Hello westpacific, <<The next LTCM - IMO yes and many more including JPM to follow
Good weekend all - and of course to the bagholders>>
Perhaps especially to bagholders who allow others to ride the crest of the waves (gold and China concept, in my portfolio, as opposed to my 1999 gold and DotCom ideas:0)
The paper gold I bought yesterday Message 18155703 is miraculously 'in the money' already due to skimpy HK commission on gold trading.
Also good is my Hutchison, bought here for HK$ 43.6 Message 18113247 is now at HK$ 50, a good return for 12 days holding, and even better, plans are afoot to expand the Panama Canel for bigger ships (cargo and lots of aircraft carriers, no doubt). As the Canel is managed bu Hutchison, surely they will benefit from both the flow of cash during construction, and the pickup in business after completion quote.bloomberg.com
10/25 14:56
Panama Mulls Expanding Canal for Larger Ships as Trade Booms
By Blair Pethel
Washington, Oct. 25 (Bloomberg) -- The Panama Canal may undergo an expansion to allow larger ships and take advantage of increased trade, its administrator said.
The Panamanian government's Panama Canal Authority is making $200 million in improvements to allow longer ships and is considering an increase in lock size to accommodate even larger ones that now dock at the U.S. West Coast, Alberto Aleman said.
``We're making big investments in analyzing the future of the canal, whether we're going to expand into a third set of locks, larger locks, and that's a huge undertaking,'' Aleman said in an interview. ``We're about a year away from making a decision on that one.''
The canal's earning power is limited by its inability to accept many vessels. While traffic rose about 15 percent during a shutdown of U.S. ports this month, Aleman said, most ships couldn't pass. Latin American governments such as Chile are pressing him to move ahead with expansion as trade grows.
The 51-mile waterway opened in 1914 after a decade of construction. The U.S. turned control of the canal to Panama on Dec. 31, 1999, about two decades after the agreement to relinquish control, and the waterway currently accounts for 7 percent of the country's gross domestic product.
``Before the transfer, people didn't think Panama was going to be able to manage the property,'' he said.
``The industry was looking what to do, and they made decisions that said, basically, forget about the canal,'' he said. ``They found their efficiencies somewhere else, like getting into post-Panamax vessels.''
That's a reference to ships that exceed the canal's maximum - - Panamax -- of 965 feet in length by 106 feet in width, with a maximum draft of 39 feet.
Avoiding Longer Routes
Larger vessels coming to the Atlantic coast of the U.S. from Asia have to ship their goods around the southern tip of South America, an additional 7,000 miles, or take the westerly route through the Suez Canal and across the Atlantic.
Ocean-borne U.S. commerce has more than doubled, to $700 billion, over the past 20 years, according to the World Shipping Council.
The authority is dredging a deeper channel across Gatun Lake, installing lights at the locks to facilitate night operations, and weighing straightening some of the curves in the Gaillard Cut, the narrowest portion, to accommodate longer ships.
The $200 million in improvements are coming out of cash flow and will increase the canal's capacity by about 20 percent, allowing it to move as many as 14,000 ships a year across the narrowest point in Central America. Present capacity is about 12,000.
Industry Awaits Details
Christopher L. Koch, president and chief executive officer of the World Shipping Council, which represents most of the world's container shipping companies including A.P. Moeller Group's Maersk Sealand and Neptune Orient Lines Ltd.'s APL Ltd., said industry support would hinge on the cost-benefit ratio of the improvements.
``It's too soon to say without having seen a firm plan,'' he said in an interview.
Enthusiasm is greater in Latin America, Aleman said.
``When I went to see the finance and transportation ministers in Chile, one of their concerns was that they have a free-trade agreement with the European Union and they are looking at a significant increase in trade to and from Chile,'' he said.
Finance Minister Nicolas Eyzaguirre and Public Works Minister Javier Etcheberry stressed that their shipments of copper and other minerals, as well as containerized goods, to Europe are limited by the current size of the canal, he said.
Chile and the EU signed a free-trade agreement in April.
With support from industry and governments, Aleman expects the expansion to proceed.
`Appetite' for Project
He declined to speculate on a cost, saying it would depend on the ultimate design.
He indicated that the canal authority would lean toward bank finance should it get the go-ahead, rather than bond sales. The canal, which generated $588.8 million in revenue in the fiscal year than ended Sept. 30, has no debt, and wouldn't be allowed to sell shares by law.
``There is an appetite for this type of project among many banks and financial institutions,'' he said. ``I think this is a transportation project not only for Panama, but for Latin America and the world. It has raised a lot of interest.'' |
