‘Pakistan to allow more imports from India’

Pakistan is expanding its bilateral trade with India by allowing more imports from the neighbouring country,including diesel and fuel oil, a cabinet minister said.

Pakistan’s decision to expand its list of imports from India is part of efforts to cut its wideing trade deficit and reduce rising transport coasts on imports from far-off countries.

“We are gradually liberalizing our bilateral trade with India,” de facto Commerce Minister Ahmed Mukhtar said while announcing new trade policy on state-run television late on Friday.

Mukhtar said Pakistan was adding diesel, fuel oil and many other items on the list of imports from India.

“It will be cheaper ( to import from India) due to differences in transportation cost.
This will also help us to address our global trade deficit,” he said.

Pakistan’s trade deficit for the fiscal year 2007/08 (July-June) widened by 52.95 per cent to$ 20.74 billion as against $ 13.56 billion in the same period in 2007, mainly due to rising global oil prices.

Oil accounted for 28 percent of Pakistan’s total imports of $35.95 billion during the first 11 months of 2007/08.

Other items that can now be imported from India includes cng buses, academic, scientific and references books machinery and grinding of minerals and certain raw material.

“Cheaper raw material sourced from India would make our exports more competitive in international market”, Mukhtar said.

Stainless steel and cotton yarn, which is importable from Indian by train, can now also imported by trucks through their main border crossing of wagah to further reduce the cost of business, Mukhtar said.

The two countries last year announced an ambitious goal to increase their trade to $10billion by 2010 from $ 1.7 billion in 2006/07.

Shanghai to be world's No.1 container port in 2008

Dr Jost Paul attempts to explain the growth of container port traffic globally particular. Not only do the developing countries account for more than 62 per cent of world container throughput, but they also represent a growth rate approximately a third more than that of developed countries. He sharpens focus on the faster pace of development of container ports in China and highlights the relatively slower growth of container port infrastructure in India. He also spotlights their less impressive throughput, compared to other South and South East Asian countries, and indicates some solutions.

In this piece, the author attempts to explain the growth of container port traffic globally and that of the developing countries in particular. Not only do the developing countries account for more than 62 per cent of world container throughput, but they also represent a growth rate approximately a third more than that of developed countries. The author also brings into close focus the faster pace of development of container ports in China and their significant contribution to the development of global container port throughput. He also throws light on the relatively slower growth of container port infrastructure in India and the less impressive container port throughput, as compared to other South and South-East Asian Countries. He concludes by stressing the importance of creating adequate container port infrastructure and capacity building in the country to be able to support its significant growth in foreign trade.

MAERSK LINE introduces new BAF formula

MAERSK Line has announced the introduction of a new formula for its floating BAF (Bunker Adjustment Factor). According to a release, its aim is to provide a simple, fair and transparent BAF to its customers. In addition, it allows the line to share and recover the extraordinary costs incurred due to the increasing bunker prices. Bunker prices have tripled within the last three years and bunker costs now constitute nearly half of the total vessel costs, up from 20 per cent 10 years ago.


“Today, we only recover approximately 50 percent of the bunker expenses via BAF surcharges. Naturally, this poses a significant exposure to Maersk Line, and traditionally we have tried to recover this via rate increases”, says Mr.Cencent Clerc, Vice President for Pacific Services.

“With Maersk Line’s BAF formula we will create more transparency and our customers will experience a simple and fair way of applying BAF. Amongst our customers, we see an increased understanding and acceptance of BAF as a floating mechanism, and our customers increasingly accept that we must share the extraordinary costs in a just way”.

The Bunker Adjustment Factor Formula :

Maersk Line has developed the BAF formula on principles that are common in other transportation industries like airlines and parcel services. In these industries, prices and rates reflect fluctuations in fuel prices and customers accept this as part of doing business in an industry which is very reliant on fuel.

The formula builds on elements such as fuel consumption, transit time and imbalances in container flows. However, only changes in the oil price will entail changes in the BAF level. Maersk customers will, therefore, only pay the cariation in cost and, although the BAF rises when fuel prices climb, they will also benefit from downward trends as the bunker price fluctuates.

Its various trades will implement the new Maersk Line BAF formula separately, beginning in the first quarter of 2008. All trades will make announcements on www.maerskline.com when they shift to the new BAF formula. The rollout is expected to be completed by January 1, 2009, the release pointed out.

