PCR Working Group Meeting Go back »
-
Time2009-06-16 | 14:30
-
Venue:Shanghai Office
-
Address:Unit 2204, Shui On Plaza, 333 Huai Hai Zhong Road, Shanghai, 200021, P.R. China 上海市淮海中路333号 瑞安广场2204室
-
Fee:Members: FREE |
Non Members: FREE
European Chamber, Shanghai
Tel: 021 6385 2023 Ext 110
Dear Petrochemicals, Chemicals and Refining WG Member,
The European Chamber is pleased to invite you to the next PCR Working Group Meeting, which will be held on Tuesday, June 16th, at 14:30 hrs at the European Chamber Office in Shanghai.
During the meeting, there will be a presentation on Logistics for the Chemical and Petrochemical Industry, by Andreas Kirschner, Chair of the Logistics Working Group. This presentation will cover the following areas: 1) update on the current status of the tank container industry in general, 2) inland tank container transportation by waterway (e. g. Yangtze River), 3) the market's demand for transport of dangerous goods in tank containers by rail, and why such a shift from road to rail would be beneficial for market, customers, society and environment, and 4) an introduction to the ITCO study in China for the safe handling of tank containers and update on current progress.
Agenda:
1. Presentation on Logistics for the Chemical and Petrochemical Industry, by Andreas Kirschner, Chair of the Logistics Working Group.
2. Discussion of Final English Draft 2009/2010 Position Paper (PP). Deadlines for proof-reading, editing, translation and printing of the PP.
3. NDRC Forum debrief and next steps.
4. Progress on drafting of Audit Protocol in relation to the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (IPEA).
5. Call for comments on the “Measures of Environmental Management of New Chemical Substances”.
5. AOB
Charles Lagrange proposes for those interested to join him for a lunch before the PCR meeting. Please confirm your participation at this meeting by registering with Łukasz Holec at lholec@euccc.com.cn by COP Monday 15 June, stating whether or not you would like to attend the networking lunch beforehand. The lunch is scheduled for 12:30 hrs at Va Bene (Italian restaurant) in Xin Tian Di, on Huangpi road prior to the meeting.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
For any further information about the PCR Working Group or the European Chamber in general please do not hesitate to contact Tony Brooks: tbrooks@euccc.com.cn
Event review
Petrochemicals, Chemicals & Refining Working Group Meeting Minutes
Attendees:
Company |
Name |
TOTAL |
Charles Lagrange |
BASF |
Jamie Huey Pin Ng |
LANXESS |
Sylvia Gu |
IMERYS |
James Chen |
STOLT |
Andreas Kirschner |
BASF |
Felix HU |
SASOL |
Dirk Uys |
SASOL |
Steven Teo |
SASOL |
Guy Bessant |
BP O&D |
Gloria Zhou |
LANXESS |
Connie Lu |
LANXESS |
Felix Ding |
MRI |
Julia Zhang-Zedrosser |
AKZO NOBEL |
Jorn Seiero |
EVONIK |
Wenlan Shen |
Capital Eight |
Joanne Woods |
Capital Eight |
Joao Alves |
Karl Gross Logistics |
Claas Reiners |
European Chamber |
Adele Wang |
European Chamber |
Lukasz Holec |
European Chamber |
Tony Brooks |
Agenda:
1. Presentation on Logistics for the Chemical and Petrochemical Industry, by Andreas Kirschner, Chair of the Logistics Working Group.
2. Discussion of Final English Draft 2009/2010 Position Paper (PP). Deadlines for proof-reading, editing, translation and printing of the PP.
3. NDRC Forum debrief and next steps.
4. Progress on drafting of Audit Protocol in relation to the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (IPEA).
5. AOB
Minutes:
1.Andreas Kirschner from the Logistics WG gave a presentation on logistics for the chemical industry.
To download a copy of these presentation, please click here.
- An ISO UN Portable Tank Container is a tank within a safety ‘frame’. The products permitted to be carried in these containers are listed in IMDG code port 3. They are constructed to a very high standard and are regularly tested. In major accidents often the tank doesn’t break even after major impacts, as the tank is constructed from steel 6mm thick.
- From 2005 to 2010 it is anticipated that Chinese ports will double in capacity, whereas rail capacity will increase only by 10 percent (the economic crisis and subsequent stimulus package investment in the rail system may well [radically] change these estimates though).
- The road network in China is 6 percent of the length of the road network in the US (when measured by km/10,000 people), and the Chinese rail network is 20 percent of the length of the US rail network.
- Chemical plant complexes in Europe often have rail sidings too, which allows for efficient transport of chemicals by rail. In Europe Dangerous Goods (DGs) make up 5 percent of the total of goods transported by road and 14 percent of the rail total.
- China has less efficient supply chain. For example, pine oil derivates (e.g. turpentine) are sent in drums either by train (which is illegal, but unless someone checks the drums carefully they are not going to know that such products are being carried by rail) or truck. These drums are often transported without the proper declarations. At ports they are then refilled into tank containers for export, which increases risk of spillage and increase of costs for cleaning. The ideal solution would be to ship in containers directly at source.
