What‘s the coup for this port to crack "One cabin is hard to find"?

As the second largest foreign trade port in China, Qingdao Port of Shandong Port is in the busiest period in history. The number of berthing ships hit a new high, with an average of more than 60,000 containers being loaded and unloaded in the port every day. Throughout the first half of the year, the cargo throughput of Qingdao Port ranked fourth among coastal ports in the country, and the container throughput remained the fifth among coastal ports nationwide.

The port is a barometer of the city‘s economy and foreign trade exports. The person in charge of the terminal sighed that this kind of busyness has been normalized throughout the year, and there is no longer the off-peak season. The foreign trade bosses also said that now in order to grab space, they really have their own abilities.

Relying on the greater platform and greater opportunities brought about by the integrated reform of Shandong ports, Qingdao Port of Shandong Port continues to attract shipping industry giants such as CMA CGM, Mediterranean, Evergreen, and Wanhai to increase its capacity by virtue of its vast cargo hinterland and efficient service advantages. Launch to alleviate the adverse effects of insufficient international shipping capacity. New "ship owners" such as Alibaba and Boya International Shipping have also chosen to open point-to-point express services in Qingdao Port. In the process of accelerating the construction of an international shipping hub in Northeast Asia, Qingdao Port has effectively connected ship, cargo, and port resources, and its radiation capacity has been further improved. The status of the "outlet" along the Yellow River Basin and the "bridgehead" of opening to the outside world has become more stable.

Solve the problem of tight space

The epidemic is still impacting the international shipping market. "One box is hard to find" is nothing new now. Foreign trade companies are even more troubled by "one box is hard to find."

Relevant information shows that the waiting time for container ships this year has more than doubled since 2019. As of August 24, more than 362 large-scale carriers around the world have berthed outside the port. Take the trans-Pacific route as an example. Originally, a six-week round-trip weekly service requires six ships, but due to port congestion delays for more than one week, which lengthens the entire cycle, maintaining the same service frequency requires at least one additional ship.

Therefore, the shipping company‘s capacity is vital to the smooth export trade. In other words, whoever wins more route networks will be the key to the allocation of global shipping resources.

"Since this year, China‘s exports to Southeast Asia, Europe, and the United States have risen very rapidly. So many goods have to be shipped out, but the space is limited. Coupled with the impact of the epidemic, the capacity has been sharply strained." Qingdao Port Qianwan, Shandong Port Zhang Jun, deputy general manager of the Container Terminal Company, introduced, "In order to ensure the export of foreign trade goods in Shandong and the Yellow River Basin, we have adopted many measures. One is to open up new routes and increase two routes every month on average; the other is to increase foreign trade overtime. Ships, there are 40 or 50 overtime boats every month; thirdly, the cargo owners who are competing for chartering go to Qingdao Port to open routes to take the cargo from Shandong area."

In response to the continuing high demand for international shipping and tight space caused by the epidemic, Qingdao Port added 15 container routes in the first half of the year, expanded and improved the supporting development pattern of the trunk and feeder network, and supported the rapid growth of transit container volume. At the same time, Qingdao Port actively coordinated and cooperated with shipping companies to increase overtime ships, and with the strong support of customs and other departments, created new models such as rapid inspection and release of imported empty containers, fully guaranteeing port empty container storage and enterprises‘ rapid container demand, and effectively guaranteeing To achieve a win-win situation for all parties by meeting the needs of enterprises for export boxes.

On August 21, the Alibaba West Line of Qingdao Port in Shandong Port opened. It only takes 15 days from Qingdao to go directly to major ports on the west coast of the United States, speeding up the export of electronic products, mechanical equipment, clothing and other e-commerce products. On July 30, the world‘s largest 24,000 TEU ultra-large container ship "Changfan" built by Sanxing Heavy Industry for Evergreen Shipping made its maiden voyage to Qingdao Port, Shandong Port. This is Evergreen Shipping‘s newly built 10 24,000 TEU class vessels. The first of the ultra-large container ships. On July 28, Wanhai Shipping, one of Asia‘s largest shipping companies, also opened its first US-West Express line at Qingdao Port in Shandong Port, which shortened its voyage by nearly 5 days compared with conventional US-Western routes.

