UP FRONT 01
EDITOR’S LETTER
The past two years have – as we have said so many times
Tank container operators have in fact been very much
already – presented the chemical industry and its logistics
at the sharp end of supply chain disruptions and rising
partners with a whole slew of unprecedented and rapidly changing
costs, especially in the past year. Their assets are reliant on
challenges. It is, though, another truism that each challenge is
landside transport by road or rail, open to delays due to driver
also an opportunity.
shortages, port congestion, road congestion and rail repairs.
As the major logistics players report their annual results for
Once at sea, they have again been subject to slow steaming,
2021, we have seen the extent to which those challenges have
port delays and surging freight costs. And this has come at a
altered their operational pattern – in many cases very much for
time when tanks have been in great demand.
the better, in terms of financial performance. Quite a number have
As ITCO reveals in its annual survey of tank container fleets,
posted record earnings, though these have often been boosted
our report on which begins on page 8 of this issue, output
by high transport costs (in all modes, but especially in ocean
of new tanks rebounded in 2021 after the Covid-inspired
shipping) or, for chemical distributors in particular, rampant
reduction in manufacturing in 2020. Those new tanks have
chemical price inflation. Nonetheless, they have often translated
found a willing market, especially among tank operators keen
into high levels of profitability.
to reap the benefits of the surging demand from shippers of
In this issue, for instance, we report on Den Hartogh’s record performance in the intermodal sector last year. Stolt-Nielsen,
chemicals and other liquids. How long can these conditions persist? Some analysts are
always ahead of the pack as its financial year runs to end-
predicting that ocean freight rates are nowhere near where
November, has reported first-quarter figures that also look very
they can be and there is also the threat that the lines will
good, with higher earnings from its tanker shipping activities and
prioritise their own containers at the expense of third-party
increased throughput at its terminals.
boxes and, most especially, those pesky tank containers with
Stolt Tank Containers has followed Den Hartogh’s example, with the global disruption in supply chains causing higher costs –
their heavy weights and potentially hazardous contents. For those who want more insight, I would point you to page
which operators have been able to pass on – as well as increased
6 of this issue and our first column from long-time logistics
levels of demurrage revenue. The old ‘just in time’ approach to
expert Paul Gooch, who after a long career with Dow knows
supply chain management, with lean inventories and a reliance on
an awful lot more than I do. His analysis does not make
regular deliveries, is no longer viable; for tank container operators
comfortable reading although, as he points out, we have been
that means that shippers and consignees are often holding onto
through times like this before. This time, digitisation might just
tanks for longer, or they are being held at terminals and ports en
be the saviour – but beware of over-reaction.
route in the face of haulage capacity shortages.
Peter Mackay
WWW.HCBLIVE.COM