- Using rail instead of sea to transport chemicals across Europe and Russia to China could save huge amounts of time. It would also reduce the leasing costs for tanks hugely.
- There are transporters of DG cargoes by rail in China, but many DG products are forbidden. In the last 20 years, no new product had been added to the DG cargo list.
- Logistics companies want to
i) Arrange direct bookings of cargo by rail
ii)Encourage transport of rail dangerous cargo by accepting applications for DG that are not currently permitted.
Shipments on domestic waterways
- This market for transporting chemicals is still highly protected. WTO accession has had minimum impact in this regard
- The market is very fragmented, with many companies only owning a few barges, still 3m tons and liquid chemicals moved annually on domestic waterways.
- China has a good network of waterways, with potential for use for chemical transport, which is much safer than transporting by road.
- Shanghai-Nanjing (and ports in between) have about 2-3 sailings/day. Between Shanghai and Chongqing there are about 3-4 sailings per week.
- ITCO – International Tank Container Organisation. This organisation wishes to focus on quality, safety and environmental issues. For these reasons the ITCO wishes to promote use of tank container in China. The ITCO is currently conducting a study in China on the state of the market. The survey comes in three stages:
i. Survey of ITCO members
ii. Survey of ITCO members and customers
iii. Survey of rail companies/ports and depots.
The second category of the survey is applicable to ITCO members, such as logistics companies, and customers, such as chemical companies. It would be very much appreciated if PCR member companies were able to spend 15 minutes of their time filling out the questionnaire attached to these minutes. This would allow ITCO to better gauge the state of the market for transportation of chemicals in China.
Action:
attached to the minutes is an ITCO questionnaire. All Working Group members are requested to complete this questionnaire and return it to Tony Brooks tbrooks@euccc.com.cn before 3rd July 2009.
2. Position Paper, general discussion
At the Working Group meeting there was a discussion of the changes made to the Position Paper (PP) since the paper was last circulated. There have been changes made to the section on naphtha tax, which has been expanded, to more clearly explain the problem that certain importers are currently facing with respect to the tax, and what will happen when the naphtha tax exemption expires in 2010. Some changes were also made to the oil product market key recommendations, in the light of comments received from DG Enterprise lawyers at the European Commission. The Position Paper English version is now to be sent to the proof-readers, who will come back with comments on style, format, grammar and how clearly the paper reads. At the end of June, the English version of the paper will be signed off by the Working Group Chair and the Business Manager. It will then be sent for translation.
At the start of July, the Chinese version of the Position Paper will be sent to three Working Group members for checking and proof reading. Felix Ding (Lanxess) and Felix Hu (BASF) offered to proof read the Chinese version of the paper. Once the Chinese version of the Position paper is approved, it will be forwarded to all Working Group members, in advance of the formal publication of the entire Position Paper in early September.
The Ministry of Environmental Protection has issued a Call for Comments on “Measures of Environmental Management of New Chemical Substances”. This important piece of legislation needs to be mentioned in the PCR Position Paper, even though the Call for Comments makes clear the law is only a draft.
Action:
One more volunteer is needed to proof read the PCR Position Paper in Chinese at the start of July. Any company that is interested in helping to proof-read the Chinese version, which should take no more than an hour or two, should contact the Business Manager Tony Brooks at tbrooks@euccc.com.cn
3. NDRC Forum
The National and Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) Forum was considered by all to be a great success, with over 20 Chinese state organizations represented.
The Business Manager thanked the NDRC forum sponsors: Total, Lanxess and Akzo Nobel, without whom the first forum could not have taken place. Members were also thanked for attending the conference in great numbers. Many members also helped finding speakers for the NDRC forum too. In short, the NDRC Forum was a team effort from the entire Working Group, with many companies providing help, assistance, speakers and delegates.
NDRC and EUCCC have agreed to renew the experience in the form of a joint study followed by a discussion forum. Topics to be covered by the study are:
- Benchmarking of existing chemical industry clusters
- Methodology for the design of sustainable chemical industry clusters (i.e World class) in China’s hinterland.
An action plan proposal is attached to the minutes.
All members are requested to spread the information internally with a view to test their interest.
Action:
- All members are requested to express their interest to join the steering committee and/or the task force described in the attached document.
- Feedback has to be received by July 10th and a reminder will be sent on July 1st.
Contact persons are: Tony Brooks (tbrooks@euccc.com.cn ) or Charles Lagrange (charles.lagrange@total.com ).
4. Progress on drafting of Audit Protocol in relation to the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (IPEA).
More information on this will be supplied at the next Working Group meeting. Now that the NDRC forum is finished and work on the Position Paper is nearly complete, work can start in earnest on drafting the audit protocol in relation to the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (IPEA).
5. AOB
The next WG meetings will be held as follows: 14th July (Beijing), 18th August (Shanghai – please note this is a change from the date originally planned), and 15th September (Beijing).
To download a copy of these Minutes, please click here.
Interested in this topic?
Join the following working groups and fora to get more information and receive regular updates.