Hanjin given a lifeline!

Hanjin Shipping has been handed a massive get out of jail free card, courtesy of the South Korean government. The government has stated that they will provide Hanjin with the funding required, in a bid to keep the financially crippled shipping giant afloat.

Seoul has announced it will give Hanjin in excess of $91m, whilst also providing low-interest rates. The news has been welcomed from investors around the world, with shares in the company rising by 20%. Last week, news that the company had filed for bankruptcy sent alarm bells ringing around the world to shipping ports and retailers, unsure whether they will receive payment or merchandise respectively. Therefore shipping ports were refusing the ships permission to dock and causing much of Hanjin’s fleet to be stranded at sea and with the risk of being seized, due to payment failure.

The fact Hanjin’s woes made headlines around the world was hardly surprising, considering the fact they are the seventh biggest shipping line and due to the abysmal financial state of the shipping currently, it was only a matter of time till there was a casualty. To put it in perspective, consecutive years of fierce competition and poor performances from Hanjin saw a staggering $5.4 billion of debt accumulated.
You have to wonder whether the $91m being offered is going to be enough, considering the amount of debt Hanjin has amassed, nevertheless, let’s hope for the time being at least, Hanjin can finally deliver the merchandise that has been stranded at sea.

Panama – The unsung hero of International Trade

The Expanded Panama Canal is a Success

The expanded Panama Canal has proved to date, to be nothing but a success. August 15th,1914 saw the ‘SS Ancon’ pass through Panama Canal, a ship that would be the first of thousands in what is it to be a prosperous 102-year history.

Panama Canal is a 48-mile waterway that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean; it’s often referred to as one of the greatest feats of engineering ever seen. ThePanama Canal is absolutely indispensable to the efficiency of global trade. To put the canals importance into perspective, pre-Panama Canal saw ships from New York to San Francisco having to travel down to the tip of South America and back up again, even though they sit on the same latitudinal lines. The Panama Canal saves a route from New York to San Francisco a staggering 7’782 miles.

However, up until June 26th, 2016, the canal had seen little expansion, meaning as international trade continued to grow throughout history, the capacity of the canal stood still. The newly built lane has doubled the capacity of the Panama Canal by adding a new lane of traffic allowing for a larger number of ships, and increasing the width and depth of the lanes and locks allowing larger ships to pass. Ships over 1 and a half times the size are now passing through, which can carry twice as much cargo.

The Expansion project has seen:

• Built two new sets of locks, one each on the Atlantic and Pacific sides, and excavated new channels to the new locks.

• Widened and deepened existing channels.

• Raised the maximum operating water level of Gatun Lake.

It is estimated that the extension will have cost Panama In the region of $5.25 billion, a significant sum of money. However, it is also predicted that the canal will be financially profitable with the ACP anticipating a 12% internal rate of return. In addition to financial gain, it’s predicted that the canal will be beneficial to employment rates, with the 9 years of construction seeing between 35’000-40’000 people employed, and political bodies also believe the economic rewards of the extension will see more jobs created in a more prosperous economy.

3 MAPS TO MAKE SENSE OF INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING

We often see the ‘Made in China’ label, but rarely understand what that means.

We sat down and simplified International Shipping. Here are the only 3 photos you need to have a basic understanding of how it works.

Manufacturing

Manufacturers produce massive quantities of items to meet domestic and international demand. Once finished, the items are packaged and loaded into containers for shipping.

Courtesy of: Dutakharisma.com

Shipping

Massive cargo ships are loaded by machine with standard-sized containers, before leaving port for their next destination.

Courtesy of: Sciencemag.org

Consuming

Once the items have arrived, they are unloaded and distributed to businesses and eventually sold-on to consumers.

Courtesy of: Bulgariamall.bg

AN ECO-FRIENDLY AND CREATIVE CONCEPT: STARBUCKS SHIPPING CONTAINER STORES

Who ever thought shipping container can turn into a cool coffee shop? Starbucks did it! Starbucks succeed to get attention with their innovative concept of drive-thru shipping container stores.

