Shippers: What recession? - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

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Ltd.’s unveiling of a remotely automated port in South Korea, and its plan to buil d three new terminals, includintg a $208 million terminal at Dames reflect the company’s aggressive mentality in spite of the said Roy Schleicher, senior directort of trade development and global marketint for the . That and Mitsuik O.S.K. Lines Ltd.’s own plans for expansion show confidence inthe industry’ss upturn and cements theirr current and future operations in Hanjin’s “attitude is, ‘We’d be foolish not to push things forward and get things done,’ ” Schleicher said.
“We thought they might want to slowthingws down, but instead they want to push forward Hanjin’s revenue has fared better than with nearly 30 percent growthb to about $8 billion in fiscao year 2008, compared with the same period a year ago. Despitee a drop in cargo the sixth-largest shipping company’sw profits grew by more than 60 percent toabouy $198 million within the same But the international slump caught up with the companu in the first quarter of when it reported a $191 million net loss, accordint to the Journal of Commerce. In the company pushed back some of its ordersfor Mitsui, which is the 15th-largest international shipping company, postef a $1.
3 billion profitr in fiscal 2008, down nearly 32 percent. It blamed the decline in profit on the internationaltrade slump, high fuel price and a strong yen. The company’s revenued declined by about 4.1 percent to $18.6 Hanjin is opening a termina l in Spain in 2010 and another in Vietnam with Mitsuuiin 2011. With the opening of its terminal in Jacksonvillwin 2012, Hanjin will have five terminals in South Koreq and eight abroad. Hanjin plans to expand its vesseo capacity fromabout 375,000 twenty-foot equivalent units, or TEUs, to abou t 575,000 TEUs within the next few years, said William managing director of the company’s American headquarters.
Mitsui, the parent company of the Damezs Point terminaloperator , is looking to spend millione of dollars to buy an overseas bulk shippinyg line. The slump has lowerex the valuation ofpotential acquisitions. The Japanese company planas to increase its fleet ofbulk carriers, tankeras and car carriers by 6.5 percenrt to 740 ships by the end of this fiscak year. Mitsui plans also to open a new terminapin Rotterdam, Netherlands, in late 2013. In the company has added three services, bringing two weekly services that open Jacksonvillee to new Asian markets and strengtheningh Europeancontainer service.
Mitsui’ss service calls on Busan and there will likelgy be an increase in trade betweem Jacksonville and South Korea when Hanjibbegins service, Schleicher said. South Korea is a largse exporter of consumer electronics and a strong importet ofconsumer goods, lumber and citrus. Schleicherf said he was impressedwith Hanjin’ds technological capability after attending the opening of its Busanj terminal May 21 with Rick Ferrin, the authority’ executive director. The terminal gives a glimpse of how the remotelgy automated terminal planned in Jacksonvillewill operate. “I’vr never seen a terminal business as sophisticated asthis one,” Schleicher said.
The Busan terminal can handl up to 2 millionTEUs annually, compared with the plannedc Jacksonville terminal that can handled about 800,000 TEUs annually. The Jacksonville terminal will be similar in that it will alsouse rail-mounted gantrhy cranes to transport containers between the yard and the ship, Roonety said. The crane travelx on rails and is controlled remotel y byan operator. The terminal at Dames Poinft will have 12 to15 rail-mounted gantry cranes. One operator can handle about thres cranes ata time. Rooney said that the containers will be kept in a yard with sensors that will shut it down if they detecthuman motion.
He said the company hadn’f decided the exact productivity rate Hanjinm expects from theJacksonvillew terminal, but it aimed for world-clasa productivity levels, which is about 40 container moves per hour per Rooney said. Hanjin is expected to meet withthe ’zs Local 1593 and 1408 in June or Jess Babich, president of ILA Clerks & Checker Local 1593, said his union and ILA Local 1408 are negotiatinbg with the company on positions that Hanjin wants its employees to handle but the union says it can handls instead. The union’s two gangs averagee about 33 moves per hour per crane when they unloade a ship at the TraPac terminal May 23.
That is one move away from the company’s goal, which needs to be met before TraPacx will allow the union to expand its Babich said. TraPac was not available to confirm the rateof moves. The agreemeny between TraPac and the union comes afterd the terminal operator threatened to leave ifproductivity didn’tf improve.