TOC Asia 2010 Conference

 Click here to see up to date TOC Asia 2010 Conference Agenda

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What is happening in China and Asia's container trades?

According to reports, China is both is steadily emerging from recession while also doomed to languish in the doldrums for at least another two years. The country has both too many and too few ports.

Manufacturing is rapidly migrating to even lower cost countries in SE Asia and also moving inland to China's vast rural areas, while steadfastly remaining in its traditional economic heartlands. Intra-Asia container trades are both suffering and surviving, while Asia's next maritime eldorado will be India, or Vietnam, or Indonesia, or ...?

These often conflicting messages make it doubly harder for the container shipping and ports sector to plan their responses to the economic upswing ...when it comes!

Can they assume the same growth rates witnessed in the previous decade, or will they find themselves in a more mature industry with only modest rates of increase? And how have they responded to the present downturn? Knee-jerk cost-cutting, or using the time profitably to effect crucial upgrades to equipment and processes?

In a hugely uncertain world, TOC Asia will cut through the obfuscation to give you a clearer picture of what is really happening in the Asian shipping and ports industries.

Themes for the TOC Asia 2010 conference include:
 

 

An economic co-operation framework agreement is expected to be signed between China and Taiwan next year. The deal could end all tariffs on Taiwan products entering China, making Taiwan more competitive than South Korea and Japan, and so dramatically boosting Cross-Straits trade.

Meanwhile shipping lines and ports have already been encouraged to resume direct services across the Strait after 49 years. Leading industry figures from China and Taiwan will discuss what this means for cargo flows across the Straits and regional port development?

What happens next for container ports? The whole container shipping industry is moving into a state of maturity, and volume growth rates of the previous decade are unlikely to return, so revenue growth has to come from greater productivity. Liner shipping - an industry with essentially bad economics, should the port industry be worried?

China offers excellent conditions for intermodal container transport. The relocation of manufacturing from the coast to the country's interior will increase average transport distance and further raise the attractiveness of combined rail solutions. Rail container volume in China currently represents only some 2% of total port throughput, so it is evident that intermodal transport has great potential. A series of intermodal rail hubs is being constructed across China, but a major challenge is effectively co-ordinating their development with maritime ports in order to knit the network into an efficient whole.

 

Quieter times should also be exploited by re-examining manning levels and ways in which multi-skill resources can improve results. Can people-based processes be eliminated through automation?

Whatever the current true picture of terminal throughput, it is almost certainly below that of the same time 12 months ago, so now is the time for terminals to profit from a less hectic schedule by undertaking major maintenance & repair programmes, systems and equipment upgrades, an audit of terminal operations, processes, invoicing and cost reporting and potential for improvements across the board.

Dangerous weather: how can terminals mitigate damage from storms? Building a safety culture and developing appropriate key performance indicators. Safety and equipment design; is safety really built into the equipment procurement process? Setting default safety standards?

We are currently sourcing speakers for TOC Asia 2010. If you have any suggestions please contact:

Neil Madden
Conference Editor
TOC Events Worldwide
Email: neil.madden@toc-events.com