On December 13, 2011, the first Starbucks shipping container was built in Tukwila, Washington. This concept came out from Puget Sound, the busiest shipping port in Washington. When Starbucks design team were thinking about an eco-friendly store idea, they looked at the Puget Sound and found an idea to reuse shipping containers as a sustainable store.

Starbucks uses shipping container to deliver coffee, tea, and other materials all across the world, so it seems fitting that they decided to use shipping containers to build their stores. By using unused shipping containers, Starbucks help to reduce their waste because after 20-25 years of lifespan, it will become scrap. This new concept turns out to be the breakthrough for Starbucks popularity. Many customers give very good response about this Starbucks’ new store. It’s not only an innovative idea, but also environmental and economical friendly.

However, it’s a little hard for Starbucks to arrange the equipments in the 40-foot shipping container stores because it is not a big space and also they can’t modify the dimensions. They need to figure it out exactly where all the equipment needs to go, so the six employees in there don’t end up bumping into one another.

Starbuck’s design team using this shipping container stores as their eco-friendly store ideas. They expect to achieve LEED certification. This shipping container stores have met the LEED standards: water efficient irrigation, energy performance optimization, use of green power, construction waste management, recycled content, low-emitting materials, and overall innovation and design.

Today, Starbucks have built a few of shipping container stores all over US:

Tukwila, Washington, the first Starbucks’ shipping container store.
Denver, Colorado
Portland, Oregon
Salt Lake City, Utah, opened September 2014
Chicago
Ballard, Seattle, opened February 2, 2014

It’s not only Starbucks that used shipping containers to build their stores. There is also a few unique shipping container restaurants all over the world:

Smoky Park Supper Club, Asheville, North Carolina, USA

Till the Cows Come Home, Berlin, Germany

Ska Brewing’s World Headquarters & Tasting Room, Durango, Colorado, USA

Shipping containers are flexible for different uses. Look at Starbucks that succeed make a cool shipping container coffee shop. Some of unique restaurants also made from shipping container. These Starbucks stores and a few of shipping container restaurants are only a few example of the innovative idea of shipping containers.

Based in China, Shanghai Metal Corporation is one of the leading businesses in the manufacturing of metalworking industry. We can produce and export shipping containers and other metal products and service. We prioritize the efficient of manufacturing and environmental sustainability.

Want to know more about our company? Please visit our website and you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Feel free to download our new mobile application by scanning the QR code below.

Source: Containerhomeplans, Inhabitat, Starbucksmelody

SMC at the 2015 Intermodal Asia Exhibition

On Tuesday 24 SMC Shanghai Metal Corporation attended the second Intermodal Asia Exhibition 2015 held in Shanghai. Wondering what the exhibition is about? Launched in Europe, the Intermodal Asia Exhibition is a new platform for Asia shipping and container industry. It is a great chance for professionals and companies to come together and exchange ideas and industries about the shipping and container market. As Mr Mai Bo Liang, Chairman of the CCIA and President of CIMC, stated, “it is the perfect opportunity for professionals fro throughout the world to come together to network, do business and encourage the healthy and sustainable development of modern intermodal transport.”

Within a globalized world, where interactions and business between countries is growing exponentially, the three-day exhibition was the event that SMC Shanghai Metal Corporation could not miss. As you may know, China is rapidly growing in the market becoming the leading country in the business of containers and shipping. This is also do to the great emphasis that the government is giving to this market. New projects, such as “The New Silk Road Economic Region” and “21 Century Maritime Silk Road” will make China becoming the core of world commerce.

Untitled design (8) — SMC Sales Assistant checking the conferences program

Not only the 2015 Intermodal Asia Exhibition was for suppliers the chance to promote their products and activities, but also a chance to know more about this evolving market. Three conference theaters (The Strategy Theater, The Innovation Theater and the brand new Technology Theater) offered the visitors the opportunity to attend numerous presentations and debates gave by industry leaders such as European Shippers’ Council Acting Secretary General Joost Sitskoorn who discussed about the “Wider Economic Perspective and Intermodal Market Update in the Spotlight.”

Untitled design (6) — Conference at the Strategy Theater

Untitled design (10) — SMC International Interns

Untitled design (13) — SMC International Interns

Untitled design — SMC International Interns

Untitled design (2) — SMC Containers Department Manager and Sales Assistant

Remember! Shanghai Metal Corporation provides you with a great selection of containers. Visit our website and do not hesitate to contact us.