The arrival of large ships of international shipping companies such as CMA CGM, Mediterranean, Evergreen, and Wan Hai is not only the influence of Qingdao‘s export-oriented economy, but also the siphon effect brought about by the ultra-high efficiency of Qingdao Port. On August 24, the Qingdao Port Automation Terminal of Shandong Port had a single crane operating efficiency of 52.1 natural containers/hour during the operation of the "Mediterranean Martina". Shipment schedule and import and export requirements of foreign trade companies.

"Shandong Port Qingdao Port continues to innovate efficiency-enhancing models such as berthing hot connection and low visibility pilotage, laying the foundation for shipping companies to catch up with schedules." Li Qifeng, chief representative of Wanhai Shipping‘s China terminal, expressed the reasons for choosing Qingdao Port for the maiden voyage.

Relieve the difficulty of shipping costs

At the peak of shipments in the second half of the year, how to reduce international freight costs is related to the survival of foreign trade companies.

"The export companies with lower value are basically flat. Some companies exporting tires and furniture can‘t leave the goods in the factory for a few months." said Zhang Jian, general manager of Qingdao Lianfenghang Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd. .

There are many shippers and forwarders who worry about freight like him. The production of false eyelashes accounts for 70% of the global level. Although there are continuous orders from Europe and the United States, some companies have to suspend orders in the face of tight shipping spaces and high freight rates.

Global port congestion and delays in shipping schedules have caused shipping prices on some routes to skyrocket by more than 10 times. The freight price of a container on China-US routes has exceeded US$20,000, and there has even been a bizarre phenomenon of "containers are more expensive than goods". However, the logistics service innovation from Qingdao Port has allowed many companies to finally grasp a trace of certainty in the uncertain multinational supply chain.

For more than 60 years, containerization has been the mainstream of global trade and transportation. Container ships have become larger and larger. The world‘s largest container ship can carry nearly 24,000 TEUs, which is 63 meters longer than the world‘s largest aircraft carrier in service. However, since the epidemic, in order to be able to ship in time, many containerized cargoes have re-boarded bulk carriers and multi-purpose cargo ships.

Not long ago, 20,000 cubic meters of plywood was exported to Europe from Qingdao Port by the "Marine Master" bulk carrier through this "centralized-to-distributed" logistics method. While saving logistics time for customers, it also greatly reduced transportation costs.

"One box is hard to find, and one cabin is hard to find. It is not only the Shandong port, but all ports across the country are facing this problem." Shandong Port Luhai Logistics Group‘s deputy party committee secretary and executive deputy general manager Lengbing told reporters, "We innovate logistics and transportation. The model is to promote the‘centralization to decentralization‘. Some of the cargoes that used to take container ships are now exported to Europe in the form of traders and manufacturers consolidating ships."

Sea-rail combined transportation is another major direction for Qingdao Port‘s precise efforts. Compared with sea transportation with uncertain timeliness and cost, fixed-point and directional trains can help save foreign trade enterprises‘ logistics costs and greatly shorten logistics transportation time. In the first half of the year, Qingdao Port and Shandong Port Land and Sea Logistics Group jointly promoted the development of the inland market, opened 7 new train lines, and built a major transit logistics channel connecting Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, and Central Asia, China, Europe, China and Mongolia. The volume increased by 8% year-on-year, maintaining the top position among coastal ports in the country.

In addition to the traditional China-Europe train, a new logistics channel connecting Russia‘s Siberian Railway by sea has also been opened. At present, shipping companies such as Xingxing and CMA CGM have opened direct routes to Russian Far East ports in Qingdao Port. They can rely on the Siberian Railway to transfer to the hinterland of Europe to complete the sea-rail combined transport service, thus greatly reducing the time cost of traditional shipping to Europe via the Suez Canal. Bring more efficient and abundant logistics options to customers.