Promoting the adjustment and optimization of the transport structure is an integral part of speeding up the building of a powerful transport country and a modern comprehensive transport system. As an important breakthrough, multimodal transport, represented by hot-water combined transport, is entering a stage of rapid development under the continuous intensification of policies and the efforts of management bodies.
Recently, the Ministry of Transport and other departments jointly issued the Action Plan for Promoting the High-quality Development of molten Metal Combined Transport (2023-2025) (hereinafter referred to as the Action Plan), focusing on 13 specific tasks in 4 aspects, including improving the smooth level of combined transport and improving the service efficiency of combined transport. It is proposed that by 2025, the combined volume of container hot metal combined transport at major ports in China will reach 14 million TEus. The average annual growth rate exceeded 15% and other targets. This means that the high quality development of ferro-water combined transport has entered the fast track, and the social logistics cost will be further reduced.
After many years of development, what results has our iron water combined transportation achieved? From what aspects will the introduction of the action plan promote the high quality development of ferro-water combined transport? A few days ago, the reporter interviewed the Ministry of Transport water transport Bureau responsible person and related enterprises.
Last year, the national container hot metal combined volume increased by 16% year-on-year
Multimodal transport is the organic combination of highway, railway, waterway, pipeline and other two or more modes of transport, through mutual coordination, cohesion and conversion to complete the transport process. As an important mode of multimodal transport, combined iron and water transport refers to the efficient combined transport of railways and waterways.
"Railways and waterways have large volume, low cost, low energy consumption and light pollution in the medium and long distance transportation of bulk cargo and containers. Combined iron-water transportation can give full play to this comparative advantage and combined efficiency, reducing energy consumption and pollution emissions while reducing cost and efficiency." Ministry of Transport water transport Bureau responsible person said.
Taking Zhoushan Port of Ningbo as an example, through the development of iron-water combined transport business, the southwest province has a fast sea passage to North America, South America and other regions. For foreign trade containers transported from Chongqing to Ningbo Zhoushan Port, the time of traditional water transport is shortened to 58 hours, and the logistics cost is nearly 50% less than that of road transport.
Not only that, compared with road transportation, the effect of energy saving and emission reduction is more obvious. Last year, Ningbo Zhoushan Port completed 1.452 million TEUs, saving 92 million liters of fuel, equivalent to 1.07 billion yuan, said Zhang Zhoulong, deputy director of Ningbo Zhoushan Port Co., LTD. Reducing carbon emissions by 260,000 tons is equivalent to adding 650 square kilometers of forest.
This is a vivid microcosm of the deep advancement of our combined iron and water transportation. "After years of development, China's combined iron-water transport has entered a period of rapid development, with its growth momentum and development advantages gradually emerging," said an official from the water transport Bureau of the Ministry of Transport.
The total volume of transportation has increased rapidly. During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, the combined volume of container hot metal at ports increased from 2.36 million TEus at the end of the 12th Five-Year Plan period to 6.87 million TEus, an annual growth rate of 23.8 percent. In 2022, the combined volume of container hot metal was 8.75 million TEus, up 16 percent year on year, much higher than the growth rate of the national freight volume.
The transportation structure continues to adjust. At present, all coal hubs at major coastal ports have been transferred to railways and waterways. By 2020, the proportion of ores at major coastal ports that are empty by railways and waterways will be nearly 20 percentage points higher than that of 2017. This will not only effectively reduce the cost and efficiency of the logistics industry, but also help energy conservation and carbon reduction.
Infrastructure connectivity was accelerated. During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, the Ministry of Transport, together with other relevant departments, supported the construction of 26 railway collection and distribution projects into Hong Kong by using the vehicle purchase tax funds. At present, more than 80 percent of the country's major coastal ports and major ports along the Yangtze River line have entered their ports by railway.
We will improve the mechanism for adjusting freight rates and promote open and shared information
Hot metal combined transport, the key in the "joint". How to further improve the connectivity level of infrastructure and the efficiency of transportation organization is an urgent problem to be solved when the combined iron-water transportation reaches a new level.
On the one hand, the combined transport cost of some routes is high and the lack of market competitiveness needs to be improved. "There are many links and high cost of sea-rail combined transport, among which railway cost is the main component. In particular, there is little room for freight rate reduction in trans-railway offices, which affects the economic benefits and market competitiveness of port enterprises to a certain extent." Zhang Zhoulong introduced.
Liu Hong, the head of the business Department of Hebei Port Group, said that flexible railway price adjustment strategy and freight settlement system should be implemented. According to the specific delivery type, path and flow direction, fully combined with the market price changes of automobile transportation and sea transportation, the railway delivery price should be timely and quickly adjusted to promote the formation of comparative advantages of hot metal combined transportation.
In this regard, the action plan proposed to improve the market price system, research and improve the railway rate adjustment mechanism. Encouraging railway, port and shipping enterprises to offer price concessions for combined hot-water transportation will provide guidance for promoting combined hot-water transportation to reduce costs and increase benefits.
On the other hand, it is difficult to share data between road and port to restrict the seamless connection of iron and water. "At present, there is still a problem of information not sharing, especially the data of the 'last kilometer' connection between railway and water." Zhang Zhoulong said that because the system has not been connected, the port can only grasp the information of the container in transit. Once the container enters the inland terminal, it cannot be queried, and no effective information closed loop has been formed.
Liu suggested strengthening joint cooperation among shipping, railway and highway industries, and jointly promoting the construction of an information platform through the establishment of information interfaces and open sharing of resources, so as to improve the comprehensive service capacity of the combined transport mode.
In this regard, the action plan proposes to promote the in-depth application of 5G, Beidou navigation, big data and artificial intelligence in the railway and water transport industries, and promote the opening and exchange of customs, maritime, railway, port and shipping information. "This has a strong practical significance for improving the informatization level of the combined iron and water transportation business, improving the comprehensive transportation efficiency of the combined iron and water transportation, and shaping the service advantages of the combined iron and water transportation." "Liu Hong said.
By the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan, the combined volume of container hot metal will double on the basis of 2020
In order to accelerate the high-quality development of iron-water combined transport, the action plan has specified a series of targets by 2025, including full coverage of railway access at major ports along the Yangtze River and 90% of railway access at major coastal ports. The proportion of bulk goods transported by waterway and railway in major coastal ports reached 80%.
"The main ports and railways along the Yangtze River will have full coverage of combined iron and water transportation, which means that the railway and water transportation networks along the Yangtze River will be basically connected, and the 'last kilometer' problem will be greatly alleviated, and the Yangtze River logistics channel will be further unimpeded." It will lay a solid foundation for supporting the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, unblocking domestic and international circulation, and building a unified national market, said an official from the Ministry of Transport's water transport bureau.
In addition, to reach 14 million TEus by 2025, means that by the end of the "14th Five-Year Plan", the combined volume of container hot metal and water will double on the basis of 2020, with an average annual growth rate of 15%. By then, the network of combined iron and water transportation facilities will be more perfect, social logistics costs will be further reduced, and transportation services will be more efficient. The transport structure in key areas has been improved.
According to the report, relevant authorities will establish a mechanism for tracking and dispatching key projects to speed up the seamless connection of the infrastructure for the combined transport of hot metal and water. Among them, 74 railway projects for collecting and distributing, with a planned investment of 170.81 billion yuan, will be built with a total length of 1,645.2 kilometers of railway for collecting and distributing ports.