Scan the QR code below and stay informed about our latest updates:

Stefano// SMC Editor

The History of Containers – When It All Began

Today, Shanghai Metal Corporation brings you back in time. Are you ready to take-off? Please fasten your seat belt, sit back, relax, and enjoy the flight. This is the story of containers.

The first stop of this journey is 1936 in Hoboken, New Jersey. The idea of containers, considered by many as “revolutionary”, must be attributed to Malcom McLean. As often is the case, the greatest ideas come in times of crisis. The Economist has described McLean’s early life as follows.

“He was a farmer’s son, one of seven children. His first business transaction was selling eggs for his mother, taking a small commission. But in the 1930s, the time of the Great Depression, farming was one of the worst-hit industries. Mr McLean got a job at a petrol station and saved enough money to buy a secondhand lorry, calling himself, grandly, the McLean Trucking Company. He did well enough to buy five more lorries, hired drivers for them, but continued to drive himself“.

Malcom-Mclean-History — from http://www.intra-plus.com

By observing how the loads of cotton were moved by the trucks of his company to the hold of the ship, McLean thought of using a fixed size “metal box” that could contain the voluminous material making the operations easier. Few years later, this insight would have proved to be revolutionary. Indeed, the “new container”, in addition to speed up the operations of loading and unloading, contributed to decrease transportation costs and to avoid the thefts committed in ports.

primer-container-historia-malcom-mclean — from investorsconundrum.com

According to The Economicst, the Ideal X was the first cargo ship transporting containers. It was an elderly oil tanker “whose deck had been strengthened to accommodate 58 well-filled boxes each some 30ft (9 metres) long”. It was on April 26, 1956, when the Ideal X left Newark for Port Hudson.

According to Internazionale.it, McLean spent $0.16 per ton loaded, while the average cost of goods shipped at that time was $83 per ton. Moreover, from 1966 to 1983 the percentage of countries that used them has risen from 1 to 90 percent. The Economist claims that McLean was celebrated as the “man of the century” and the inventor of “the greatest advance in packaging since the paper bag”. Moreover, former United States President Bill Clinton said that containerisation helped to “fuel the world’s economy”.

Remember! Shanghai Metal Corporation provides you with a great selection of container houses. Visit our website and do not hesitate to contact us.

Scan the QR code below and stay informed about our latest updates:

Stefano// SMC Editor

The coolest student-dorm is made of CONTAINERS!

No doubts! The coolest dormitory of all time is located in Johannesburg, South Africa. Why this student-dorm is so unique? Because is made from old silos and shipping containers! The project was recently realized by the full service management company Citiq Property Services (PTY) Ltd. Here is how the company displayed this amazing idea.

“Citiq recently purchased two sets of the disused grain silos in Newtown, Johannesburg. Through creative design and leading edge architecture, the plans are to develop energy-efficient buildings that are both contemporary in design and contribute to the urban regeneration of Newtown. Conversion of Mill Junction, the first set of silos, to student accommodation started at the beginning of 2013 and was completed in early 2014, just in time for the new student intake.”

(from citiqproperty.co.za)

Mill-Junction-07 — from http://www.domusweb.it/en

As it was stated by DomusWeb website, the five silos used to build the dormitory were abandoned and grain was once stored there. Recycled containers were then placed, one on top of the other or one next to the other, both on the side and on top of the five silos. The dormitory can today host about 400 students enrolled in different school or universities thanks to the strategic location of the dormitory. This is for sure one of the most extraordinary example of how shipping containers can be used in a very fashionable way for a worthy purpose.

If you wonder how a single/double room looks like FastCoexist website provides you with the answer! How you can see from the pictures below, living in a container house/room looks exactly the same of sleeping in a ‘tradition’ house.

Not only! This amazing dorm partially made from recycled shipping containers offers numerous common areas to students such as game and computer rooms, libraries, gym and kitchens, and even a climbing wall!!

Wondering container-house might be the perfect solution for you and your family? Shanghai Metal Corporation provides you with a great selection of container houses. Visit our website and do not hesitate to contact us.

