We are ready to handle the coal rush

Transcription

1 Even before the Krishnapatnam port was formally inaugurated sometime in 2008, it held out huge promise for the port logistics sector of the country. The port, with a planned capacity of up to 200 million tons per annum (mtpa), was easily billed to be the largest port in India. A few record breaking performances later, there was a sudden and huge challenge when the government banned iron ore export. And then again, the Reliance UMPP faced uncertainty, putting Krishnapatnam s growth plans in sudden danger. However, just when things had begun to look really bleak, Krishnapatnam did a turnaround stuck to its phased investment and expansion plans and most importantly, turned its iron ore terminal into a container terminal. But what is more important from the viewpoint of the coal industry, is that it has already braced up for the impending coal rush, with arrangements complete with handling capacity, high draft and environmental emission control. From coal, it is planning for more novelties, developing a car export terminal being its latest addition. In a free-wheeling conversation with Coal Insights, the CEO of the Krishnapatnam Port, and director of Krishnapatnam Rail Co Ltd, Anil Yendluri, talks about the surge in coal imports, expansions, investments, growth plans and also the challenges. We are ready to handle the coal rush Rakesh Dubey 6 Coal Insights, November 2012

2 Excerpts: Let us start with the obvious. How prepared is your port to handle the surge in India s coal imports? From the very time that our project kickstarted it was known that coal import into India will increase several times. With power generation needs going up, domestic coal production will fall short, and imports will rise. We also understood that an importer of coal needs bigger sized vessels and good draft. So even before the rush came, we dredged our port to increase our draft to 18.5 metres. What this means is that before the real need came, we were already ready with 18.5 metres channels. Our railway line is also ready. Today the highest number of rakes that we have handled is 15, but once the doubling happens by March 2013, we can handle rakes a day. We are thus ready with our capacity and connectivity to handle more coal in the coming days. And it s not only about coal, we are also mechanising our fertilizer handling facility. We are ready to handle 4-5 million tons of fertilizer; as for edible oil we will be ready to handle about 2-3 million tons. Our rake handling capacity can go up to 60 rakes per day with two lanes. In fact, we will be comfortably cruising to that level. We can therefore reasonably claim that we had anticipated the trajectory and growing needs of the customers and growing needs of the nation. We have keenly observed which power plants are going down, which plants are moving up. We have also watched which steel plants are coming up in various places. For instance, the steel plant of JSW started with 6 million tons per annum (mtpa) capacity, but is now a 10-mtpa plant and they are planning to increase it further to 16 mtpa. This implies a substantial increase in their coking coal requirement, almost all of which would be imported, and also increased movement of iron ore. To make 1 million tons (mt) of steel, we have to move 4 mt of raw material, which includes steam coal, coking coal, iron ore, dolomite, limestone and other raw materials. Taken everything together there will be around 42 berths and that is the master plan. Advantage Krishnapatnam All-weather port operating 365 days a year Vast protected waterfront of 12.5 Km, to develop 42 berths of m dredged depth Deep draft of 18 m capable of handling Capesize vessels up to 180,000 DWT Approach channel of 6.5 NM with one of the largest Turning Circles (500 m diameter) to ensure safe maneuvering of vessels Robust and dedicated connectivity to hinterland through national highways and national railways Planned capacity up to 200 mtpa, making it the largest port in India State-of-the-art mechanical cargo handling equipment, capable of handling bulk cargo at the rate of over 100,000 tons per day Fastest turnaround time High load/discharge rates No waiting time No demurrage Availability of extensive yards and large godowns for transit storage Customized solutions based on the requirements of the customers They have to be transported from the port as so much of imported component is involved. We calculated all that and then planned our capacity. The overall growth of our cargo during the last 4-5 years has been a little less than what we had anticipated, but we are on track and geared up for the growth trajectory. Some hiccups and operational risks, as we face on occasions, are only too normal in our kind of business. Krishnapatnam port came up with a lot of promises. How do you describe your performance so far? What is your revenue and growth in the current fiscal? As of , our revenue was `700 crore. Our net profit in was around `70 crore. Total