Ro / Ro Shipping : The Year Ahead
Special Report
China-to-Europe trade ,” fueled by electric vehicle exports from China , said Gold Star Line ’ s McCausland . China exported 2.3 million vehicles in the first five months of this year , up 32 % year over year , according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers ( CAAM ). That included 481,000 vehicles in May , up 24 % from a year earlier , CAAM said .
However , those imports are now facing pushback in the form of tariffs designed to protect European manufacturers from subsidized competition .
“ We have a very aggressive newbuilding plan coming up .”
“ This growth should continue , albeit at a lower rate due to the tariffs ,” McCausland told the Journal of Commerce . “ We believe that the Chinese manufacturers are strong and resilient , and they continue to be very active in targeting more export markets .”
The European Union imposed provisional duties of up to 38.1 % from July 4 on Chinese-made electric vehicles , including those manufactured by western companies including Tesla , Volvo and BMW , while it continues to investigate Chinese state subsidies . The tariffs , which could be confirmed in November , are facing opposition from some European manufacturers , while Chinese car makers are calling for Beijing to impose a tax of up to 25 % on European imports .
There have also been “ a few instances of pre-tariff surges ” where Chinese auto makers have shipped early to avoid them , McCausland said .
Turkey also imposed tariffs of up to 40 % on Chinese vehicle imports from July 7 , the Ankara government said .
Volvo Cars is reported to be considering moving some production of its EX30 sport utility vehicle from China to Ghent , Belgium , to avoid tariffs after the plant becomes operational in 2025 .
Spillover pressure
A few ro / ro carriers report a return of equipment and breakbulk cargoes that had shifted back to the container sector post-pandemic but are now increasingly priced out of boxes due to soaring rates .
“ We are getting a lot more spot requests due to the rebound in the container market ,” said Tim Rufus , vice president / commercial for Siem Shipping .
“ In addition to requests from original equipment manufacturers ( OEMs ), we are getting a lot of calls from forwarders , etc ., we don ’ t know claiming to have large volumes of OEM cargo they need help shipping ,” Rufus said . “ We haven ’ t seen these types of enquiries for about 12 months now , when things were really booming .”
However , Siem can ’ t help those shippers because its shipments from Germany to the US East Coast and Mexico are dedicated to transporting vehicles for Volkswagen group , he said .
The port congestion that was plaguing ro / ro transport and eating up capacity last year has eased , though Wallenius Wilhelmsen in a first-quarter results briefing said that improvements in landside congestion in Australia have been offset by the need to take longer transits around the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa to avoid militant attacks in the Red Sea region .
“ Vessels are expensive and not made for the storage of vehicles ,” McCausland said . “ The bottom line is constraints need to be known to all parties and action taken where possible to increase throughput at ports and landside facilities .”
email : keithwallis @ hotmail . com
Ro / ro carriers will take delivery of 207 ships totaling 4.6 million dwt , mostly from 2025 onward . EQRoy / Shutterstock . com
30 Journal of Commerce | July 29 , 2024 www . joc . com