05/2012
DP World, the Dubai-based company building the new £1.5bn London Gateway port on the Thames Estuary, is close to signing up Britain’s biggest private freight company Uniserve as a key customer.

Uniserve, which was founded in 1984 and has clients including Marks & Spencer and Debenhams, is the first company known to be in talks over operating at the new container port.

When complete, the port will combine six berths for handling the world’s biggest ships and an integrated distribution centre – the largest logistics park in Europe.

DP World has continually refused to talk about its prospective customers, except to say that it is confident about the commercial viability of the project. Simon Moore, London Gateway’s chief executive, said: “People who are coming have concerns over how they may be treated in between time if we make their names public now.”

A spokesman added: “We welcome everyone’s intention to be at London Gateway.”

Uniserve is understood to be planning to build 1m sq ft of warehousing in the logistics park, though the move is not expected to undermine the company’s proposals also to expand at London Gateway’s main competitor Felixstowe, where it is also investing heavily.

Richard Everitt, the Port of London Authority chief executive, said one of the main attractions of the new port was its location.

“Felixstowe may be closer to the main shipping lanes but in terms of hinterland, London Gateway is much closer to the main consumer markets. When every big company today is looking to cut distribution costs, fuel bills and carbon emissions, it makes sense to cut the distance goods travel by lorry by as much as possible.”

London Gateway is due to open at the end of next year. Uniserve declined to comment.

SINGAPORE: Port group PSA International has signed an agreement with China’s Tianjin Port Group (TPG) to strengthen ties and foster greater cooperation between the two organisations.

The “Strategic Cooperation Framework Agreement” was signed by TPG’s Group President Mr Tian Chang Song and PSA’s Group Chief Executive Officer Mr Tan Chong Meng on Friday.

Currently, TPG and PSA have extensive collaboration on port projects in China.

PSA has invested in two of Tianjin Port’s container terminals, namely Tianjin Port Pacific International Container Terminal (TPCT) and Tianjin Port Alliance International Container Terminal (TACT).

These two facilities have altogether 10 berths and can handle the biggest container ships.

This makes Tianjin Port one of the preferred hub ports of call for mega container vessels in the Northeast Asia region.

The new agreement signed forms the basis for both companies to seek further collaboration and expansion.

TPG’s Mr Tian said in a statement “both organisations recognise the tremendous potential of Tianjin Port as a major container hub port in the Bohai Rim to support the further development of industries and hinterland investments in Northeast China. Together, TPG and PSA aim to ensure that Tianjin Port will be a world class facility for global container shipping.”

Meanwhile, PSA’s Group CEO Mr Tan added that “PSA is committed to give its best expertise and resources to help develop Tianjin Port into a resounding success.”

DP World’s London Gateway honored with prestigious global finance award
17 Apr 2012 – Going Places

DP World’s London Gateway is scheduled for completion in the fourth quarter of 2013. Image: DP World

London Gateway awarded Global Deal of the Year for 2011 at the Infrastructure Journal Awards
DP World’s London Gateway project has been awarded the coveted Global Deal of the Year for 2011 at the Infrastructure Journal Awards.

The award recognizes the delivery of outstanding infrastructure projects and is in recognition of the deep-sea container port’s successful project financing, which was fully secured in December last year.

“This award is further endorsement of the London Gateway project,” said Sarmad Qureshi, Director of Finance for DP World’s Europe and Russia region.

“We are very confident that London Gateway will be able to deliver substantial supply chain cost savings to global shippers.”

“Thanks to our closer location to key UK markets we will also be able to help customers move their goods in a greener, more efficient way, reducing CO2 and other transport emissions,” added Qureshi.

The successful London Gateway team was accompanied by representatives from Allen & Overy, the Royal Bank of Scotland and Société Générale, who all played key roles in advising and financing the project, in accepting the award.

London Gateway, scheduled to open in Q4 2013, will be located on the north bank of the River Thames, adding an additional 3.5million TEU to the UK’s port capacity.

Eurozone debt crisis: how a Greek exit from the euro might unfold

By Angela Monaghan, Economics CorrespondentLast Updated: 11:00PM BST 15/05/2012
Greece’s decision to call a second, anti-austerity election has taken the country one-step closer to a dangerous exit from the eurozone. Below we sketch out how the process might unfold.

Q: How would Greece leave the euro?

A: No-one knows for sure because it would be unprecedented. There was no legal mechanism put in place for a country to exit the eurozone when the single currency was created. The most likely scenario would involve the Greek authorities privately agreeing a date with the rest of the eurozone, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund, to formally exit. They may decide to announce the decision after the markets have closed, possibly on a Friday evening, to give investors a chance to digest the news.

Q: What would happen to the currency?

A: Greek euros would be converted into a new currency, probably the drachma. Euro notes would be stamped while drachmas were being printed. After setting an initial conversion rate for the new drachma, at say 1:1 to the euro, the exchange rate would be dictated by currency markets. The drachma would immediately fall sharply.

Q: What would happen to the country’s debt?

A: Domestic debt would be converted into drachmas. A complicated legal row over whether Greek’s external debts would remain denominated in euros or be converted into cut-price drachma would ensue. Money owed by the Greek Government to its bondholders, and money owed by Greek banks to the European Central Bank, would be the subject of renegotiation and restructuring. Greece would continue to be locked out of capital markets, and would require new IMF loans against fresh collateral.

Q: What would happen to the banks?

A: Capital controls would be put in place to prevent a chaotic run on Greek banks. Money is already being withdrawn from Greece and invested elsewhere, or simply stuffed under mattresses. The ECB liquidity tap would be switched off, and banks would not have access to wholesale markets. Greece would have to recapitalise and potentially nationalise its banks.

Q: How much would a Greek exit cost?

A: It is near impossible to put a figure on how much a ‘Grexit’ would ultimately cost. The Institute of International Finance, which represents more than 450 financial institutions globally, has estimated it at around €1 trillion. The cost would be felt across the country, with Greece sinking even deeper into recession.

Q: What impact would it have on the UK and other countries?

A: The contagion effect would be enormous. A Greek exit would introduce the principle that countries can exit the euro. Fellow bail-out countries such as Portugal and Ireland would be put under renewed pressure, as would Spain and Italy. The ECB and its backers – notably Germany – would take a large hit. Although Britain’s direct exposure to Greece is limited, it is indirectly exposed through its exposure to other euro countries such as France. This could put pressure on UK bank funding costs, further restricting credit availability and pushing up borrowing costs for households and businesses. Confidence would be knocked, trade with the region hit, and a recovery further delayed.

Is Mexico & Brazil the next frontier for port deals & investments?

Big port increases for Brazil and Mexico

The Brazilian port of Paranaguá and the Mexican port of Veracruz have shown big increases in the handling of vehicles in the first quarter of 2012. Paranaguá has recorded vehicle imports up 77% on the same period last year and exports up 25%. Meanwhile, in neighbouring Mexico, Veracruz has topped port activity for vehicle handling in the same quarter, recording an increase of 28%. In addition, the port of Lazaro Cárdenas acheived an impressive increase, with the number of finished vehicles handled up more than 34% to almost 46,000. Despite the current economic spat between Mexico and Brazil, the latter still imported nearly 50,500 vehicles from Mexico in the Q1, up 153%.

Is Mexico & Brazil the next frontier for port deals & investments?