With economic recovery
Surging
shipping rates hike Thai export costs
By Jon Fernquest
When
the global
economic downturn
hit Asian and Thai exports in late 2008 there was also a sharp decline
in shipping (Read article).This led to many idle vessels and failed shipping companies.
Shipping rates were low last year but now with the global economy once again growing at a speedy clip, rates have shot up again. Demand far outstrips supply.
Today's article discusses what is happening and begins after the vocabulary below.
One interesting little tidbit of information in the article:
"...demand
is high, especially from China where production
costs are much lower making them more able to pay higher rates to
export their products."
Vocabulary:
global economic downturn - when
an economy slows down, the incomes of businesses and workers decreases
and people lose their jobs (unemployment) (See Wikipedia on
recession)
economic recovery - when the economy improves after an economic slowdown, sometimes a very slow process
surge - increase quickly เพิ่มขึ้นอย่างรวดเร็ว
idle - not doing anything, not being used
vessels - ships เรือขนาดใหญ่
idle vessels - ships not going anywhere, not working เรือที่จอดอยู่นิ่ง
failed companies - companies that went went bankrupt, went out of business
growing at a speedy clip - growing quickly
X outstrips Y - X is more than Y
demand outstrips supply - more people demand a good then there are supplies of that good
demand far outstrips supply - demand is much greater than supply
tidbit - a little piece of food or something else
economic recovery - when the economy improves after an economic slowdown, sometimes a very slow process
surge - increase quickly เพิ่มขึ้นอย่างรวดเร็ว
idle - not doing anything, not being used
vessels - ships เรือขนาดใหญ่
idle vessels - ships not going anywhere, not working เรือที่จอดอยู่นิ่ง
failed companies - companies that went went bankrupt, went out of business
growing at a speedy clip - growing quickly
X outstrips Y - X is more than Y
demand outstrips supply - more people demand a good then there are supplies of that good
demand far outstrips supply - demand is much greater than supply
tidbit - a little piece of food or something else
Economics
Surging shipping rates hike export costs
Higher demand, lower capacity the cause8/06/2010
Nanchanok Wongsamuth
Surging shipping rates hike export costs
Exporters are calling for negotiations with shipping firms over skyrocketing time charter rates that are the primary cause of significant increases in the cost of outward bound international shipments, says Paiboon Ponsuwanna, chairman of the Thai National Shippers' Council.
Many shipping companies failed during the recent global economic crisis, which was a major factor in the significant decrease in time charter rates last year, he said.
shipping
- the transport of goods especially on ships
demand - the need and desire to buy goods and services by households and businesses
capacity - the amount of something that can be produced ความสามารถในการ (ผลิต)
capacity - the total amount that can be contained ปริมาณสูงสุดที่จะรับได้
capacity - the greatest amount of work that can be done (or traffic that can be handled) ความสามารถ (ความจุ) ในการจัดการ
negotiations - formal discussion in which people or groups try to reach an agreement การเจรจาต่อรอง (See Wikipedia)
skyrocketing - increasing quickly by a very big amount
chartered vessels - ships that are hired for temporary use (not bought) เรือสินค้าเช่าเหมาลำ
time charter - "the hiring of a vessel for a specific period of time; the owner still manages the vessel but the charterer selects the ports and directs the vessel where to go. The charterer pays for all fuel the vessel consumes, port charges, and a daily 'hire' to the owner of the vessel" (See Wikipedia)
primary - first and most important
significant - large enough to be important or have an effect ที่สำคัญยิ่ง
outward bound - leaving a place