cargo handled during the year was around 15.4 mt and the number of ships handled was 428. This year ( ), till the end of this month (November), we are close to 13.8 mt of cargo handling. We expect around 30 percent growth in cargo handling as well as revenues this year. This is our expectations; the actuals can only be confirmed in March You talked about some hiccups and risks. What are the risks facing your port business? How are you positioned vis-à-vis other major ports in the country? Every industry has its own risks and rewards. Ports too have their unique features i.e. changing prospects of cargo profile. For example, Chennai port has witnessed its bulk cargo moving out because of the High Court order; so they have aggressive plans to increase container terminal. Each port is different as each of them has different risks and investments. We cannot equate any two models because the cargo is different, cargo handling is different, cost is different, structure of cargo handling is different and the nature of investment is also different. In some ports, very little dredging is required to increase the draft, while some other ports may require huge dredging. In some ports you require huge maintenance, yet in some other ports you require huge railway line or roadways to establish connectivity. So you cannot have one set of investment When iron ore handling stopped, we immediately changed to a container terminal. We cannot remain stuck. The idea is to rise to the occasion in any situation. pattern or one set of revenue pattern for all the ports. You have to take into account the risks as well as the investment and the cargo profile and the nature of cargo. For example, if you are handling fertilizer, your cost is almost percent of the revenue because a lot of labour component is involved here in loading and unloading. Despite whatever mechanisation we do, ultimately it has to be unloaded or loaded on the back of labourers. Similarly, if you are getting wheat, unloading wheat bags has to be done manually; the machine cannot do it. In 8 Coal Insights, November 2012

3 Western countries, they do not have labour, so they do pelletisation. If it is pelletised cargo, you can do mechanisation, but if it is unpelletised cargo, the human aspect has to be there and wherever there is human involvement, the cost will shoot up. We have to take these things into account while fixing the revenues. Normally the government and the developer sit and decide the revenue based on cargo that they have or the potential cargo that they can have. So I don t think there can be a uniform norm for fixing revenue and investment. Phase III investments will depend on requirement. The requirement may change the entire investment profile. What is the ownership structure of the port? The port is owned by the Andhra Pradesh government and the Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd (KPCL) is only the operating company. The KPCL is promoted by the Hyderabad-based CVR Group. Lately, 3i has picked up 8 percent stake in the port after making an investment of around $161 million. The remaining 92 percent is owned by CVR Group. And the investment of 3i is only in the operating company. What is your arrangement with the Andhra Pradesh government and how much revenue do you share with them? For the first 30 years, we will pay 2.7 percent of the revenue. For the next 10 years, we will pay 5.4 percent of the revenue and for the next 10 years we will pay 10.8 percent of the revenue. For the entire span, we will share the revenue irrespective of whether we earn profit or not. As we grow, this part will also grow. We also have a single window system, which means we offer end-to-end port services, so the government has no role to play here and experience says this results in better revenue. As far as investment is concerned, the investment of the Andhra Pradesh government, apart from land, is nil. Even in land, we buy the land, give it to the government and then take it back on lease and adjust that in the revenues. So the upfront cost of the government is only the connectivity. They have to give connectivity, not in railway, but only for road. What has been your investment so far? What is your capex plan going forward? We have invested a total of around `4,000 crore so far and by the end of completion of the second phase of expansion, we would have invested around Rs 5,400-6,000 crore. Actually, the investments keep on changing as we keep on changing the pattern of port operations. For example, when we started there was iron ore, so we built iron ore berth to feed the needs of the iron ore sector. Now that iron ore handling is not there we cannot afford to remain stuck. So immediately we changed our plan to container terminal and we bought the equipment needed for that. We are open to catering to the current need of the day. For example, agricultural exports are increasing and if tomorrow there is a requirement for that, we need to prepare ourselves accordingly. It is possible to survive only if we change ourselves to suit the customers needs. Coal unloading at Krishnapatnam 10 Coal Insights, November 2012

4 When iron ore handling stopped, we immediately changed to a container terminal. We cannot remain stuck. The idea is to rise to the occasion in any situation For example, once we realised that doubling of railway track is very important with increased movement of cargo, we got all the permissions and completed the railway track doubling. The idea is to rise to the occasion in any situation. What about your next phases of expansion? We had started our expansion work in the second phase after commissioning the first phase in June The second phase of expansion is likely to be completed by January-February Post completion of the second phase of expansion, we will be in a position to handle up to 50 mt of cargo annually. The number of berths will be increased to around 11. However, the cargo handling does not always depend on the number of berths, because the same berth can give you 6 mt or 4 mt or 2 mt of cargo. We have also been setting up a worldclass, all-weather container terminal. This terminal is built in two phases. The first phase was commissioned in September 2011 with a capacity of 1.2 million TEUs. The second phase will have a capacity of 4.8 million TEUs. Phase III expansion will involve construction of more berths for bulk cargo. With some more power plants and Ultra Mega Power Plants (UMPPs) coming up, they may need dedicated terminals and container terminal of second phase capacity may be expanded. Actually, the plan changes with the need of the customers. If tomorrow someone wants to set up a refinery, we may have to put up facilities to cater to his needs; or if somebody wants an LNG terminal, we will need to put up an LNG terminal. We must have a proper understanding of the needs of customers and then go for it. What will be the investments for Phase III expansion and the number of berths after completion? Phase III investments will depend on requirement. The requirement may change the entire investment profile. We have a great strength in the form of our flagship company NEC. They are our builder, our EPC contractor, and have all the wherewithal operation, machinery, trained manpower, and so it gives us a lot of comfort. When we made our original plan for berths, we had planned for 22 metres draft, because we were looking at a future scenario. For that depth, we had to just dredge. However, as soon as berth numbers 1 and 2 were ready for handling iron ore, there was a ban on iron ore export and the entire scenario changed. However, we did not waste any Krishnapatnam port emerging coal hub of India Coal requirement for the power plants Name of power plant Actual capacity (MW) PSA signed capacity (MW) Investment (approx.) Status of PSA Coal qty (in mt) Qty required by (in mt) Beyond 2016 North side Power Plants APGENCO Signed Thermal Power Tech Signed NCC Power Draft sent South side power plants Simhapuri Energy Signed Meenakshi Energy Signed Krishnapatnam Power Draft sent Kineta Power Draft sent Total Coal requirement for steel plants* Name of plants Capacity (in mt) Coal requirement (in mt) JSW Steel Current capacity 10 mt Capacity enhancement 6 mt Requirement 20 mt Capacity enhancement 8 mt Posco 6 4 ArcelorMittal 6 4 NMDC 3 2 *Note: In addition 38 mtpa of coal is required for steel plants in the hinterland sourcing coal from Australia, Indonesia and Mozambique. 12 Coal Insights, November 2012

5 time and turned it into a container terminal and thus a container yard was prepared. So there was nothing like a fixed plan the only thing is that it was to come at the end of Phase III; instead, it has come at the end of Phase II. We have literally converted our iron ore terminal into a container terminal. Earlier, we were using Berth no. 6, 5, 4 (and they come like that). We started construction from Berth no. 6 and berth no. 3 was to be used for iron ore; but when that did not happen, we started using it for coal and converted berth nos. 1 and 2 into container terminals. After Phase III, there will be a Phase IV also. Taken everything together there will be around 42 berths and that is the master plan. Right now we have 10 berths and one more is coming up so we will have 11 berths by end of Phase II. We have not defined Phase III requirement, but once we define that we may bring in some new commodities to handle. Unless we complete Phase II we cannot go into Phase III. Is your plan to set up container terminal an effort to compete with the Chennai port? Why should I compete? I should complement and supplement those initiatives of Chennai port. Ultimately it is the customer who uses the port and he has to see who gives the best service. As a port, I cannot decide what I will handle. I will handle whatever is imported or exported by the country. If you go to the market you will see that there are so many people offering so many products and services, but you choose the one which is the best in