While many operators do go out to public tender, other sales are the result of direct negotiations, states Kisslinger whilst De Visscher calculates that around 1520 pneumatic unloaders are sold annually capable of discharge rates of above 200tph, and another 50 whose capacity is a lot less.<\/p>\n
“The most active markets at the moment are Iran, Egypt and China. The Middle East is once again investing in infrastructure because of high oil prices, while other markets are playing catch-up following the deferment of orders post-9\/11, ” observes Kisslinger. De Visscher points out that main purchasers tend to be countries importing grain, while only 10-20% of sales are to stevedores handling other free-flowing materials.<\/p>\n
Both Vigan and Neuero emphasise that customers have contrasting viewpoints when considering whether to give more emphasis to the initial capital cost of a unit or to the through-life cost. Notes de Visscher:<\/p>\n
“European companies are more inclined to base their commercial approach on top quality equipment for long-term reliable use; they therefore tend not to adopt low price-orientated acquisition strategies.”<\/p>\n
According to Kisslinger: “Higher upfront investment can actually result in savings further down the line, although this requires a good understanding of possible developments in terminal capacity and ship sizes. Nevertheless, there is nowadays more upfront discussion regarding the sticker price, with this perhaps assuming greater importance than the whole-life cost.”<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, when comparing pneumatic ship unloaders with rival systems such as grabs or continuous ship unloaders, Kisslinger emphasises that maintenance costs are lower because pneumatic unloaders have fewer moving parts. De Visscher points to spillage rates for grabs of 0.3-0.5% as being an indirect cost that is often overlooked, while few people take into account the additional cost of actually having to clean the pier afterwards. He cites the Chinese port of Lianyungang, where Vigan recently sold two pneumatic unloaders to handle alumina. Last year, using grabs, a 0.2% spillage rate was claimed on a throughput of 3mt, equivalent to a loss of US$2.4m per annum!<\/p>\n
“Although under certain circumstances, maintenance costs for pneumatic equipment can be higher, these can certainly be offset by lower spillage and sometimes by lower labour costs too, ” he insists.<\/p>\n
Kisslinger dismisses suggestions that grabs are necessarily more versatile and therefore a better investment. “Working bulk with grabs is not something that is widely practiced, being restricted to low capacity handling over a short period of time, ” he insists, although points out that pneumatic unloaders perform best when handling free flowing materials, which include alumina and even pet coke.<\/p>\n
KEY ADVANTAGE Kislinger’s argument is that when customers are comparing grabs, pneumatic unloaders, gantry grab unloaders and continuous ship unloaders, they should bear in mind that for capacities up to 600 tph, pneumatic unloaders effectively make more sense in terms of economy of operation. Although they have a higher power consumption compared to mechanical systems, the initial investment cost is less. Furthermore, being lighter, they do not require quay reinforcement prior to use. However, their key advantage is in their ability to completely remove an entire consignment from a ship’s hatch; no competing system can do that.<\/p>\n
De Visscher says that identifying which system has the cheapest initial purchase price and which the more competitive through-life costs is extremely complex. “Each specific project will require a specific analysis concentrating on the comparative purchase cost, the comparative financial costs in each country, labour costs, energy costs and other costs, as well as looking at such factors as the importance of environmental protection and the need to reinforce the quay or not. Unfortunately, there is no simple, easy answer.”<\/p>\n
In terms of guarantees, Neuero and Vigan limit themselves to standard 12-month contracts, pointing out that longer policies would also require the involvement of component suppliers to make them viable.<\/p>\n
JUST HOW LONG SHOULD THEY LAST?<\/p>\n
Dragon Alfa Cement (DAC) operates at the UK port of Sharpness, which has restrictive tidal access, limiting overall ship size to 4,000dwt. Cement consignments imported from Santander in northern Spain are brought ashore using a Van Aalst pneumatic ship unloader capable of discharge rates of 300tph.<\/p>\n
General manager Mike Marler explains that the unloader was first acquired in 2001 on a lease finance agreement provided by the manufacturer to replace an existing machine. Twelve months later, the lease was paid off in its entirety. Quizzed as to whether the through-life cost had been considered when assessing the purchase, Marler said it hadn’t been a major factor. Indeed, with the machine fully depreciated within six years, policy is to undertake full replacement after seven years of front-line operation, with the unloader then sold on in what is a vigorous second-hand market.<\/p>\n
“Our agreement with the port company stipulates we must maintain a minimum discharge rate of 250tph. Therefore, when we needed a replacement unloader, we had to find one capable of achieving that rate at a price we were willing to pay, ” he explains.<\/p>\n
Bids were sought from both Van Aalst and Fuller Kovaco, while Marler concedes that a Siwertell screw unloader had also been considered. However, because the prime consideration at Sharpness is one of getting small vessels in and out as quickly as possible, a large screw unloader would not have been wholly appropriate given its inability to clear the hold without manual help.<\/p>\n
While pneumatics are faster, maintenance costs are higher. Van Aalst, for example, quoted DAC a figure of ? 1.50-2.00 per ton per annum in respect of a possible external maintenance contract for its equipment, but this was rejected on cost grounds. Marler also confirms that, given the known abrasive nature of cement powder, it is an uphill battle to keep pneumatic unloaders fully operational.<\/p>\n
Indeed, the brutal environment in which the unloaders have to work means that they do slow down over time and knowing when to replace them forms a key part in DAC’s overall business plan. Marler explains that there does come a point after which declining discharge speeds become a serious issue and affect vessel turnaround times, which is when it’s time to replace.<\/p>\n
“Slower discharge rates mean having to pay higher stevedoring rates and tie up ship’s time. Given that vessels operate on a twoweek loop, any disruption to such a tight schedule can wreak havoc, ” he emphasises.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Alex Hughes takes a close look at the market and the comparable cost efficiency of these and other systems.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":2388,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"sponsor":[],"class_list":["post-2387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-container-cargo-handling"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/coastlink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/coastlink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/coastlink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/coastlink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/coastlink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2387"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/coastlink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2387\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/coastlink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/coastlink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/coastlink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/coastlink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2387"},{"taxonomy":"sponsor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/coastlink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sponsor?post=2387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}