international - ระหว่างประเทศ between countries
global - throughout the world ทั่วโลก
crisis - an urgent, difficult or dangerous situation วิกฤต
factor - a fact or situation which influences the result of something ปัจจัย
demand - the need and desire to buy goods and services by households and businesses
capacity - the amount of something that can be produced ความสามารถในการ (ผลิต)
capacity - the total amount that can be contained ปริมาณสูงสุดที่จะรับได้
capacity - the greatest amount of work that can be done (or traffic that can be handled) ความสามารถ (ความจุ) ในการจัดการ
negotiations - formal discussion in which people or groups try to reach an agreement การเจรจาต่อรอง (See Wikipedia)
skyrocketing - increasing quickly by a very big amount
chartered vessels - ships that are hired for temporary use (not bought) เรือสินค้าเช่าเหมาลำ
time charter - "the hiring of a vessel for a specific period of time; the owner still manages the vessel but the charterer selects the ports and directs the vessel where to go. The charterer pays for all fuel the vessel consumes, port charges, and a daily 'hire' to the owner of the vessel" (See Wikipedia)
primary - first and most important
significant - large enough to be important or have an effect ที่สำคัญยิ่ง
outward bound - leaving a place
international - ระหว่างประเทศ between countries
global - throughout the world ทั่วโลก
crisis - an urgent, difficult or dangerous situation วิกฤต
factor - a fact or situation which influences the result of something ปัจจัย
But exports from Asia to Europe surged in the first quarter of the year due to a rise in orders to replace inventories that had not been replenished during the global crisis of the past two years, said Mr Paiboon.
The surge in export demand has caused rates to rocket due to the reduced shipping capacity. Exports in the second and third quarter should be stable, but the situation is still hard to predict, said Mr Paiboon.
surged
- increased quickly เพิ่มขึ้นอย่างรวดเร็ว
quarter - one or more people who provide help, information or a particular reaction to something but who are not usually named
due to - because of
replace - adding new ones after the old ones are used or taken หาคนมาแทน
replenished - replace what has been used
surge - a sudden increase in something การเพิ่มขึ้นอย่างรวดเร็ว
stable - not changing frequently and not likely to suddenly become worse คงที่, มั่นคง
stable - firmly fixed, not likely to move or change a lot, not likely to fail คงที่ ไม่เปลี่ยนแปลง
predict - to say that an event or action will happen in the future, especially as a result of knowledge or experience คาดการณ์ว่า พยากรณ์จากสถิติว่า
quarter - one or more people who provide help, information or a particular reaction to something but who are not usually named
due to - because of
replace - adding new ones after the old ones are used or taken หาคนมาแทน
replenished - replace what has been used
surge - a sudden increase in something การเพิ่มขึ้นอย่างรวดเร็ว
stable - not changing frequently and not likely to suddenly become worse คงที่, มั่นคง
stable - firmly fixed, not likely to move or change a lot, not likely to fail คงที่ ไม่เปลี่ยนแปลง
predict - to say that an event or action will happen in the future, especially as a result of knowledge or experience คาดการณ์ว่า พยากรณ์จากสถิติว่า
Thailand to Europe rates have almost doubled to US$2,000 to $2,200 per twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) compared with $1,200 at the end of last year.
''This is a significant change because Europe hasn't been able to increase rates in the past 10 years,'' said Mr Paiboon.
Thailand to US rates have increased to $800 to 1,000 per container, compared with $1,300 at the end of last year. Thailand to Japan remain flat at about $510 per container.
In April the council facilitated talks between a group of small and medium-size enterprises and to shipping companies to negotiate prices and to develop better risk management for advanced orders.
