Tough year for harbour cranes

Demand for quayside kit fell through 2009, though large orders for Chinese-made ZPMC equipment were recorded in Oman and KSA.

New technology can’t disguise the fact that ports everywhere are shelving expansion plans. In a highly volatile business environment, the mobile harbour crane market dropped around 40% in 2009 as port operators around the world shelved expansion plans, due to much reduced sea traffic.

Liebherr’s Mobile Harbour Crane Division recorded a decline of around 27%, though in light of the overall market, the feeling was that this was ‘satisfactory operational performance’. In 2009, deliveries amounted to 74 units.

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Recession
As a result of global recession, deliveries especially in Europe showed a strong decline compared to the same period in the previous year (-31%).

Spain, traditionally the top selling market, was completely down, but in return other countries e.g. Russia showed a performance way above average. With 15 delivered units from Liebherr alone, Russia was by far the biggest MHC market worldwide in 2009.

Although various regions are catching up, Europe still remains the most important market for mobile harbour cranes. Africa has seen a less dramatic decline, due to older ports being modernised to handle modern container ships.

Middle East
Meanwhile, here in the Middle East deliveries dropped with Liebherr delivering just two units to Saudi Arabia. The German company reported that: “The maritime business was actually suffering greatly from the lack of investment by our customers. However, the first delivery to Saudi Arabia since 2003 was found to be fundamentally good.”

Despite the company bemoaning what it sees as a ‘lack of investment’, quite a lot of money has gone into redeveloping seaports, notably Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, but also Salalah in Oman received significant quantities of cranes, in both cases sourced from the Chinese manufacturer Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industry Co Ltd better known as ZPMC.

Technology
The cranes can handle Super Post Panamax vessels, which carry 22 containers or more across their width and are therefore too large to travel through the Panama Canal. The cranes are designed to lift 65 tonnes each. In total 87 container cranes, including 27 post-panamax units, for loading the latest, widest ships and 60 RTG cranes were delivered in a US $735m package.

However, DP World is currently reviewing its expansion plans. The UAE government-controlled company has “implemented a strategy to focus on minimising the impact on margins and preserving cash,” according to chief financial officer Yuvraj Narayan.

“This includes reviewing our various expansion projects,” he said, adding that the company, which is one of the largest marine ports operators in the world, has also halted recruitment.

Meanwhile, ZPMC has recently established a base in Singapore as well as signing a deal in Spain with marine oil and gas explorer ADHK for supply of offshore engineering products. The transaction, including 10 jack-up drill platforms, 7 land drill rigs, and 2 float cranes, was the largest sale contract of this kind to date in the country.

Asia
Meanwhile, rival manufacturer Gottwald Port Technology GmbH managed to secure an order for two harbour cranes, for a port in India.

The new cranes will be used for handling bulk materials in the new multi-purpose terminal for solid cargo in Dahej, in the province of Gujarat, on the west coast of the asian subcontinent. Both 4-rope grab cranes for professional, heavy-duty bulk handling have 63t grab curves.

The equipment is manufactured in Düsseldorf, Germany, and is expected to start commercial operation in the new port at the end of 2010, which is expected to handle about 15 MT per year.