Russkaya Troyka to flatten the seams
On October 15, Russkaya Troyka CJSC announced a tender for selection of a prime contractor to build a 250,000-TEU container terminal in the port of Vladivostok. The company plans to complete bids submission by the middle of November and to start construction of the terminal’s first phase in 2008.
Up-to-date project
By 2015, RF Ministry of Transport plans to raise container transshipment in Russian seaports by almost 2.5 times to 15 million TEU per year. At the meeting of RF Government held in September 2007, Igor Levitin, RF Minister of Transport, said it is necessary to speed up construction of sea container terminals in Russia. In particular, the Ministry proposes to raise annual capacity of container terminal in Ust-Luga to 3 million TEU, in Vostochny port – to 5 million TEU, in Novorossiysk – to 2 million TEU, in Baltijsk – to 3.5 million TEU.
In Vladivostok alone there will be three new container terminals considering the projects of Severstaltrans company. On of the projects is that of Russkaya Troyka. The company announces the terminal, which is to be used for handling of project cargo (foreign components for manufactures located in the RF). Besides, it will be the first specialized transport canal for servicing transit container cargo flows.
Russkaya Troyka CJSC is a company specializing in inter-modal container transportation across Russia by East-West transport corridor. The company was founded in November 2004 under parity basis by two Russian transport companies – Russian Railways OJSC and Far East Shipping Company (FESCO OJSC). In May 2007, NPF Blagosostoyaniye became a new shareholder of the company (25% minus 1 share) in the result of additional issue of shares.
The terminal will be built in the Zolotoi Rog Bay, at a reclaimed land adjacent to the port of Vladivostok. The first phase of the terminal (120,000 TEU per year) will be put into operation in 2010, while the second phase will be completed a year later. According to the company, the terminal will reach its full capacity (250,000 TEU) by 2014.
Branch experts think the operation of the new terminal will depend on capacity of the port railway station. However, Denis Surnin, director of the company’s department of marketing communications told PortNews IAA that the facilities of the port station will not be involved. “We plan to transfer railway to the terminal, which is to be built at the reclaimed terminal,” Mr. Surnin said. The project envisions construction of both sea berths and new territories as well as expansion of railway and crane tracks.
Total volume of investments into construction will exceed RUR 2 billion. As PortNews IAA learnt from the company, the project will be financed from the net profit of Russkaya Troyka and from additional emission of the company’s shares. In spring the company raised RUR 484 million.
To change logistics
Russkaya Troyka attributes the necessity to build a new terminal to the desire to build a through service line for the company’s customers. “The delivery of components for automobile industry is divided into three steps today, Mr. Surin says. The components are delivered by vessels to ports, then they are handled separately at terminals and then they are transported by trains. The schedules may be slightly broken at the junction of marine and railway transport. We want to build a terminal to get rid of such seams and to simplify the chain of delivery. According to Mr. Surin’s estimations, this layout will make it possible to decrease the time needed for cargo handling at the terminal to maximum two days.
Meanwhile, the majority of foreign components are delivered by sea via the port of St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad. Besides, Hyundai components are delivered via the port of Taganrog, the components of KIA Motor Corporation – via Vostochny port. Thus construction of a container terminal in Vladivostok is targeted most likely at attraction of new container cargo. Mr. Surin says Russkaya Troyka has already come to a number of agreements on transportation of cargo via yet-to-be-built terminal in Vladivostok. In particular, the company has been working for a long time with Hyundai, KIA Motor Corporation and LG and hopes to sign contracts with other manufacturers of electronics.
According to certain forecasts, some 300,000 TEU of automobile components will be delivered to Russia by 2008-2010. Vladimir Sergievski, analyst of Finam investment company, marine transportation to the Far Eastern ports with further railway transportation could decrease the delivery time by 30-35%. “Such a route could save about 15 days,” PortNews IAA learnt from Mr. Sergievski. However such a delivery will cost more. In theory, the costs could be less for Korean automobile assembly plants located in central region though in most cases transportation by Transsib does not look competitive. “Besides railway tariffs the investors are afraid of long runs, which imply certain risks, Mr. Sergievski thinks.