Traffic buzzing in the Mediterranean

Many ports around the Med took a pasting during the recession, but many of them appear to be bouncing back.
The southern Spanish port of Huelva is one of the most important in the Iberian peninsula in respect of dry bulk, although differs from others such as Gijo´n,Tarragona and Algeciras Bay, in handling a wide variety of bulks. Stevedores cannot therefore invest in specialist equipment predicated on the needs of dedicated flows.
However, Ership, which discharges many of these vessels, along with other stevedoring companies operating in the port, is investing heavily in a large fleet of mobile harbour cranes and specialist grabs, thereby ensuring that high levels of efficiency. Today, there are 11 MHCs, owned by Ership (5), Berge´ Mari´tima (2), Maritime Huelva (1), and Terminal Mari´tima de Huelva (3).
Stevedoring company Terminal Mari´tima de Huelva has also put into operation a new conveyor belt system that is used to unload vessels docking in the outer harbour and transporting cargo such as soya flour and sunflower seeds to the on site warehouse. Productivity of 700-1,000tph (tonnes per hour) has so far been achieved, with the conveyors also incorporating a total dust suppression element.
In total, the company has invested €25 million in upgrades, including the acquisition of the three aforementioned mobile harbour cranes and the building of two warehouses each offering storage in a 15,000 square metre area. These are each divided into five separate modules. A further two exterior modules, each covering 2,000m2, have been attached to the outside and can be used to store minerals and general cargo. These are sealed to prevent stored commodities coming into contact with other consignments. An existing 2,500m2 warehouse has also been renovated for the storage of bulk minerals.
Nowadays,Terminal Mari´tima de Huelva plays a key role at the port in handling imported cereals traffic from the Americas. Since starting operations five years ago, the company has handled 2.5mt (million tonnes), which is what it expects to handle on a yearly basis in the medium term once the recession is over.
Indeed, the majority of the dry bulk traffic handled at the
southern Spanish port of Huelva is imported, consisting mostly of raw materials for the chemical industry located within the port’s hinterland.
In 2010, total dry bulk traffic amounted to 5,447,515 tonnes in 2010, equivalent to 24.54% of total traffic and an increase of more than 30% over the previous year. However, despite the tremendous performance, this is still some way behind the record of 6,525,092 tonnes posted in 2008.
Products associated with the fertilizer production undertaken by Fertiberia and Foret did particularly well. Calcium phosphate, for example, increased by 392,837 tonnes to 725,656 tonnes, sulphur to 81,112 from a position of zero the year before, sulphate of ammonia increased by 43,387 tonnes, potassium chloride by 56,984 tonnes and other fertilizer by 21,191 tonnes.
Commodities related to the construction industry have also showed signs of improvement. Export clinker handled by Cementos El Monte SA on behalf of other group members increased by 134,849 tonnes, up 81.33% compared to 2009. Also on the increase were slag and ash.
“We haven’t seen an increase in coal traffic,” said a port spokesperson,“but at least volumes have stayed almost the same as those handled in 2009,” explains a port spokesperson.
Woodchip volumes also rose, by 60,61%, to 612,119 tonnes, following the restoration of normal working practices at the ENCE plant, which had seen several strikes during 2009.
Feed and fodder tonnage remained relatively stable, although cereals went down by 179,615 tonnes and were at levels vastly below those of the capacity of the port.
Of the major bulks being handled, copper concentrates went neither up nor down, remaining relatively stable at around 1,052,451 million tonnes.
Significantly, of the 30 various dry bulk commodities being handled by the port, seven combined account for 69.56% of the total.These being copper concentrates (19.32%), calcium phosphate (13.32%), woodchips (11.24%), waste oil (10.33%), hard coal and petcoke (9.83%) and cement and clinker (5.52%).
“The most important investment in respect of dry bulk is the extension of the Ingeniero Juan Gonzalo Quay, which is being undertaken at a cost of €26.6 million and will result in the berthing line being extended by 600 metres,” says the spokesperson, noting that draught of 12 metres does impose some restriction on the size of the vessel calling, with the largest tending to be of around 25,000dwt.
In terms of the amount of storage given over to dry bulk, the port has a capacity of around 494,234 square metres.
In 2010, the southern French port of Se`te handled 1,092,047 tonnes of dry bulk, equivalent to 32% of the total throughput. Commodities handled include seeds, oil seeds,cake, fertilizer, coal, pet coke, ore and cereals.
However, in the last few years, the amount of dry bulk passing through Se`te has declined dramatically. According to commercial manager Arnaud Rieutort, this is due to both the recession and also to other structural factors.
