IFPTA 2nd South American Regional Seminar
Live blog from the Seminar held at the WTC Sheraton in Sao Paulo, Brazil
Published: September 28, 2010
Sept. 28, 2010 5:15 pm - The 2nd South American Regional Seminar is a wrap. Twenty-five speakers taking part in nine panels over two days: a comprehensive conference program attempting to cover the challenges and opportunities facing the South American forest products logistics industry.
There is little doubt the forest products industry in South America will continue to grow in the next few years, and probably for the next decade. Will South America, and specifically Brazil, make the needed investment and development to its infrastructure? Problems definitely exist but they can be handled.
“This is a great beginning to the conversation,” says Ana Paula Trilho. “There are still a lot of things to talk about and we can succeed if we do it together as an industry.”
Sept. 28, 2010 4:30 pm - Container carriers may be one of the pillars of globalization, but containers lag behind in pulp and paper transport. The companies represented in the last session of the seminar are out to change this.
Carriers CSAV, Hamburg Süd, Maersk, and CMA-CGM presented an overview of the phenomenal growth of the container industry through the last fifty years and made a compelling case that more forest products will be shipped by container in the near future.
Will container carriers take on more pulp and paper cargo by default or by plan? The answer is most likely a combination of both. Producers and shippers will continue to look for advantages and containers may provide compelling solutions. At the same time, container carriers have no intention of leaving the global pulp and paper trade untouched.
“If you want to be a major player in the world trade, you have to go after the global wood pulp trade,” says Julian Thomas, Director with Hamburg Süd.
Sept. 28, 2010 3:00 pm - Where the discussions yesterday focused on how South America looked to handle the expect increase in production capacity over the next few years, the first panel this afternoon asked how the rest of the world will manage these new volumes.
From the four corners were Alan Bog, Commercial Manager Asia of Westerlund; Trip Bailey, President of Balterm for North America; Martin Verbrugge, President & CEO of Verbrugge Terminals for Northern Europe; and Raffaele Bortolucci, Managing Director of Mar-Ter for Southern Europe.
Europe and the US, it appears, are ready to handle any increase, in part due to expansion plans already in place, as well as existing capacity that has gone unfilled through the recession. China, with its own need for domestic capacity increases, is planning major investments in road and rail and this will probably double up to manage increased imports.
Sept. 28, 2010 12:15 pm - The most lively discussion of the seminar took place on the last session of the morning: The Carriers Roundtable. Speakers from Saga Forest Carriers, Westfal-Larsen Shipping, Greig Star Shipping, and Oldendorff Carriers spared over the advantages of gantry cranes to jib cranes. Although three of the four fleets represented on the panel are primarily OHGC, there is no consensus that one should carry the standard for the industry over the other.
Capacity demands for new vessels in the market were also thrown into the ring. Since the majority of the global demand for future vessel capacity is coming from newly projected Brazilian pulp mills, are new shipbuildings the only answer? Is there a possibility of better utilizing the existing fleets (accounting for replacements) to manage future demand?
Sept. 28, 2010 10:30 am - The IFPTA announced the redesign of its website, IFPTA.org, to start the morning sessions on the second day of the seminar. The new website will feature blogs and discussions, exclusive web features and articles, and an enhanced Members Section.
Offering a perspective on what producers need from suppliers when considering how to make their logistics more sustainable, Louis Kanters, Managing Director of Interrijn Holding, pointed out the benefits of using barges and multi-modal options for feeder services. Most attendees agree waterborne transport is inherently more environmentally sensitive than roads and rail. Would more barge services provide a solution for the Brazilian bottleneck?
Sept. 28, 2010 9:00 am - The IFPTA 2nd South American Regional Seminar is officially SOLD OUT.
Some quick facts & figures: 160 attendees registered for the event, from 16 countries around the world, including China, Belgium, Sweden, Netherlands, Germany, Canada, US, Uruguay, Chile, and of course Brazil. Two hundred tote bags were supplied for the conference, made from recovered paper and fabricated with support from the Grupo Orsa Foundation.
Sept. 27, 2010 7:30 pm - Time for caipirinhas, cervejeas and a shot of jazz at the Brazilian Bar. One last chance to network for the day before heading to dinner with clients and customers.
Twelve speakers took the podium today and touched on nearly every aspect of forest products logistics in South America. The challenges are well known. The solutions are a little more elusive. But there might be a quiet optimism now that the conversation is in front of the industry.
