Study: Bahrain Shipping to see steady recovery beginning in 2010

Dec. 7, 2009 - PRLog -- The major developments within Bahrain's maritime sector over the last quarter have been dominated by the news of the opening of the country's new Khalifa bin Salman Port (KBSP), also known as the Bahrain Gateway, on April 1 2009. The port is part of APM Terminal's Middle East portfolio. The port's launch of operations marks the retirement of Bahrain's Mina Salman port, which will transfer its operations to the KBSP. The KBSP catered for its first vessel on April 15 2009, when APL's 2,500-TEU Dalian pulled into the port on its SRX service. The transfer of operations from Mina Salman to the KBSP is progressing, with Eye For Transport reporting on April 23 2009 that all container operations at Mina Salman had ceased and were now being undertaken at the KBSP. BMI has no information on when other cargo operations at the port of Mina Salman are to finish, but believes it will be before the end of 2009. Based on this assumption, BMI has revised its forecasts for throughput at Bahrain's ports in 2009. Container throughput has now been revised down to 0 for 2009 and for the rest of the mid term, as the port has now been taken out of service. This means all containers will now pass through KBSP and we estimate that the throughput for 2009 will be 259,489 TEUs. This is a decrease on the throughput figure registered by Mina Salman in 2008 (269,331 TEUs) and is a reflection of the impact that BMI expects the economic downturn will have on Bahrain's port sector. We believe that with Mina Salman's throughput being removed, KBSP will handle 427.6mn tonnes in 2009. This is a decrease on the 442mn tonnes Mina Salman catered for in 2008 and the decline can be attributed to the global downturn in trade, which will not leave Bahrain's trade sector unscathed. BMI forecasts that a steady recovery in throughput will begin in 2010, with tonnage volumes passing through the port expected to increase by 2.4% to 437.8mn tonnes. BMI believes average growth between 2011 and 2013 will remain steady at 2.4%, allowing the KBSP to handle an estimated 469,758mn tonnes in 2013. As well as an in-depth analysis of Bahrain's shipping sector, the Q309 Bahrain Shipping Report also offers a global overview of the dry bulk, liquid bulk and container sectors and overviews of the 11 largest shipping lines and their strategies over the quarter to weather the downturn in trade volumes.
         


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