Factbox: Baltimore port: What impact will bridge collapse have on shipping?

Volvo Car AB

26/03/2024 17:11

(Updates with no impact on Cove Point operations in paragraph
34)
       LONDON, March 26 (Reuters) - A major bridge collapsed in
the U.S. port of Baltimore in the early hours of Tuesday after
being struck by a container ship, plunging cars into the river
below.
    Traffic was suspended at the port until further notice,
Maryland transportation authorities said.
     
    PORT FEATURES
    It is the deepest harbor in Maryland's Chesapeake Bay,
closer to the Midwest than other East Coast ports, with five
public and 12 private terminals, according to Maryland
government website.
    It is one of the smallest container ports on the
Northeastern seaboard, handling 265,000 containers in the fourth
quarter of last year, according to container shipping expert
Lars Jensen. 
    The Port of New York and New Jersey handled around 2 million
containers in that same period, and Norfolk Port in Virginia
handled 850,000, so the flow of containers to Baltimore can
likely be redistributed to bigger ports, Jensen said.
 
    CURRENT STATUS OF CARGO SHIPS INSIDE PORT
    More than 40 ships remained inside Baltimore port, including
small cargo ships, tug boats and pleasure craft, data from ship
tracking and maritime analytics provider MarineTraffic shows. 
    At least 30 other ships had signaled their destination was
Baltimore, the data showed.
     
    IMPORTS
    It is the busiest U.S. port for car shipments, handling more
than 750,000 vehicles in 2023, according to data from the
Maryland Port Administration.
    The port handles imports and exports for major automakers
including Nissan  7201.T , Toyota  7203.T , General Motors
 GM.N , Volvo Car  VOLCARb.ST , Jaguar Land Rover  TAMOJL.UL 
and Volkswagen  VOWG_p.DE , including luxury models for Audi,
Lamborghini and Bentley.
    It is also the largest U.S. port by volume for handling farm
and construction machinery, as well as agricultural products.
    Imports of agricultural products totaled 3 million tonnes
last year, including 1.2 million of sugar and salt, as well as
gypsum, fertilisers and forest products, according to Ishan
Bhanu, lead agricultural commodities analyst at Kpler.
    U.S. sugar company ASR Group, which operates a refinery near
the center of Baltimore, said it does not expect short-term
impacts to its operations.
    Other top imports were paper/paperboard and
plywood/veneer/particle board, the Maryland authority website
shows.
        
    EXPORTS
    The Curtis Bay Piers coal terminal is around 3 miles from
the highway which ran over the bridge. 
    During the first nine months of 2023, Baltimore was the
second-biggest port for U.S. coal exports, behind Norfolk,
Virginia, according to the latest data from the U.S. Energy
Information Administration (EIA).
    Baltimore exported about 20.3 million short tons of coal, up
from 14.3 million short tons during the same period in 2022.
    About 13.3 million short tons of exports from Baltimore
during the first nine months of 2023 were steam coal and 7.0
million short tons were metallurgical coal
    The Baltimore port also exports smaller amounts of other
metals and minerals.
    Other top export commodities by weight in 2022 were
liquefied natural gas (LNG), waste-paper, ferrous scrap, and
automobiles/light trucks, according to Maryland government data.
    Cove Point liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal, which is
upstream from the bridge, is the nearest LNG terminal. 
    The terminal's operator, U.S. energy firm Berkshire Hathaway
Energy, said operations were not impacted by the collapse of the
bridge, adding it continues to work closely with the U.S. Coast
Guard to ensure that the facility is operating safely.
    ICIS ship tracking data shows Cove Point typically exports
about 500,000 tonnes of LNG per month.
            
    CRUISE SHIPS
    It is also a cruise terminal, with Norwegian  NCLH.N ,
Carnival  CCL.N  and Royal Caribbean  RCL.N , all using the port
for Caribbean, Canadian, and other Atlantic destinations.    
    In 2023, cruises carrying more than 444,000 passengers
departed from the port, the Maryland government website says.
     
    LONDON METAL EXCHANGE WAREHOUSES
    In Baltimore warehouses registered with the London Metal
Exchange, there are 756 metric tons of nickel, 150 tons of tin
and 50 tons of copper, LME data shows.
    
    BUNKER FUEL
    Bunker fuel traders said deliveries to the port of Baltimore
and Annapolis Anchorage are likely to be affected from the
suspension of traffic and ports in Pennsylvania and Virginia
could serve as potential bunkering alternatives.
    This could affect vessel schedules and may lead to an
increase in bunker fuel prices at the alternative ports,
depending on how long the port of Baltimore remains
inaccessible.
     

 (Reporting by Josephine Mason, Nick Carey, Helen Reid, Jonathan
Saul, Nigel Hunt, Marwa Rashad, Scott DiSavino, Shariq Khan and
Eric Onstad;
Compiled by Josephine Mason and Nina Chestney; Editing by Nick
Macfie and Nick Zieminski)
 ((nina.chestney@thomsonreuters.com;
nina.chestney.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))