Kinder Morgan to create storage hub with Neste

IN BRIEF

THE NETHERLANDS: Leading marine service supplier Maersk Supply Service and Dutch non-profit engineering environmental organisation The Ocean Cleanup have announced positive results from a joint hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) trial.

The trial involved blending biofuel into the marine gas oil on the Maersk Tender, the statement said.

For the trial, the partners purchased 90M tonnes of HVO biofuel, with a mixing rate of 15% HVO and 85% low sulphur marine gas oil (MGO), Maersk Supply Service said.

The HVO was able to cover two separate sixweek trips, according to the statement, and saved 38.95M tonnes of CO₂.

“For now, it is very much a test, as biofuel is still an expensive alternative to standard marine gas oil. Still, it has given us valuable insight into how this can reduce our emissions further,” Maersk Supply Service managing director for Canada Chris Tibbo said.

The results from the trial could pave the way for similar upgrades to be carried out on more Maersk Supply Service’s T-Class vessels.

Maersk Supply Service, part of the Danish shipping company Maersk, has set a target to reduce the carbon intensity of its fleet by 50% by 2030 and to be carbon neutral by 2050.

Kinder Morgan to create storage hub with Neste

Leading renewable diesel producer Neste announced on 13 September that it would create a US domestic raw material storage and logistics hub with North America energy infrastructure company Kinder Morgan.

The companies would create the hub to support increased production of renewable diesel, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable feedstock for polymers and chemicals.

Upon completion, Kinder Morgan’s Harvey facility in Louisiana would become the primary hub where Neste would store a range of raw materials including the used cooking oil (UCO) it collected from more than 40,000 restaurants across the USA, Neste said.

The Finnish firm refines waste, residues and raw materials into renewable fuels and sustainable feedstock for plastics and other materials.

In the project’s initial stages, Kinder Morgan would modify existing tanks and piping for the segregated storage of a range of raw material across 30 tanks, Neste said. The project – expected to become operational in first quarter 2023 with the possibility of expansion – would also include a new boiler for heating tanks and railcars and infrastructure improvements for rail, truck and marine movements.

Kinder Morgan owns an interest in, or operates, around 133,000km of pipelines which transport natural gas, refined petroleum products, crude oil, condensate, CO2 and other products. Its 144 terminals store and handle various commodities including gasoline, diesel fuel, chemicals, ethanol, metals and petroleum coke.

Canadian Pacific Railway acquires KCS

Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) has agreed to acquire Kansas City Southern (KCS) for US$31bn after lengthy negotiations between three of North America’s largest rail companies, World Grain reported on 15 September.

The merger would create the first US-Mexico-Canada rail network, the report said.

Following the transaction, the combined rail company would expand to 32,186km and would lead to improved efficiency and supply chain integration for grain companies and others, according to a World Grain report on 25 March.

To progress with its deal with CP, KCS first had to terminate its proposed merger

Canadian Pacific’s merger with Kansas City Southern will create the first US-Mexico-Canada rail network

with Canadian National (CN), which would have significant financial implications, World Grain wrote.

KCS would have to pay CN$1.4bn (US$1.1bn), which included a termination fee of US$700M and a US$700M refund of the fee CN had paid for KCS to terminate its deal in May with CP, according to the report.

Higher dry bulk freight rates due to Chinese port congestion

Port congestion in China and higher fuel costs have led to an increase in freight rates for dry bulk commodities, AgriCensus reported on 22 September.

Congestion at Chinese ports remained a key factor affecting global freight markets with large port stocks creating bottlenecks and vessel queues. In addition, the after-effects of Typhoon Chanthu that hit the Chinese coast on 13 September were still affecting logistics at local ports with congestion across all four vessel sectors – Capesize, Panamax, Supramax and Handymax, the report said. Recent outbreaks of COVID-19, with increased quarantine measures, had also caused further delays.

Meanwhile, freight costs had been affected by rising fuel prices, according to AgriCensus. Cargoes crossing the Atlantic from the Americas to Europe rose on 22 September compared to the previous week with Panamax routes from Brazil and the US Gulf to the Netherlands assessed at US$22.37/tonne and US$32.10/tonne respectively, AgriCensus said.

In the Black Sea region, Panamax freight rates for cargoes heading to China increased to US$65.18/tonne while vessels crossing the Mediterranean to North Africa came in at $35.00/tonne.

TRANSPORT NEWS Qube Holdings to buy Newcastle terminal

Australian logistics and infrastructure company Qube Holdings has agreed to acquire Newcastle Agri Terminal (NAT) from existing shareholders CBH, Viterra Australia, Riverina and CTC Terminals.

The agreement, which was due to be finalised on 30 September, would involve Qube paying A$90M (US$65.4M) for NAT, Qube said on 8 September.

“The acquisition of NAT will further strengthen Qube Agri export bulk service, offering growers and traders the ability to now ship from Newcastle,” Qube Holdings managing director Paul Digney said.

Qube offers port, bulk, logistics and property services.

It said the NAT grain export facility, based in Newcastle, New South Wales (NSW), featured some 60,000 tonnes of silo storage, rail receival infrastructure, road discharge facilities and capacity to load up to 2,000 tonnes/hour.

The NAT terminal was positioned to capture export grain from the large northern NSW region, one of the most productive grain producing regions in the world, Qube said.

According to its website, NAT offers grain storage and export solutions for grains, oilseeds and legumes through the Port of Newcastle. Services offered by the terminal include loading bulk export shipments, packing grain into containers, delivering grain to domestic customers, handling imported grain, and fumigation and blending of grain.

Argentina forms new agency to dredge Paraná river

The Argentine government has formed a new agency to manage dredging operations on the Paraná River, World Grain quoted from a Reuters report on 26 August.

“The strengthening of policies on the management of inland waterways is a priority objective of the national executive,” the government said in a decree.

However, farmers and the private sector were sceptical about the decree due to fears that government intervention would make shipping grain less efficient and more costly, according to the report,

“This decree looks like the government does not only want to set up conditions for the tender and the dredging tariff,” Gustavo Idigoras, head of the CIARA-CEC export companies’ chamber, told Reuters. “It looks like an excess of bureaucracy that might mean additional costs for export operations on the river.”

Under the current system, cargo ships paid tolls directly to the private dredging company in charge of keeping the river open, the report said.

The Paraná River, which carries about 80% of Argentina’s grain exports, has recently seen its water level drop significantly due to one of the worst droughts in decades. The river’s water levels in Argentina and Brazil had reached their lowest point in many years, holding back grain exports, Reuters wrote.

Argentina was the world’s top exporter of soyabean meal and the third largest exporter of corn, according to the report.

DRIVING STORAGE FORWARD.

Koole Terminals is a leading and independent storage, processing, and logistics company, enabling business growth through integrated and innovative service offerings for large-volume products. Driving the energy transition forward for a sustainable future by supporting its worldclass customers. With 11 strategically located terminals in Europe and a total volume of 4,100,000 cbm, Koole refl ects the diversity of its customers’ needs. 11 TERMINALS IN EUROPE

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