IRELAND\\\


Competitors take a bite out of Transatlantic airfreight market


Heavy competition has made inbound US-Europe air freight a “dog eat dog” market, according to Michael Sanfey, interim head of cargo at Aer Lingus. Although he is more positive about the westbound market, he says volumes for the first six months of the year were static despite the carrier’s addition this year of services to San Francisco (served five times a week, reducing to four times for the winter) and Toronto (seven times reducing to five). Traditional competition has


come from US carriers, although a lot of their capacity was, and remains, seasonal. It underlines the changing shape of the world airline map, however, that the second and third largest carriers in and out of Ireland are now


Emirates and Etihad. Fresh produce out of California,


including onions, garlic and fruit, represents big business but Sanfey says fish has become a volatile spot market. “Shippers will accept a convoluted route to market,” he comments. Aer Lingus retains an interline


agreement with Etihad for the time being, even though the Abu Dhabi carrier has added San Francisco and Dallas Fort Worth to a schedule that already included Chicago, Boston and New York. In July, Aer Lingus Cargo was


awarded the Good Distribution Practice (GDP)


supply chain service providers to the pharmaceutical, medical device and diagnostics manufacturing sectors.


Pace of growth slows at Belfast


The Northern Irish economy is not performing quite as strongly as the Republic, says Joe O’Neill, commercial director for Belfast Harbour. This, plus the end of construction activity at the West of Duddon Sands offshore wind farm, for which the port built an assembly facility, will result in growth of only 4 to 5% this year, down from the recent double-digit increases. Exports of agricultural produce


and light-medium machinery, mainly generators and quarry handling equipment, continue to be healthy. The planning application


submitted last year to reclaim 25 hectares of land from Belfast Lough has already been approved, a surprising turn of speed given the length of time it can take for the authorities to consider such proposals both in the mainland UK and in Southern Ireland. “Nevertheless, we don’t ride


roughshod over the planning process,” O’Neill explains.”Due diligence and environmental impact assessments were done in advance and we spoke to all the stakeholders. We don’t own the seabed, so we’ve got to discuss the next stage with the Crown Estate Commissioners. If we can agree


favourable terms there, and our negotiations with mussel farmers in the area are successful, we could begin reclamation work next year.” The quick decision-making


process was one of the reasons why Dong invested in the wind farm project, he says. The company planned additional projects in the Irish Sea but cancelled the massive Celtic Array scheme, in which it was a development partner with Centrica, supposedly because of unfavourable seabed conditions. Turbines for this project would again have been assembled in Belfast port. O’Neill believes a number of


recent announcements of inward investment in Northern Ireland could eventually help reduce the jobless total. The port has around 30ha of land in separate parcels available on the eastern, County Down side of the harbour for construction of logistics facilities. While prospective tenants are


beginning to make enquiries, however, he remains cautious about short-term prospects. “The number of retail sites that remain unoccupied across the Province suggests that growth is still export led and consumers are not yet confident enough to increase their spending,” he says.


“passport” for


Container movements through Cork are up 10% so far this year. “Things are looking pretty good,” says commercial manager Michael McCarthy. Bulk movements are down


thanks to good summer weather which reduced the need for animal feed, but he expects


Issue 7 2014 - Freight Business Journal


21 Cows help liſt Cork lo lo traffic


the removal of dairy quotas next March to stimulate bulk movements, box volumes and ro-ro traffic to the UK. Consultants advising the Irish


government have forecast a 50% increase in exports of dairy products by 2020, with most of the growth expected to come in


the first two years. “There’s a lot of positioning


going on by manufacturers including Glanbia, Danone and Dairy Gold, which is building a new plant in north Cork. Farmers are on the start line ready to go,” Capt McCarthy says. He foresees the only potential dampener on


demand as geopolitical factors such as Russia’s ban on imports of EU food. Following a protracted


public debate about Cork’s infrastructure development, the port expects a formal decision on its revised planning proposals towards the end of October.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40