Yangon’s Thilawa Port to receive larger ships

by LOGISTICS

The Myanmar Port Authority will permit larger ships with drafts of up 10 meters to call at the Thilawa Port in Yangon this month, according to its latest announcement. This is expected to enable more containerized cargo throughput at the port and encourage higher volumes of trade. About 95 percent of Myanmar’s trade is conducted by sea. In the last fiscal year, cargos worth over US$10.4 billion was exported and US$15.6 billion was imported via the maritime route.

Yangon’s two main ports, Thilawa and the Port of Yangon, are located along the Yangon river where container vessel sizes are restricted due to sandbars located along the navigation channel. Yangon port is located in downtown Yangon while Thilawa Port is located 16km further downstream. Thilawa Port, which has a draft of 10 meters, is able to handle vessels of up to 20,000 tonnes, or 2000 TEUs in capacity. Up until early this year, only vessels with drafts of up to nine meters were permitted to call at the port. Yangon Port has a draft of nine meters and can handle vessels of up to 15,000 tonnes, or 1500 TEUs.

The number of vessels to Yangon is expected to rise now that larger vessels will be permitted to call at Thilawa. According to an analysis by ocean consultancy Royal Haskoning, based on draft levels and hours of high tide, Thilawa Port can accommodate up to 4,380 annual vessel calls. With an annual vessel call of 2,483 in fiscal 2015-16, this implies that Port of Yangon volumes could be limited by channel capacit when the vessel calls increase. With an estimated maximum 4,380 calls and an average of 1,200 TEU exchange per call, the navigation channel can potentially accommodate up to 5.3 million TEU annually, according to Royal Haskoning.

Source: Myanmar Times

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20 containers of seafood stranded at Saudi port

by LOGISTICS

Around 20 Myanmar containers with marine products are still stranded at Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah port while the Saudi Arbia Food& Drug Authority (SFDA) makes arrangements to approve a list of Myanmar fisheries factories from where the products were processes, according to U Ye Min, a Central Executive Committee member of the Myanmar Fisheries Federation.

The goods have been at the port since October 13, when Saudi Arbia seized around 30 unregistered containers loaded with US$80,000 worth of Myanmar fisheries products each. A total of ten containers have received cleared customs after the SFDA approved three of 19 factories which sought permission to sell their products in Saudi Arabia. There are still about 20 containers at Jeddah port which are not registered and approved by the SFDA yet.

This year, only Ywar Thar Gyi Cold Store, one of 19 cold storage factories from Myanmar which applied for registration, was approved by Saudi authorities. On October 15, the SFDA approved Twin Brothers Seafood Cold Storage, Mega Marine Frozen Seafood and Delta Queen International Co.

Source: Myanmar Times

Yangon port handles more cargos this year despite pandemic

by LOGISTICS

Although the flow of the trade via air route and land route dropped in pandemic period, the Yangon port took more cargos via sea route this year compared to last year, said an official from Myanmar Port Authority (MPA).

“Despite the coronavirus outbreak across the country, Yangon port handled over 1.5 million tonnes of cargos from March to September in 2020 compared to 2019. So, the sea route seems to have a better flow of goods,” said U Sein Win, assistant general manager from Agent Department, MPA. From March to September 2020, there were a total of 6,900,040 tonnes of cargos in Yangon port, an increase of 1,578,843 tonnes compared to last year. In the same period of 2019, there were a total of 5,321,197 tonnes of cargos in the port, according to the official data from MPA.

However, a total of 1,074 cargo ships were docked in 2020, a drop of 27 ships in 2020 compared to the previous year. In 2019, there were 1,101 cargo ships docked in Yangon port. “About 85 per cent of Myanmar’s export and import is mainly conducted by the sea route. During the pandemic period, the export and import via air route and land route are suspended, and the export and import are conducted only via sea route,” said U Win Myint Aung, deputy director-general of Myanmar Maritime Department, MPA.

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

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Shan-Yangon transport cost double amidst COVID-19 resurgence

by LOGISTICS

The transport cost for commodities from Shan State to Yangon Region has increased more than double amid the coronavirus crisis, said U Kyaw Thu, secretary of the Myanmar Fruit, Flower and Vegetable Producer and Exporter Association (MFVP). At present, the truck fare rates remarkably soar to K1.6 million from the previous rate of K600,000-650,000, he continued. “We can steadily transport the goods at the previous rate of K600,000-650,000. Now, the truck drivers are price markers,” he stressed. Following the double increase rate, only 20 to 30 trucks are seen entering Thirimingala Market of Yangon in the recent days.

They see the entry of over 20 trucks only these days. Before the coronavirus outbreak and the period before the resurgence of coronavirus, hundreds of trucks are flowing into the region,. The vegetables such as tomato, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, bell pepper, eggplant, potato and onion are abundant in Shan State. However, the local products cannot easily be transported to the other regions owing to high truck fares and other transport difficulties. As a result, the commodity prices are so high for consumers, according to MFVP.

The truck operators raised the fares. Consequently, it directly hurts consumers. Nevertheless, the farmers do not even get handsome profit and benefit from that. The consumer price is unexpectedly ten times higher than the low introductory rate of farmers. Transport problem must be resolved to control the commodity rate. If not that, the price will continue rising. The tomato is priced only K300 per viss (a viss equals to 1.6 kg), whereas the prevailing price is K3,000 per viss in markets in Yangon. Similarly, a cabbage fetches only K300-400 in the farm, yet, the price touched a high of K1,500 in Yangon. The cost of a cauliflower increased to K1,000 in Yangon from K150 on the farm.

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

JV to build Ayeyawady International Industrial Port in Pathein

by LOGISTICS

Ever Flow River Group Public Company (EFR) joined hands with Ayeyar Hinthar Holdings Co., Ltd (AHH) to implement Ayeyawady International Industrial Port (AIIP) and set up a joint venture namely A Logistics Co., Ltd, according to the EFR’s press statement. Unison Choice Services Limited, a subsidiary of EFR, owns 60 per cent of shares of A Logistics Co., Ltd and 40 per cent are held by AHH Co., Ltd. They signed an agreement to implement multi-sectoral infrastructure development project AIIP in Pathein town, Ayeyawady Region.

The JV has carried out a feasibility study for over a year. The project includes bonded warehouses, container yard, international port terminals, and necessary infrastructure. Later, the port can handle international ships and ocean liners, as per the statement. The project is situated on about 6,700 acres of land in Pathein-Ngaputaw Highway. As per the agreement, A Logistics Co., Ltd will operate AIIP project, build the workforce, work design, support logistics to manufacturing and trading sectors, provide ocean freight service to penetrate the local products to the international market, import raw materials for CMP businesses and agriculture sector, and offer comprehensive logistics services.

Upon the completion of the project, it will bring about the market competitiveness, promoting Myanmar’s agro products in the international market, access to high-quality products, local productivity growth and job opportunities. 

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar