Gadkari Says Indian Ports to Make Rs. 6,000 Crore Profit by 2016 NDTV Union Minister for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari today said the profitability of the Indian port sector by the end of current year will reach around Rs. 6,000 crore. The profit would be invested for creating assets to spur up growth, he said. Addressing a session at the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry in New Delhi, the minister said in the next five years the contribution of highways and shipping sector to national GDP would rise to two per cent from current insignificant level. With poised growth, the roads, highways and shipping sectors would be able to create 50 lakh employment opportunities, he said. Mr Nitin Gadkari said the infrastructure sector in India would witness massive changes and transformation in next few years as by then many four-lane roads and highways would be converted into eight-lane ones as also a large number of national highways be turned into expressways.

Shipping indices, trade and what’s in store for India Live Mint World trade has remained subdued this year. Not surprisingly, shipping indices across the board have performed miserably. The Shanghai (Export) Containerized Freight Index (SCFI), which reflects spot rates for container transport from Shanghai to the rest of the world, has declined as much as 47% so far this year. The China Containerized Freight Index (CCFI), which is considered a broader measure as it tracks spot and contractual rates from China to the rest of the world has declined 29% this year. Trade is growing slower than world gross domestic product growth (GDP), according to Dharmakirti Joshi, chief economist, Crisil Ltd, whereas the scenario was opposite in the pre-Lehman era. For instance, in 2004-08, trade was growing nearly two times faster than world GDP growth, while in 2015, it is growing slightly slower than world GDP growth or almost at a similar rate, Joshi said. To be sure, another key reason for the weak performance of shipping indices, including the popular Baltic Dry Index, which recently hit a 30-year low,

Bigger boxships not better with current market conditions: Maersk Sea News The assumption that a larger containership always results in lower operating costs is being challenged by the prevailing market dynamics, according to Maersk Line. Speaking at a media briefing, global COO of Maersk Line, Soren Toft, was quoted as saying in a report by Seatrade Maritime News: "Previously the bigger the ship the lower the cost, but what we are seeing right now is a phenomenon of very depressed time charter rates and very low bunker cost. "So part of the equation of going from a 6,000 TEU vessel to a 10,000 TEU vessel in a trade is being challenged because of these dynamics." Mr Toft also pointed out that with a bigger ship you had to call more ports and make more contingencies. "So there is much more to this a bigger ship is always better," he said. One of the few bits of positive news Mr Toft was able to give in regards to where the market was headed was that the bunker price is currently in the range of US$200 to $220. Logistics Chennai,International Freight Forwarders in Chennai, Custom Clearance Agents in Chennai , Checkout http://www.jupiterseaair.com