equivalent
- the same as เท่าเทียมกันกับ
significant change - big changes (easy to notice)
twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) - "an inexact unit of cargo capacity often used to describe the capacity of container ships and container terminals...based on the volume of a 20-foot long intermodal container, a standard-sized metal box which can be easily transferred between different modes of transportation, such as ships, trains and trucks" (See Wikipedia)
container ships - cargo ships that carry all of their load in truck-size containers (See Wikipedia oncontainer ship and containerization)
container - the truck size containers carried by a container ship
facilitated - assisted; helped
talks - negotiations, formal discussions of problems between different sides in a conflict in order to solve the problem
enterprises - companies
small and medium-size enterprises - SMEs
negotiate - having discussions between people who disagree in order to reach and agreement
risk management - developing plans for reducing the effect of risk on business, reducing the amount of money lost from dangerous situations (See Wikipedia)
advanced orders - when people buy things long before they receive or use those things (so price and availability not yet certain because supply and demand in the future is not yet certain)
risk - danger, how likely or possible it is for a bad event that causes harm and damage ความเสี่ยง
significant change - big changes (easy to notice)
twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) - "an inexact unit of cargo capacity often used to describe the capacity of container ships and container terminals...based on the volume of a 20-foot long intermodal container, a standard-sized metal box which can be easily transferred between different modes of transportation, such as ships, trains and trucks" (See Wikipedia)
container ships - cargo ships that carry all of their load in truck-size containers (See Wikipedia oncontainer ship and containerization)
container - the truck size containers carried by a container ship
facilitated - assisted; helped
talks - negotiations, formal discussions of problems between different sides in a conflict in order to solve the problem
enterprises - companies
small and medium-size enterprises - SMEs
negotiate - having discussions between people who disagree in order to reach and agreement
risk management - developing plans for reducing the effect of risk on business, reducing the amount of money lost from dangerous situations (See Wikipedia)
advanced orders - when people buy things long before they receive or use those things (so price and availability not yet certain because supply and demand in the future is not yet certain)
risk - danger, how likely or possible it is for a bad event that causes harm and damage ความเสี่ยง
The council plans to arrange the talks twice a year, with the next session tabled for the third quarter.
Mr Paiboon said demand is high, especially from China where production costs are much lower making them more able to pay higher rates to export their products.
The strong baht has also negatively impacted on Thailand's export competitiveness. The government should help by preventing the baht from strengthening further, he said.
Mr Paiboon said he is concerned by low traffic at Laem Chabang port, where there used to be a number of direct vessels to the US.
''Now there are not enough vessels,'' he said.
''Vietnam, on the other hand, is in the process of constructing a port. We can't let the Vietnamese get ahead of us in this area.''
concerned
- worried about something มีความกังวล
session - a formal meeting การชุมนุม ประชุม
the next session tabled for - the next meeting scheduled for
competitiveness - how well a business can do compared to other firms (does it have lower price or higher quality?) การแข่งขัน
traffic - the number traveling to a place during a period of time (people, aircraft, ships, trains, cars, trucks, etc.) ความหนาแน่นของจำนวนคน หรือยานพาหนะในช่วงเวลาใดช่วงเวลาหนึ่ง
port - an area of water where ships stop, including the buildings around it ท่าเรือ
Laem Chabang port - port near Bangkok on Eastern Seaboard with facilities for container ships
direct vessels to the US - ships that go straight to the US without stopping at other ports
process - a series of actions that you take in order to achieve a result แนวทางปฏิบัติ, กระบวน, วิธีการ
session - a formal meeting การชุมนุม ประชุม
the next session tabled for - the next meeting scheduled for
competitiveness - how well a business can do compared to other firms (does it have lower price or higher quality?) การแข่งขัน
traffic - the number traveling to a place during a period of time (people, aircraft, ships, trains, cars, trucks, etc.) ความหนาแน่นของจำนวนคน หรือยานพาหนะในช่วงเวลาใดช่วงเวลาหนึ่ง
port - an area of water where ships stop, including the buildings around it ท่าเรือ
Laem Chabang port - port near Bangkok on Eastern Seaboard with facilities for container ships
direct vessels to the US - ships that go straight to the US without stopping at other ports
process - a series of actions that you take in order to achieve a result แนวทางปฏิบัติ, กระบวน, วิธีการ
(Source: Surging shipping rates hike export costs, Higher demand, lower capacity the cause, 8/06/2010, Nanchanok Wongsamuth, link)