terms of quality and the cost; so the port users now have more options. Are you planning an IPO? I think I cannot answer this. This can be answered only by my Chairman and the MD. Your port has witnessed two big setbacks in its initial days the ban on iron ore exports and deferment of Krishnapatnam UMPP by 180 Km North of Chennai Located in Nellore (district HQ), on National Highway 5 (Chennai- Kolkatta) 26 Km from Venkatachalam, the nearest rail head on the Chennai Kolkata main line Vast hinterland covering Southern Andhra Pradesh, Districts of Rayalseema, North Tamil Nadu and Eastern Karnataka Being on Eastern Coast supports LOOK EAST Exim Trade Policy N Latitude, E Longitudes Reliance Power. How did you cope with this? I did not take them as setbacks. I would only say this is a change in the profile of cargo which India exports or imports and not a setback for the port. As a port, I cannot decide what I will handle. I will handle whatever is imported or exported by the country. That said, I admit we started off as an iron ore port. We had handled around 8.2 mt of cargo during the first year of our operations i.e. during the six months of after we became operational in June Of this, around 7.7 mt was iron ore, and hardly around 0.5 mt was coal cargo. In the second year ( ), we had handled a total cargo of 16.1 mt of which 10.5 mt was iron ore, 1.0 mt was fertilizer and around 2.0 mt was coal. In the third year ( ), midway through, iron ore export was banned, but in that year we handled a total cargo of 15.9 mt of which 5.0 mt was iron ore, 7.0 mt was coal and 2.15 mt was fertilizer. In the fourth year ( ), our iron ore handling fell to zero, but coal handling rose to 11.3 mt, 2.3 mt was fertilizer and close to 1.0 mt was granite. So during these four years, you will see how cargo profile changed and how we have managed to change ourselves. This year ( ), again, there is zero ore export. But we have handled close to 13.8 mt of cargo, till close to the end of November. The cargo profile includes coal, fertilizer and edible oil (around 1 mt), then granite, agri commodity it s a mix of it all. In coal itself, we may touch mt this year ( ). Has the iron ore ban not really affected your growth plans? Well, it has affected us to a certain extent, but we were always ready to change our profile and thus overall growth was not affected much. What about the Krishnapatnam UMPP? Will it affect the port s growth projections? If it is not coming, we have to compensate from somewhere else. Other power plants are coming up. The country s need for power plants is growing anyway; so generation capacity will come in one form or the other. As it stands now, it is because of policy indecisions that a lot of projects are running behind schedule; the timelines of some power plants have also been extended. Not only UMPP, which you said had been unduly prolonged, other power plants also have slowed down. But then once they come up, there will be a spurt in activity. Quality, efficiency and cost competitiveness are the USPs of Krishnapatnam port. At the same time, even without that UMPP, there are adequate number of power plants with expansion plans to compensate for the loss of cargo, if any. In fact, the remaining seven power plants that have been planned in our vicinity will together add something around 15,000 MW. Along with these, we will try to serve the hinterland where lots of power plants are coming up. You shouldn t see Krishnapatnam port as a port of Andhra Pradesh only. It is actually a port catering to the south eastern part of India close to Chennai (Tamil Nadu), close to Karnataka, of course in 14 Coal Insights, November 2012

6 Andhra Pradesh, and it is close to some parts of Maharashtra as well. We are closer to both Chandrapur and Khaparkheda power plants in that state (Maharashtra). Both of these plants can come here for their cargo movement. In Andhra Pradesh, all the power plants are in close proximity to us Rayalseema, Vijayawada. In Karnataka, Raichur power plant is closer to us. We cater to them and their needs are increasing. Similarly, a lot of steel plants are coming up in the hinterland. One reason for this could be promotion of steel in the country and the second is the domestic availability of iron ore. Many companies are setting up steel plants and so they require coal coking as well as non-coking coal they require iron ore and their requirements are huge. For them, it is better to send material by ports. Doesn t that mean you are targeting to divert cargo from other ports? We are capturing the growth of the nation. Because of us, someone somewhere may lose something, but there could also be others who may actually gain. Take the case of East Coast Railway. Today, we are the biggest customer of this Railway. After Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL), we are the biggest contributor to their revenue. If you take Vijaywada division, under which we work, 45 percent of its revenue is from Krishnapatnam port. Vijaywada