Sept. 27, 2010 4:45 pm - An overview of the Brazilian port and rail infrastructure closes out the first day of sessions. Wilen Manteli, President of ABTP, the Brazilian Assoc of Port Terminals tackled the issues surrounding the ports and Miguel Andrade, Business Manager for Transnordestina Logistica, covered the railroads.
Accounting for the drop in exports during the recession, assuming a 6% - 7% growth year over year, the forecast is > 1 billion tonnes/year of total tonnage through Brazilian ports by 2013. Compare this figure to approx. 506 million tonnes/year in 2001, says Manteli, and the only way to manage this increase is to improve all aspects of the ports: access control, the terminals, the infrastructure, and reducing the bureaucratic bottlenecks.
Rail is a different story. While rail in Brazil has been growing through the past decade, forest products cargo still ranks near the bottom. The goal for Brazil then, says Andrade, and an opportunity for both the rail industry and the forest products logistics industry, is to show how rail can be a viable alternative to the current logistics challenges.
Sept 27, 2010 3:10 pm - After lunch, the paper and wood products panel took the stage. Scott Menzies, President & CEO of The Terminal Corporation and IFPTA Secretary / Treasurer, moderated the speakers from International Paper, Klabin, Celulose Irani, and CMPC - Celulose Riograndense, and challenged the panelists and audience to start offering up solutions, instead of just listing out problems.
Given the demand on the entire logistics infrastructure in South America, where forest products is only one part, one suggestion is take the opportunity to work with other industries to increase investment and development. There is also the strong possibility of riding the wave of infrastructure investment planned for the World Cup 2014 and the Olympics in 2016.
“The need to grow is only part of what we need to do to be successful,” said Henrique Zugman, Commercial Manager with Celulose Irani.
Sept. 27, 2010 12:40 pm - The pulp producers panel wrapped up the first morning of the South American Regional Seminar. Speakers from four producers, CMPC, Cenibra, Stora Enso, and Lwarcel, gave a glimpse of their company’s possible expansion plans and where they see logistics headaches. An interesting mix of viewpoints, CMPC is one of the oldest companies in the industry and Lwarcel is one of the smallest.
Ports, roads and railroads - this is the trifecta of logistics problems facing the South American industry. But a curious comparison between Brazil and Chile came up during the panel. Why are freight rates for pulp higher in Brazil than Chile? It’s not just the ports, roads and rails in Chile, says Raimundo Montt, Director of Logistics & Transport with CMPC. The answer is in maintaining a lower total logistics cost throughout the whole supply chain.
Sept. 27, 2010 10:45 am - Simone Nagai, Corporate Affairs Director with Bracelpa, kicked off the seminar with the first keynote address. Brazil is uniquely positioned to increase its placement of market pulp, due to its focus on investment, development, sustainability, and productivity. The question, asks Nagai, is whether Brazil can take advantage of the current trending toward Brazilian pulp. Will Brazil make the key investments to support the growth?
Looking at the supply and demand side of market pulp is the focus of the second keynote address, presented by Tom Wright, Research Director with Hawkins Wright. Despite the opening of new capacity around the world, including new projects in Asia, the market for South America pulp looks bright, especially with the continued substitution of BEKP for northern hemisphere pulps. This change and the speed of it through the world markets, says Wright, is the greatest potential for short-term volatility.
Sept. 27, 2010 8:45 am - A light breakfast welcomed attendees who wanted to get in some early networking before the sessions begin for the day.
Over 150 attendees have registered to attend the seminar, from 16 countries around the world, including Uruguay, the United States, the Netherlands, and China. Approximately half of the attendees are IFPTA Members. The rest are from various sectors in forest products and logistics, a good sign to the scope and reach of the seminar to the industry.
Sept. 26, 2010 - Attendees, speakers and sponsors have begun arriving at the WTC Sheraton Hotel for the now sold-out IFPTA 2nd South American Regional Seminar. Many of them, IFPTA Members and industry professionals, have not seen each other since PPI TS18 in Liverpool last October. More than once through the day, as attendees check in, the hotel lobby has burst out with the sounds of laughter as friends and colleagues greet each other.
The seminar will open its door at 8:00 am on Monday morning, Sept. 27th. Registration will be held in front of Ballroom 1 in the WTC Sheraton Convention Center. A light continental breakfast with coffee and juice will be served before the welcome remarks and keynote addresses begin at 9:00 am.
