14 BULKDISTRIBUTOR
Flexitanks & Bulk Liners
July/August 2016
Ukraine looks to flexis
for veg oil exports
COA meeting discusses
developments
A
T
s a fragile peace returns to Ukraine, its agricultural sector is a key driver for the
development of inland waterway logistics.
This is primarily oriented towards exports of the country’s huge grain producing capacity. But as a
by-product, operators are interested in shipping more vegetable oils by river as well.
In September a conference will discuss the use of flexitanks for shipping vegetable oils. Exploiting the
potential of river transport has been slow due to the absence of specialised cargo handling infrastructure
and barge fleets in Ukraine. At the same time, river handling of vegetable oils has mostly been
undertaken by Belarusian oils companies.
But Ukrainian agricultural agency UkrAgroConsult stresses that greater vegetable oil exports by river
could be attractive for shipping in flexis. According to market operators, export volumes to China using
the transport technology could total 400-600,000 tonnes annually.
Currently, vegetable oil is actively shipped in flexitanks from the country’s ports on the Black Sea.
According to UkrAgroConsult, between September 2015 and March 2016 total exports of sunflower
oil from Ukraine to China amounted to 355,000 tonnes, of which 211,000 tonnes were carried
in flexitanks.
These and other developments will be discussed at the IV International Conference, ‘Black Sea Oil
Trade-2016’, 7 September 2016, to be held in Kiev, Ukraine.
www.ukragroconsult.com
he Container Owners Association (COA) held its 12th flexitank meeting at the Hyatt Place
Hotel, Amsterdam Airport, on 29 June. A total of 55 delegates participated in the meeting.
The conference covered a number of themes, including market development, industry developments,
l oading/discharge requirements from tank terminals and operational trends. The afternoon session
explored the progress with the COA Flexitank Code of Practice, the publication of the PAS 1008:2016
document, the Quality Management List, the impact of the SOLAS VGM regulation on the flexitank
industry and the options for rail impact test facilities in China.
Version 4 of the COA Flexitank Code of Practice was published in April and is now available in English
and Chinese. The required four audits remain the same as in CoP V3, but the new version gives clearer
and more detailed explanations. Each flexitank manufacturer is required to complete four independent
audits for each factory site: ISO 9001 quality management; installation and training; material test; and
rail impact test. All four audits are required for each of the manufacturer’s factory sites and, as before,
an audit is required for each type of flexitank manufactured (excepting the ISO 9001 audit).
$1.5 billion flexitank
market by 2024
T
Ukrainian vegetable oil is actively shipped in flexitanks from the country’s Black Sea ports like Odessa (pictured)
he global flexitanks market is expected to reach US$1.49 billion by 2024, according to
a new report by Grand View Research, Inc.
Increasing commodity export, particularly in Asia Pacific, is expected to foster flexitank demand over the
forecast period, as the system’s cost-effective nature has increased product popularity among end-users.
Single trip was the leading product segment and accounted for over 90 percent of total market volume
in 2015, the report’s authors state. “Single trip flexitanks are very much cost-effective compared to
multi-trip flexitanks, as they eliminate cleaning and repositioning costs incurred,” the report says.
“Green logistic practices incorporated by most of the flexitank manufacturers and logistics providers
ensure proper disposal of used flexitanks without causing any environmental ill-effect.”
In particularly, the report sees the food sector as a key driver of future demand. Huge foodstuff exports
from Asia Pacific and North America are expected to push flexitank demand over the forecast period.
Foodstuffs were the leading application sector and accounted for over 30 percent of total market
volume in 2015. Easy availability of FDA-approved flexitanks in all regions has been a major factor for
the technology’s increased penetration.
www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/flexitanks-market