Point Global Weekly Update 1-20-23

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New ‘five-year plan’ to revive China as a modern logistics giant

Increased demand has exposed cracks in China’s logistics infrastructure, but it’s hoping its new ‘five-year plan’ for the sector may be enough to stop an expected exodus of western multinationals.

The General Office of the State Council last month announced its first long-term plan for modernising China’s logistics system, with a focus on improving efficiency resilience and safety.

Although it is a five-year plan, according to state news agency Xinhua: “By 2025, a modern logistics system featuring supply/demand adaptation with internal and external connectivity will basically be in place.

 

South Korea’s First Smart, Electric Ship Begins Service

Hyundai Heavy Industries recently commissioned South Korea’s first large next-generation electric propulsion ship which incorporates smart technology. The unique vessel is dual-powered with the ability to operate either fully from its battery or an LNG-fueled engine or a hybrid mode with the battery supplementing the engines. The vessel will operate as a demonstration ship and undertake tourist voyages from the city of Ulsan along the Korean coast.

Construction on the 1,400 gross ton vessel began in October 2021 at the Hyundai Mipo Shipyard. Named Ulsan Taehwa, the vessel features an electric propulsion system developed by Korean Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering that includes an energy storage system that enables selective operation of the DC Grid-based LNG and marine diesel oil power plant.

 

U.S. Container Imports Tumbled Close to Prepandemic Levels in December

U.S. ocean imports closed 2022 extending a monthslong slide closer to prepandemic levels, according to a new report, leaving the shipping sector bracing for deeper declines in container volumes this year.

American ports handled 1,929,032 inbound containers in December, measured in 20-foot equivalent units, or TEUs, down 1.3% from November, according to a report released Tuesday by Descartes Datamyne, a trade intelligence database owned by supply-chain software company Descartes Systems Group Inc. December marked the lowest level for seaborne imports since June 2020, just before a pandemic-driven rush to restock depleted inventories triggered a surge in imports.