The BAF Calculator

To support its new BAF formula, Maersk Line has developed the Maersk Line BAF Calculator, which is accessible via maersklince.com. With this web tool, its customers and other interested parties can calculate their BAF based on trade and make simulations based on fluctuations in bunker prices. In addition, the BAF Calculator has information of the variables behind Maersk Line’s BAF formula, an extensive Q & A and news on upcoming BAF changes.

World Shipping news

Allseas to build world's biggest ship

A Swiss-based shipping group has begun work on what will be the biggest ship ever built.

The Pieter Schelte, envisaged as two supertankers joined in a catamaran design, will be used to decommission oil platforms in deep-water areas.

It is the brainchild of Edward Heerema, the president of Allseas, the shipping and engineering group. The ship will be designed so that it can come alongside an oil platform, slice off the top half and then turn around and pull up the legs from the seabed.

Industry sources estimate that the ship will cost more than £1bn to build. The current design is for the ship to be 1,200ft long and 400ft wide - making it larger than the world's biggest oil tanker. It will displace 840,000 tonnes, making it the world's biggest ship. It will have a lift capacity of 48,000 tonnes for topsides and 25,000 tonnes for jackets or legs. It will travel at a speed of 12 knots.

Babcock, the support services group, is doing the basic design of the ship. Allseas is already in talks with shipyards in China and Korea to build the vessel.

The company began conceptual studies of the vessel more than 20 years ago when the decline of North Sea energy fields still seemed some way off. Its original plan involved joining together the hulls of two existing tankers.

Oil industry experts believe that with operating and environmental costs now rendering some of the older installations a liability, the timing of the mammoth project is now right.

"There is no market for this right now. But the market is expected to be huge," said one industry executive. It is estimated £12bn to £14bn will be spent decommissioning platforms in the North Sea between 2012 and 2025, he added.

Allseas hopes to be able to take delivery of the ship in 2010.


•BAE Systems and VT Group are poised to sign a ground-breaking joint-venture agreement to merge their shipyards into a national champion.

The new entity, to be called BVT Surface Fleet Ltd, will be the largest shipbuilder in the UK. Industry sources said the agreement could be signed in the next week.

The deal, which still requires approval from VT's shareholders, will combine VT's Portsmouth yard and BAE's yards at Govan and Scotstoun on the Clyde.

BVT will become the Government's strategic partner for the design, manufacture and support of future warships through a 15-year partnering agreement.

Signature of the joint venture will lead to the Ministry of Defence placing a manufacturing contract for two new aircraft carriers for the Royal Navy. The ships will be assembled at Babcock's shipyard in Rosyth, in Fife.

Under the latest design proposals for the aircraft carriers, vessels will displace up to 65,000 tonnes and measure 920ft in length with flight decks up to 242ft wide

Some 40 per cent of the work for the ships will be put out for competitive tendering. The rest has already been allocated to major players in the project.

Making your home from a shipping container?

With real estate prices soaring, and building a home a lengthy process, you might consider an unorthodox alternative: living in a shipping container.

Using containers to build offices is nothing new in Jamaica. They are relatively cheap - costing about $150,000 for a 40-foot by 6-foot container - and can be moved easily from one location to another.

And at Jamaica Container Repair Services Limited (JAMCOR) demand is exceeding supply.

"A lot of people are contacting us on a daily basis but we don't have the containers to sell - they are going like hot cakes and mainly for offices," said JAMCOR manager, Garth Young.

One customer who beat demand was the architecture company Cornerstone.Design, run by Chris Whyms-Stone and David Douglas who purchased their 40-foot by 8-foot container in 2002, for $50,000, before a rise in world steel demand forced up the price of containers.

Put up two years ago on Munroe Road, St Andrew, their container-office is an ongoing project, and one that impresses visitors and passers-by. But it seems Jamaicans haven't yet warmed to the idea of actually living inside what is essentially a metal box, with doors.

Even when used for office construction a container can raise eyebrows.

"When we told people what we were going to do with this container the reaction of a lot of people was like, 'What the hell was that'!" said Whyms-Stone who has built his home further up the slope behind the office on the family-owned lot.

"It's just that we are doing something different," added Douglas. And it is. While many containers undergo basic modifications - painting and proofing, air conditioning and windows - Cornerstone, like an increasing band of architects worldwide, decided to create a more harmonious space.

From the road it looks like a container, raised on stilts with wooden sunshades protruding, which added to the shade of trees, help keep off the sun and cool the building.