“The crisis has affected supplies, while the local fertilizer plant ‘AGRIVA’ closed for a few months. Another important factor has been the closing of several coal-fired power plants in our nearby hinterland, of which that at Albi is a good example. The closure of these, in particular, has seriously impacted imported coal,” says Rieutort, although he adds that the port has nevertheless seen a recovery in fertilizer production, which has boosted the volume of imported raw materials since the beginning of the year 2011.
He adds that, as a general rule, the entire range of dry bulk commodities handled by the port have been impacted by the economic crisis, especially those linked with agricultural or industrial production, which have clearly been affected by other factors as well, including parity between the Euro and the US dollar, rise of raw materials and so forth.
Consignments of dry bulk are mostly handled at Quay I due to its deep draught, but other shipments also pass through Quay G. Fertilizer and cake soya vessels, which invariably call at Quay I tend to be in the region of 20,000–25,000dwt, although those transporting cereals, or oil seeds are much smaller, averaging anything between 2,000dwt and 5,000dwt.
Se`te is unusual, says Rieutort, in that it has onward connection by road, rail and inland waterway. Rail handles around 700,000 tonnes and barges 250,000 tonnes every year.
“Inland waterways are developing noticeably given the modernization programme currently under way, which will see €100 million invested over a ten-year period,”
Although mainly an import facilities for dry bulk, Se`te does also export some commodities, notably rapeseed and sunflower cake to Spain and cereals to North Africa.
“In the future, we see great potential for export of grain to North Africa thanks to a new grain silo that has been operating since July 2010. New silos will give us a storage capacity of 33,000 tonnes compared to the 11,000 tonnes we have today. Furthermore, with the extension of existing Quay J, we will be able to accommodate larger ships up to (20,000 tonnes), which will help us to develop new growing markets on the other side of the Med,” says Rieutort.
On the south side of the Mediterranean, the port of Be´jai¨a is one of the most important in Algeria in terms of cereals traffic. In 2010, overall dry bulk traffic there increased by 39% to 5,248,000 tonnes.
According to Lynda Hadjal, who heads up the port’s marketing department, this boost in traffic is mainly due to a 100% increase in sugar traffic, which reached 1,706,000 tonnes, while cereals — especially corn — grew by 38%.
“Soya has also played a significant part in the growth of bulk solids traffic, registering an increase last year of 45%,” says Hadjal. “In contrast, wheat tonnage fell by 9% to 968, 352
tonnes, as against the 1,070,681 tonnes we handled in 2009. However, this drop in wheat traffic isn’t down to the recession, rather it’s the result of a change in taxes that was imposed on wheat imports as from the second half of the year, which prompted many private operators to halt activities.”
Be´jai¨a does not export any cereals at all, while most of those that it imports come mainly from Argentina and France. Hadjal concedes that consignments could equally well be channelled through other Algerian ports, although Be´jai¨a does have a good reputation in respect of this traffic.
“Currently, we are suffering from a lack of berths able to receive grain shipments. However, a master development plan for the port has been drawn up, which envisages an expansion of existing facilities by building a new breakwater. This will result in the construction of six new berths with draught of up to 16m.”
Discharge of grain is undertaken either by the port’s own handling equipment, which consists of grab cranes or pneumatic unloaders, or using equipment specifically supplied by the importing companies. Onward transit from the port is overwhelmingly by road.
As for vessel size, shipments are usually conveyed by ships of between 20,000dwt and 45,000dwt, although Hadjal believes the choice of size is dictated by the market, since the existing 12m draught at Be´jai¨a isn’t really a factor.
Silo storage facilities are available in the port, but little in the way of added value is undertaken to the grain during its transit at the port.
In 2010, the southern Italian port of Bari handled 2,638,647 tonnes of dry bulk, equivalent to an increase of 23% over the previous year. The majority of the material handled is used in the region of Puglia.
Port spokesperson Anna Carlucci explains that cereals and fertilizer constitute the majority of the bulk passing through the port. Fertilizer traffic of 149,000 tonnes in 2009 increased to 235,000 tonnes last year, while cereals rose from 1.58mt to 1.92mt.
“The vast majority of what we handle arrives by road,” she says. “In the Puglia region, which is in the South Adriatic Sea, we do not have any competitors for cereals traffic. Exporters prefer to use either Bari or our network port at Monopoli, because they are close to local farms.”
Bari is perhaps more famous for its passenger ferries bound for regional ports, but dry bulk, although not handled by a dedicated terminal as such, is moved in a separate area away from the ferries. In addition, there are a number of grain silos in the port.
“Our present capacity seems to be sufficient to meet our current needs and there are no plans to expand this area at the moment,” says Carlucci.