Fruit shippers' longstanding frustration with what they describe as high rates and low service levels could change with the introduction of more competition.
APM Terminals, Terminal Link, Terminal Investments Ltd , and PSA International have pre-qualified to bid on a proposed container terminal at Corozal, according to the Panama Canal Authority. Mitsui O.S.K Lines, Manzanillo International Terminal and Ports America were were not approved.
China Merchants Holdings (International) handled 80 million TEUs in 2014, a 13 percent increase over the previous year and a continuation of the double digit growth annual that has been recorded since 2012 by the mainland’s largest container port operator.
China Merchants (Holdings) International (CMHI) reported double-digit growth in throughput from January through November, continuing the strong increase in international trade that also drove up volumes at rival port operator Cosco Pacific.
The new ocean carrier alliances set to launch in 2015 will operate more reliable schedules, removing a major factor behind the congestion that has plagued major container ports this year, marine terminal operators said at the JOC Group’s Port Performance Conference in London today.
CMA CGM is on the verge of a hard-fought agreement with its banks to restructure $4.6 billion of loans, ending months of uncertainty over the future of the world’s third-largest ocean carrier.