Pacific Basin eyes coal blending investment

Technorati Tags: Baltic Dry Index,Baltic Dry Indices,Ship Chartering,Shipchartering,Voyage Fixtures,Time Charter Fixtures,Panamax,Capesize,Handymax,Handysize,Supramax,Dry Cargo Fixtures,Bulk Cargo Fixtures,Baltic Exchange,Freight Review,Maritime Baltic Index,Maritime Industry,Maritime,Freight Forward Agreements,FFA,Pacific Basin

Keith Wallis, Hong Kong - Monday 10 November 2008

 

PACIFIC Basin Shipping is eyeing plans to invest in coal blending facilities in China as a further move to broaden its activities away from its core business of handysize and handymax bulk shipping operations.
Wang Chunlin, Pacific Basin executive director, said coal blending is becoming increasingly important to boost coal handling capacity through draft restricted ports in southern China. 
Coal blending involves mixing different grades of coal to help cut emissions and improve the calorific value of the material while providing a consistent coal quality to power plants. 
Mr Wang said China is dependant on the transport of coal from mining areas in northern and north-east China to feed the country’s manufacturing base in eastern and southern China. But he added that southern China does not have the capacity to handle large capesize vessels. 
Blending the coal to produce an optimum material helps overcome this issue. “The situation [in southern China] has changed a lot” following the inauguration of a coal blending facility at Zhanjiang in Guangdong province. The complex has been developed by Petrocom Energy with the support of Zhanjiang Port (Group) Holdings, a joint venture between Zhanjiang Port Group and China Merchants Holdings (International). 
Petrocom Energy has or plans to build, own and operate five coal blending facilities in China. 
Mr Wang confirmed that Hong Kong-listed Pacific Basin Shipping is mulling investments in the sector. 
He said the company “wants to develop coal blending centres in Fujian and Guangdong (provinces) as infrastructure investments”. 
Mr Wang said Taiwan, with its long coastline, had adequate land “to develop this kind of thing” especially as the thaw in China-Taiwan relations meant Taiwan “was a good place for coal blending plants”. 
He thought the creation of coal blending plants in Taiwan, which would significantly increase the capacity of coal facilities by offering a higher grade coal of consistent quality, would benefit power producers in eastern and southern China. 
Pacific Basin has already diversified into terminals in China with an investment in Nanjing, towage in Australia and tugs and barges in the Middle East to offset a downturn in the dry bulk sector.