division (starting from Vizag till Guruvayur) had announced their first half results a few days back and revealed this figure of 45 percent. There are lots of cement But of course, coal is expected to continue to be a major cargo for us in years to come. plants and power plants in this region, but still 45 percent of their revenue came from this port. Now, this revenue was not there earlier. From zero it may touch close to `1,000 crore for the Railways. Also, for customs and service tax, revenue of around `1,000 crore might have been generated due to this port. What is your land issue with APGENCO? There is no issue as such. The only problem is with governmental procedure, and unless that is cleared, I cannot lay my conveyor belts. However, I am hopeful that by March 2013, the clearances would come. APGENCO is working hard on getting clearances because they require the conveyors more than anybody else for transportation of coal from our port to their power plant. Please tell us about your rail venture. We have formed a SPV, Krishnapatnam Rail Co Ltd, where Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd has got 33 percent stake, Andhra Pradesh government has got 33 percent and we have got the balance shareholding. Again, it is part of concessional agreement, depending on the type of risk profile. It need not be uniform. The Railways have only a particular type of privatisation. They take funding from funding agencies. In this SPV, all the partners will share the cargo handled. Once we get our money back and the loan is repaid, that will become the railway property. Please elaborate on your container service. It was earlier thought of as an import terminal, but later the plan changed. Actually, Andhra Pradesh has a lot of export cargo. Although we started off with import cargo, now with the logistics and connection issues resolved, we are getting export cargo as well. In the first year, we were only handling MERSK service. In the second year we slowly started BPL service, which earlier had fortnight calls, but now has got good number of calls and then MSC has come. Now they are supporting imports also and we are talking with other liners and I hope they will come. Earlier, they were making only ad hoc calls, but now they are making firm calls. MSC is currently doing Colombo-Chennai and Krishnapatnam because their hub is Colombo. So they take their boxes to Colombo and from there to other places. Now they are talking to their other customers as well and it is picking up. Krishnapatnam s connectivity Road Dedicated 4 lane road (26 Km) from port to NH5 is operational To be upgraded to 6-lane road in the future (Land acquisition is completed) Dedicated Over Dimension Cargo (ODC) road around the port for handling Project Cargo Air Nearest domestic airport : Tirupati (120 Km) Nearest International Airport : Chennai (180 Km) Port owned Helipads Rail Land between Road and rail line is already acquired for future expansion Currently doubling of existing railway line is under progress 16 Coal Insights, November 2012

7 What is the USP of Krishnapatnam Port? It is quality, efficiency and cost competitiveness. Quality, efficiency and cost competitiveness are the USPs of Krishnapatnam port Our total cost of handling is much lower and we had to do this to in order to attract customers. If you have multiple operations, your operation cost increases and if cost of operations increases your total cost goes up. So we have had to work backwards. For us every cargo is different, every operation is different. Suppose I charge less, but there is heavy demurrage to be paid by customers, the total cost for the customer will move up. Now, suppose there is no demurrage, but there is huge delay and cost involved in taking the cargo from the port to the consumption point or to bring the cargo to port, then again your total cost increases. For a customer using the port s services, it is important that the cargo is discharged and taken out of the port fast and delivered Performance highlights Financial year Cargo in mt Vessels More than 100 Panamax/Cape size vessels handled in and Handled 391 Rakes during the month of Oct 2012 on an average of 13 rakes per day Highest cargo handled thru rail in a month is 1.05 mt in Dec 2011 with 309 rakes Total 7936 Rakes handled inside the Port Siding till July Total 3114 Rakes are handled in to the customer on time. Increased delay in supply chain may lead to increased cost. As for the port costs incurred by a user, some part is upfront cost and some is behind cost. If you look at all the cost and give him a good package he saves on cost. What the port user wants is clarity in terms of cost, efficiency in operations, no unnecessary and undue cost, and then safety of his cargo. We are providing all these, but the parameters keep on changing from port to port and from customer to customer. Overall, it seems that coal will be the mainstay of your cargo for the next five years. We would not necessarily depend on coal as imported LNG may also come up. If imported LNG does come up, we will have the advantage of fleet and just bring it in and build up storage. But of course, coal is expected to continue to be a major cargo for us in years to come. Container handling at the port 18 Coal Insights, November 2012