Scan the QR code below and stay informed about our latest updates:

Stefano// SMC Editor

How to select the right type of container for different kinds of cargo

With the increased amount of international trade exchange that persists among countries all over the world, as people are constantly seeking to buy in regions of better quality, price and other preferences, the need for shipping containers can not be over emphasized.

Knowing the right type of shipping container to use to transport what kind of goods is therefore imperative, before one takes the decision of transporting goods.

As a leading manufacturer and supplier of shipping containers in China, Shanghai Metal Corporation offers several types of containers for different kinds of goods. We offer both dry bulk shipping containers and offshore containers. Our containers are all of international standard and are characterized by steel structural composition on the walls, timber flooring, secure and lockable doors, and most of all they are stackable, making them highly convenient.

The most popular type is the 20 feet and 40 feet, 40 feet high cube standard shipping containers which are used for dry bulk shipping. This type of container can also be used for domestic transportation of goods, for instance on the back of a truck, in instances where people are moving goods such as furniture; or shipping of any dry bulk cargo. The open-top container is most convenient for heavy loads which can be unpacked with fork lifters.

Open-side containers are suitable for domestic transportation or can be used as self-storage structures. Open doors allow full access to goods, hence handling loading and offloading is made easy.

For cargo that needs to be kept regulated at certain cool temperatures, reefer containers are best.

Offshore containers are also handy as storage structures. Our selection of these are the waste skips, open-top offshore containers work well as storage in back yards etc. Half height offshore containers are commonly used for storing goods where there is limited space. Their relatively small surface area allows one to save space, as they can be stacked as well.

For more details about our full range of containers please visit our website. If interested, please feel free to contact us for an inquiry . Scan the QR code below to see our latest updates, or follow us on these social media platforms:

Lebo Seopane//SMC Editor

Sources: SMC website,Google

Metal industry driving force behind fast growth in dry bulk shipping demand.

According to MarketReportsOnline.com the demand for steel in 2015 will grow at a tremendously fast pace. This fast paced growth will consequently send the dry bulk shipping sector a boost that will drive up the demand growth for that industry. In the research report of 56 pages published by MarketReportsOnline.com it states that Iron ore and coal will be the driving forces behind the anticipated growing demand for dry bulk shipping.

The dry bulk shipping industry is predicted to have a much better year in 2015. Growth rates for the first quarter of this year are expected to be higher than they were in 2014. The global dry bulk shipping industry holds an essential place in maritime transport, carrying large volumes of unpacked products. These products are carried in 20 feet bulk containers, that can carry up to 192 tons of bulk goods.

The latest innovation on these containers, like the one designed by Shanghai Metal Corporation, offer fast and efficient ways to load the bulk goods via the roof and unload through the latch on the bottom of the front door.

Scan the QR code below or follow us on these social media outlets.

By Youssef el Issaoui//SMC Editor

Credits: SMC website, Google Images

Cows As an Inspiration for Shipping Container Restaurant

Nowadays shipping containers have been becoming a great boom in numerous architectural applications. Shipping containers can turn into beautiful houses, bars, clubs, schools, gardens where you can enjoy your beer, but also into amazing restaurants. One of the examples is this very special vegetarian restaurant called Till The Cows Come Home.

The image of cows coming down from their pastures in the mountains at the end of the summer served as an inspiration for the restaurant’s name. Till the cows come home, they take time for the food.

This Berlin-based slow food kitchen is set in 40-foot-long cargo container designed by Natalie Viaux who used Norwegian birch wood with copper details. The outside of the container has been painted a vibrant green. A view of a expansive outdoor terrace, that which features a mural of cows grazing in alpine pastures, is provided with its five-meter-long window. They use a selection of products sourced from regional sustainable and biological farming for their recipes.

So if you are in Berlin, don’t miss this sustainable restaurant and try their biological specialties!

Shanghai Metal Corporation as a manufacturer of shipping containers can make your dreams come true. Just visit our website, search for more information or send us inquiry. English speaking stuff will help you to find the most suitable product for you. Follow us also in Social Media platforms and learn more about company and company products.

Silvia M.//SMC Editor

Read more articles written by this author here.

Credits : ttcch.de, inhabitat.com