Logistics

ESPOO, Finland, Jan. 5, 2021 (Press Release) -Metsä Fibre, part of Metsä Group, and Tornio-based lifting services company Havator have signed a preliminary agreement on the lifting work to be carried out during the construction of the Kemi bioproduct mill in Finland. In addition to lifting services for the construction phase, the overall agreement covers various special transport services. These include lifting planning and expert services for the construction of the bioproduct mill, which would take about two and a half years. The preconditions for making the decision on the EUR 1.5 billion investment in the Kemi bioproduct mill are expected to be in place in early 2021.

“We require our partners to be committed to the goals of the project in terms of safety, schedules and quality, and Havator meets these requirements. The company has been a trusted supplier at our Kemi mill site for a long time and has provided the lifting services for the construction of our bioproduct mill in Äänekoski, for example”, says Jari-Pekka Johansson, Director of the bioproduct mill project at Metsä Fibre.

Many cranes of various sizes, suitable for various lifting tasks would be used at the worksite, including mobile and crawler cranes. Precast elements and equipment components would be moved using self-propelled modular transporters (SPMT transporters), for example.

“As a local supplier of comprehensive lifting solutions, Havator is able to provide all lifting, transport and heavy moving at the mill site during the construction phase. Our operations are guided by safety, efficiency and a strong customer focus. For the customer, this means that the solutions are always carefully planned and safety is prioritised to achieve a result that is as efficient as possible in terms of both time and cost. Lifting planning plays an important role in this”, says Jukka Heininen, Havator’s regional manager in charge of the project.

“Havator has the longest and most extensive experience of projects of this size in Finland, and the benefits of experience are undisputed in overall solutions such as this one. We are able to mobilise equipment efficiently from our local depot in the north of Finland and, if necessary, from southern Finland and even Sweden”, notes Christoffer Landtman, Havator’s CEO.

The degree of the bioproduct mill project’s Finnish origin is expected to be high – in the Äänekoski bioproduct mill project it was 70%. During the potential construction phase, the Kemi bioproduct mill’s employment impact is estimated to be nearly 10,000 person-years, of which more than half would be carried out in Kemi. The total number of employees working during the construction phase is estimated to be about 15,000. If implemented, the investment would secure the existing 250 jobs at the current Kemi mill for decades to come. Through its direct value chain, the new bioproduct mill would employ around 2,500 people in Finland, which would be 1,500 people more than the employment effect of the current pulp mill in Kemi.

If implemented, the bioproduct mill would produce some 1.5 million tonnes of softwood and hardwood pulp per year, as well as many other bioproducts. The bioproduct mill would not use any fossil fuels at all, and its electricity self-sufficiency rate would be 250%. This would further strengthen Metsä Group’s position as a major electricity producer relying on renewable Finnish fuels.

Metsä Fibre

Metsä Fibre is a leading producer of bioproducts, biochemicals and bioenergy. Metsä Fibre is the world’s leading producer of bleached softwood pulp and a major producer of sawn timber. Currently employing approximately 1,300 people, the company’s sales in 2019 totalled EUR 2.2 billion. Metsä Fibre is part of Metsä Group.

Metsä Group

Metsä Group is a forerunner in sustainable bioeconomy utilising renewable wood from sustainably managed northern forests. Metsä Group focuses on wood supply and forest services, wood products, pulp, fresh fibre paperboards and tissue and greaseproof papers.

In 2019, Metsä Group’s sales totalled EUR 5.5 billion, and it employs approximately 9,300 people. Metsäliitto Cooperative is the parent company of Metsä Group and is owned by approximately 100,000 Finnish forest owners.

ARLINGTON, VA, Dec. 16, 2020 (Press Release) -The annualized turnover rate at both large and small truckload carriers rose by double digit percentage points in the third quarter as the industry began bouncing back from a COVID-19 induced slump. 

“After a calamitous second quarter, trucking – along with the rest of the economy – began recovering in the third quarter, leading to a tightening of the driver market,” said American Trucking Associations Chief Economist Bob Costello. “With a more robust freight market, we saw an increase in carriers seeking drivers, which led to increased turnover. Additionally, the driver pool has decreased this year for a host of reasons, including fewer new drivers coming into the industry as truck driver training schools train less drivers due to social distancing requirements.” 

In the third quarter, the turnover rate at truckload carriers with more than $30 million in annual revenue rose 10 percentage points to 92% on an annualized basis. The rate at smaller truckload carriers rose 14 points to 74%. Despite the increases, the 2020 average turnover rate is still running behind 2019. 