"We designed it for better habitation but all we did was retrofit its structure and skin - and this is a very strong skin, since of course, it's designed for the seas," said Stone.
Behind, it is surrounded by a rock garden, while inside it no longer seems like a container.

Much of the material is recycled, much like the container in its new life. Wooden planks from an old building combine with polished concrete to confuse your initial impressions of the container from the moment you step into the building. A windowed extension was added behind.

The idea of such a structure actually functioning as a home or relaxed office space becomes less surprising.

"Everybody that comes in here is taken aback. I think that has a lot to do with the fact that the walls and ceiling are finished when they are probably expecting to see metal and there is also a lot of light and air so the place actually feels a lot bigger," explained Douglas.

But despite such reactions and the fashion for 'shipping container architecture' overseas, here in Jamaica persons are still wedded to traditional notions of housing construction.

The use of containers as homes seems confined to necessity, such as handful of units forming a mini-community on No Man's Land in Trench Town, established by Praise City International Church.

"Anybody who has the ability to do something else, does something else because the Jamaican cultural ideal of a home is still very much the big stone house on the hill and anything that seems too temporary is just not appealing," said Douglas.

Cornerstone had designed one previous project for Drive-One Limited that failed to gain planning permission; albeit nothing to do with the container itself but that as part of a proposed car lot development it was unwelcome opposite the historical monument of Devon House.

However, the plan (which can be downloaded as a PDF document from the Cornerstone website) shows what might be attempted in a housing design. Again supported by stilts, the two containers were to be joined by a walkway and sit above a reflective pool.

Cornerstone is open to inquiries from persons interested in having a container-home.

"It's just a matter, as is Chris's saying, of the person having sensitivity to the fact that it's a container and you need to be using it as close as possible to it's original form," said Douglas.

World shipping must act on air emissions -ICS

LONDON, Dec 11 (Reuters) - The trillion-dollar shipping industry must set global targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions and other air pollutants by the end of 2008 or risk having regional solutions imposed on it, the International Chamber of Shipping said on Tuesday.
Tony Mason, secretary general of the influential industry body, called on the sector that carries 90 percent of the world's traded goods by volume to act in a comprehensive way and as quickly as possible.
"We at ICS believe it is absolutely vital that conclusions are reached and improved standards adopted during 2008," Mason told a ship emissions conference in London.
"If governments and industry cannot between them deliver bankable solutions within this deadline, we shall see a serious disenchantment with the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) process, and a proliferation of local regulations, led in all probability by the EU and the United States," he said.
PRESSURE BUILDING
Shipping, unlike aviation, has largely escaped close attention over emissions, but pressure is building. In late November, the European Commission urged the IMO to do more.
Commission Vice President Margot Wallstrom said both shipping and aviation were "lagging behind" and were not helping European Union plans to extend its carbon market.
The United Nations' IMO, the world's top maritime body responsible for regulating the industry, is due to report by the end of this year on a way forward to combat emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), the main greenhouse gas.
The shipping industry, with a fleet of up to 60,000 ocean-going vessels, also accounts for about 10 percent of sulphur dioxide emissions and large amounts of toxic nitrous oxide, gases which cause acid rain and deplete the ozone layer.
Ships also produce particulate emissions.
The IMO is busily reviewing current marine pollution laws, known as MARPOL Annex VI, adopted by countries in 1997, but that only came into force globally in 2005.
Because of the delay the regulations are seen as inadequate and unable to address huge concerns over how much sea-based transportation contributes to global warming, industry experts say. IMO's review is expected to set out far more stringent standards on completion.
One problem the industry has is establishing how much CO2 fuel-burning ships create. A further obstacle is that like aviation, emissions from shipping are not covered by the Kyoto protocol on global warming.
A figure that is frequently cited by the industry is a report by former World Bank chief Nicholas Stern, which estimated emissions at just less than two percent in 2000 compared with 15 percent made by transportation as a whole.
Critics say the level is much higher and figure fails to take account of fast expanding seaborne trade, which by the industry's own admission surged by 50 percent in the last 15 years.
"The worst case I've seen is 3 to 4 percent of emissions, which is credible - there's no scientific basis for the others," Mason said.
"Projections are outside our control and that's half the problem. The weakness that we have as an industry is that we can act to reduce CO2 emissions, but do not have mathematical models to say what they will be," he said.
"It's rather like running on a treadmill and then trying to stand still." (Editing by Anthony Barker) More on…
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