8 Handling coal is a tricky business because of the damage caused by pollution. What is being done by Krishnapatnam in this respect? We take the issue of environment very seriously. At the same time, we understand that coal is very important for the nation; not only at the present juncture, but 20 years down the line too. The real issue is how we handle it efficiently, without causing concerns to the environment. As of today, we have adhered to almost 90 percent of the norms set for safe handling of coal by the Pollution Control Board (PCB) and the balance 10 percent will be adhered to soon. We have conducted environmental studies all around the coal yard, planted trees and supervised the coal wagon handling stations. We cannot ignore certain things. If they are the nation s need and we ignore them, it will be a disaster. We have 184 acres of reservoir, and we constantly measure the pollution level on the AEQ machine. There are some permitted levels. Everyday round the clock this is being monitored. The minute it shoots up to a definite level, we get alerts and we stop work, control it and then only resume work. We have to do that anyway. There are always some environmental issues in any mega project and we have to work on it. At the end of day, for example, the power plants do have some issues, but we cannot say that we will only use hydro or solar or wind power. They are important, of course, but their capacity to feed the nation s requirement is very limited, may be percent or maximum 40 percent; but what about the rest? So we have to understand environmental concerns, industrial concerns and the nation s concerns. We have the facility to know what is the dust level or noise at any point in time and then act accordingly. Very recently I suddenly got a report that pollution level has shot up. On enquiry it was found that these days it is very cold and the workers had put up a bonfire to make themselves confortable, but that had immediately alerted the AEQ machine. The wind pattern in Krishnapatnam is from south to north-west. So we have kept our grain terminal at the south-west corner Productivity benchmarks MV Cohiba: 122,247 tons coal discharge on Aug 7, 2012 All India Records Coal discharge 122,247 tons/day Fertilizers discharge 35,278 tons/ day Iron Ore loading 60,021 tons/ day MV Trident Protector: 35,278 tons urea discharge on Jan 7, 2011 Other Records Edible Oil discharge tons/ HR Granite loading 8, tons/ day Raw Sugar discharge 15,614 tons/day Double Banking of MV Titan Glory & MV Da Zi Yun on Feb 4, 2011 Double Banking of vessels for discharging Edible Oil and loading Granite The loading/discharging rates for other commodities are also among the most efficient in India using conventional system and only coal goes from the north-east corner. Similarly, we are moving our agri cargo to our South Port, which is almost 5-6 km away. We will start a car terminal very soon and all that will go to the South Port. So we are continuously innovating. Could you please elaborate on the car terminal? Car export from this port will start any time now. The industry needs a key terminal and we will operate from South Terminal that will handle car exports. Many OEMs from Chennai and Bangalore have come and visited and they are enquiring. We are expecting to start the car terminal from the first quarter of The project proposal is ready. Now it is the question of making the yard and taking a look into the last minute details as per the requirement of customers. In fact, some cars move in containers also. It all depends on their needs. There are many people in Chennai and Bangalore such as Renault-Nissan who are thinking of exporting in a big way. Toyota is planning too, and so is Honda. Actually, India is emerging as a global sourcing hub for these automotive giants. From the OEMs point of view, I suppose they would look at the advantage of moving their materials to Krishnapatnam vis-a-vis other Indian ports. If you compare the distance between Sriperumbudur and Chennai vis-a-vis Sriperumbudur and Krishnapatnam, obviously you will find the time is less for Krishnapatnam and this route will save costs. Now consider this. Getting the material to Chennai port will take time because of port congestion. Anybody getting into Chennai port will have to use trucks and there will be traffic within the city. Besides, all companies are currently exploring new opportunities and options because they cannot really depend on one port. We on our part are talking to everybody, all car exporters, and will provide whatever facility they need. I am expecting to start the car handling facility from the first quarter of , but cannot say anything on volumes right now. 20 Coal Insights, November 2012