“Ironically, turnover bouncing back is a good sign for the economy and for trucking,” Costello said. “The second-quarter drop was almost entirely the result of COVID, and with scientific light at the end of the tunnel, it is possible we will see continued strong freight demand into 2021, and corresponding increases in demand for truck drivers. And, driver pay continues to rise as competition for drivers is intense.” 

The annualized turnover rate at less-than-truckload carriers was rose two points to 14% during the third quarter on an annualized basis.

BRUSSELS, Dec. 10, 2020 (Press Release) -CLECAT, the European Association of Freight Forwarders, Logistics Service Providers and Customs Agents, welcomes the pragmatic approach and policy directions, outlined in the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy for Europe, published yesterday by the European Commission. The strategy recognises the important role of freight transport and mobility, which will only continue to increase, in ensuring a switch towards a sustainable, smart and resilient mobility system of the future.

Avoiding forced modal shift policies

The core of the new strategy, replacing the vision of the 2011 White Paper on Transport, is based on the recognition that all transport modes are essential for the EU and must all become more sustainable. However, in line with the EU Green Deal, the strategy also calls for a substantial part of the 75% of inland freight carried today by road to shift to rail and inland waterways. Whereas CLECAT supports the shift towards less carbon-intensive modes of transport, including short-sea shipping, we doubt that the Commission’s modal shift ambition is realistic, given the limited progress achieved over the last decades. It is ultimately business that decides on the mode of transport, and if there are no reliable and economically viable alternative solutions, as well as sufficient capacity in rail and inland waterways, forced modal shift policies will fail.

Greening multimodal freight transport

CLECAT welcomes new efforts to revise the Combined Transport Directive, as this is key to support sustainable green freight transport solutions. However, given the political decisions by Member States to restrict cabotage operations for road transport, also in combined transport operations, we urge decision-makers to look beyond their borders and to support business in its wish to use more combined transport. CLECAT notes with interest that the Commission considers incentive mechanisms in a revised combined transport proposal, which should be based on impartial performance monitoring, according to a European framework to measure transport and logistics emissions. We therefore urge the Commission to base such a framework on the upcoming global ISO standard for the quantification and reporting of GHG emissions of transport and logistics operations, respecting the full-cycle ‘well-to-wheel’ approach.

Encouraging zero-emission transport

The Commission intends to realise zero-emission transport via stricter CO2 emission standards and investment in more charging options for zero-emission trucks and / or hydrogen fuelling stations. CLECAT believes there needs to be a clear pathway towards this goal, as business needs certainty when making investments in alternatively fuelled vehicles. A clear and concrete roadmap is required for a complete infrastructure roll-out, favouring the most cost- and resource-efficient solutions, also recognising the bridging technologies.

By 2030, the Commission also wants planes and ships to start using alternative fuels. CLECAT supports the switch to sustainable alternative fuels for these ‘hard to abate’ transport modes and also the market-based measures for charging. Indeed, the Commission will pursue a comprehensive set of transport pricing measures to encourage a switch towards greener options, such as emission trading, infrastructure charges, energy and vehicle taxes. In doing so, the Commission should nevertheless be careful to avoid any possible double-charging burden for forwarding, transport and logistics companies.

Building smart and sustainable transport systems

The Commission is committed to stimulating digitalisation and innovative technologies, which the logistics sector supports, considering that their potential to enable increased efficiency and productivity of transport and logistics operations can have a substantial leverage in reducing their environmental impact. Sustainability, digitalisation and resilience are therefore rightly the most important pillars of the strategy that all go hand in hand.

Empowering cities to go emission-free

The Commission wants the 100 largest cities in the EU to become emission-free by 2030. CLECAT would welcome more harmonisation with respect to freight movement in urban areas, as the current patchwork of local policies and criteria is not helpful for companies or manufacturers aiming to bring cleaner urban vehicles to the market. However, the individual differences and infrastructure capacity in cities must be respected. This ambition would also require investment in more multimodal hubs.

Equipping workforce with a future-proof skillset

CLECAT recognises that more resilient and increasingly digitised and automated logistics sector requires a qualified workforce with well-developed digital skills. Therefore, the idea of the Commission to come forward with initiatives to increase the attractiveness of the logistics sector is highly welcomed. Finally, since the pandemic is ongoing, the COVID-19 recovery investments are needed to safeguard jobs and support the long-term sustainable solutions for decarbonising the freight transport sector.