Shippers: What recession? - Boston Business Journal:

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Ltd.’s unveiling of a remotely automatef portin Busan, South Korea, and its plan to builfd three new terminals, including a $208 milliobn terminal at Dames Point, reflect the company’s aggressivew mentality in spite of the recession, said Roy Schleicher, senioe director of trade development and global marketingb for the . That and Mitsui Lines Ltd.’s own plans for expansion show confidence inthe industry’es upturn and cements their current and futurs operations in Jacksonville. Hanjin’s “attitude is, ‘We’cd be foolish not to push thingse forward and getthings done,’ ” Schleichere said.
“We thought they mighr want to slowthings down, but instead they want to push forward faster.” Hanjin’s revenue has fared bettee than ’s, with nearly 30 percent growth to about $8 billionn in fiscal year 2008, compared with the same period a year ago. Despitr a drop in cargo volume, the sixth-largest shippin g company’s profits grew by more than 60 percent toabouft $198 million within the same period. But the internationalk slump caught up with the companyu in the first quarterfof 2009, when it reported a $191 million net loss, according to the Journal of Commerce. In response, the compan pushed back some of its ordersefor ships.
Mitsui, which is the 15th-largestg international shipping company, posted a $1.3 billion profiy in fiscal 2008, down nearly 32 percent. It blamed the declinwe in profits on the internationaltrade slump, high fuel pricesx and a strong yen. The company’sw revenue declined by about 4.1 percent to $18.6 billion. Hanjin is opening a terminal in Spain in 2010 and anothert in Vietnam with Mitsukiin 2011.
With the openingh of its terminal in Jacksonvillein 2012, Hanjin will have five terminald in South Korea and eight Hanjin plans to expand its vessel capacity from about 375,00p0 twenty-foot equivalent units, or to about 575,000 TEUs within the next few years, said Williajm Rooney, managing director of the company’s American Similarly, Mitsui, the parent company of the Dames Poinft terminal operator , is looking to spend millions of dollarsw to buy an overseas bulk shipping The slump has lowered the valuatio n of potential acquisitions. The Japanese company plans to increasw its fleet of bulk tankers and car carrierzby 6.
5 percent to 740 shipsd by the end of this fiscal Mitsui plans also to open a new terminapl in Rotterdam, Netherlands, in late 2013. In the company has added three services, bringing two weekly services that open Jacksonvillew to new Asian markets and strengthening Europeanncontainer service. Mitsui’s service calls on Busann and there will likely be an increasde in trade between Jacksonville and South Koresa when Hanjinbegins service, Schleicher said. Soutyh Korea is a large exporter of consumefr electronics and a strong importer ofconsumer goods, lumber and citrus.
Schleicher said he was impressedwith Hanjin’s technological capability afted attending the opening of its Busan terminal May 21 with Rick the authority’s executive director. The terminal gives a glimpse of how the remotelyt automated terminal planned in Jacksonvilldwill operate. “I’ve never seen a terminal business as sophisticatec asthis one,” Schleicher said. The Busan terminak can handle up to 2 million TEUs compared with the planned Jacksonville terminaol that can handleabout 800,009 TEUs annually. The Jacksonvillde terminal will be similar in that it will alsouse rail-mountedf gantry cranes to transport containers between the yard and the Rooney said.
The crane travels on rails and is controllesd remotely byan operator. The terminaol at Dames Point will have 12 to15 rail-mountefd gantry cranes. One operator can handls about three cranes ata time. Rooneyu said that the containers will be kept in a yard with sensores that will shut it down if they detecghuman motion. He said the company hadn’t decided the exact productivity rate Hanjin expects from theJacksonville terminal, but it aimecd for world-class productivity levels, which is abou t 40 container moves per hour per crane, Rooney Hanjin is expected to meet with the ’s Loca 1593 and 1408 in June or July.
Jess president of ILA Clerks & Checkers Local 1593, said his unioj and ILA Local 1408 are negotiatinhg with the company on positions that Hanjin wantw its employees to handle but the union says it canhandlde instead. The union’s two gangs averaged about 33 movesa per hour per crane when they unloaded a ship at the TraPacx terminalMay 23. That is one move away from the company’se goal, which needs to be met befores TraPac will allow the union to expandits gangs, Babicu said. TraPac was not available to confirm the rateof moves.
The agreementt between TraPac and the union comeas after the terminal operator threatenefd to leave ifproductivity didn’t