Jupiter Sea and Air Service Pvt Ltd: UPDATED DAILY SHIPPING NEWS FOR TUESDAY APRIL 26, 2016

Kochi Port cuts losses on better cargo throughput

The Hindu
Traffic throughput at the Kochi port went up by five lakh tonnes during the financial year 2015-16 compared with the previous financial year. The total cargo handled by the port during the last financial year stood at a record 22.1 million tonnes. The increase in cargo traffic has also led to substantial growth in operational income and operational surplus for the port authority. Though there was considerable dip in the movement of oil cargo, handling of containerised and bulk cargo like cement moved up during the period, sources said. The operating income of the Cochin Port Trust increased from Rs.386 crore to Rs.433 crore, and it recorded an operational surplus of Rs.67 crore. The operational surplus in the previous year was Rs.19 crore. The gross figures for the port trust for the period showed a negative influence through large pension liability.

Intergovernmental agreement on dry ports comes into force

Hellenic Shipping News
Developed under the auspices of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the agreement is designed to open up new development prospects for landlocked countries and areas facing the challenges of prohibitive costs and complex logistics to get their goods and services to market. By serving similar functions as ports away from coastal areas, such as consolidation and distribution centres, dry ports can create new economies of scale, reduce transport costs and generate employment opportunities for local populations. The agreement was signed by 17 Asia-Pacific countries in November 2013 and itt came into force after eight of the 17 signatory countries became a party to it. China was the eighth country to approve the agreement.

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Route rationalisation hits Vizag Port

The Hindu
The ban on movement of cargo on certain routes by the Railway Board, as part of ‘route rationalisation’, has proved to be the bane for cargo movement through Visakhapatnam. According to the route rationalisation, freight trains from Visakhapatnam to Nagpur have to travel through Vijayawada and Ballarshah, instead of the shortest route via Raipur. This is a huge burden for exports and imports through Visakhapatnam Port. Though Visakhapatnam Port is closer to Nagpur than JNPT, exporters and importers are forced to move their cargo through the latter port due to the extra cost and time. For cargo coming from South East Asia, Visakhapatnam is the convenient port of call. Otherwise, the ships have to travel for at least three more days to reach the West Coast to unload their cargo.

Uniform GST will lead to a better economy

TDB
The e-commerce sector is the fastest growing segment in terms of revenue and shipments. By bringing in revenues it keeps the taxmen happy. But the tax laws in the country have not been upgraded to check a spiralling business based on the ‘cloud’. Firstly e-commerce companies have over time grappled with a complex framework of excise, VAT/CST or service taxes. And the proliferate indirect tax laws have been of no help. They have been more of a hindrance rather than a help for the e-commerce industry. Secondly there is no clarity with regard to categorizing the e-commerce industry. Do their offerings come under ‘services’ or ‘goods’? Should these offerings be charged under VAT or CST or do they come under service tax? Thirdly there has been marked confusion and chaos on the paperwork needed for goods transported from one state to another.

Tight Colombo 380 CST bunker fuel market to ease next week: sources

Platts
Firm demand for 380 CST bunker fuel and vessel delays have resulted in tightness for the fuel grade in Colombo, Sri Lanka, market sources said Monday. Only two physical bunker suppliers, Inter-ocean Energy and Lanka Marine Service, have stocks to last them through April 29, the sources said. "We didn't rush into selling our stock, and have been getting good enquiries last week," said a source from Interocean. "We have deliveries tied up till the 29th [of April] and we're selling the balance of our cargoes," the source said. Currently, 380 CST at Colombo is being offered around $255-260/mt, a check with the port's four main bunker fuel suppliers showed. However, all four suppliers said the tightness should ease at the end of the week with the arrival of new cargo.

Industry still seeks clarification on shipping container weight verification rules

KTIC
With just a little over two months remaining before new rules for verifying the weight of shipping containers before they are loaded onto cargo ships goes into effect, agricultural-product and other shippers still have many answered questions about how the new system will be enforced. The IMO is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for developing and maintaining a comprehensive regulatory framework for worldwide shipping. In May of 2014, the IMO amended the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) rules to require, as a condition for loading a packed container onto a ship for export, that the container has a verified gross mass (VGM). Effective July 1, 2016, any shipping container leaving from any port in the world must be accompanied by a shipping document signed either electronically or in hard copy by the shipper on the bill of lading listing the VGM of a container in order to be loaded onto a ship.

Govt to liberalise plan for some importers

Business Standard
The government will liberalise a programme to allow select importers to make deferred payments and extend to them easier Customs clearance. The move is expected to lower the costs and time for importers. The Customs department is set to revamp the decade-and-a-half-old Accredited Client Programme (ACP) for importers, liberalising the strict pre-requisites to join the scheme, such as no tax show-cause notice in the past three years, a requirement most importers would fail to meet. Members of the scheme would enjoy benefits such as no routine checks for consignments. Importers would face only risk-based checks of consignments. "We will allow payments after 10 days, although selectively," said an official. The deferred payment scheme was announced in the Budget this year. Despite India being an import-dependent nation, the ACP has only 300 members.

Farakka Barrage Project continues to serve India

One India
Farakka Barrage is located in Murshidabad and Malda districts of West Bengal at about 300 km North of Kolkata. It is one of the largest barrage of its kind in the country having a Feeder Canal for a flow of 40000 cusec (1135 cumec) whose bed width is wider than that of Suez Canal. This barrage is important for Bangladesh also as a piece of infrastructure that is of strategic importance to the country and also it acts as a stimulator to its economy. For the state of West Bengal also it servers as lifeline for economic activities. The Feeder Canal originates in upstream at Right Bank of Farakka Barrage and outfalls into the Bhagirathi, right channel of the river Ganga at 40 km downstream of Farakka Barrage.

India bans import of milk, phones from China

The Dollar Business
Upon determining that China was not adhering to the rules, quality and security, that are necessary to export products, specifically, consumable goods and certain brands of phones and steel, India decided to ban these Chinese products from entering the country. The sub-standard quality or failure to adhere to the rules led to an import ban on milk and milk products, and certain phones from China. Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, on Friday, stated that the unacceptable quality of the Chinese products was the reason behind the ban. The absence of International Mobile Station Equipment Identity Code and other security features is not acceptable, she said. Besides import ban on certain mobile phones, selected steel products have been stopped from being imported.

Kochi: Workshop on GST

Business Line
The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry is organising a one-day workshop on ‘GST and its implications’ here on April 29. Supported by the Union Finance Ministry, the workshop aims to provide an insight into the GST framework and to guide trade and industry on how to prepare for a smooth transition to the GST regime. The workshop will be held at Hotel Taj Gateway. For participation, contact 0484-4058041 or email kesc@ficci.com

Will container weighing be a boost for air?

Air Cargo News
Air freight demand could be the big beneficiary of new maritime rules due for introduction this summer. But a whole range of scenarios are possible, leaving shippers, forwarders, 3PLs, and airlines with plenty of supply chain scenarios to—quite literally—weigh up, according to Wolfgang Lehmacher, Head of Supply Chain and Transport Industries at the World Economic Forum. The new rules from the International Maritime Organization come in the form of an amendment to the Safety of Life at Sea Convention’s (Solas) container weighing stipulations. As of July 1, shippers and their proxies will be compelled to verify the gross weight of packed containers on the bill of lading before the box can be loaded onboard a vessel. The move is designed to prevent shipping casualties; misdeclared box weights have contributed to a number of incidents in recent years,..

Jupiter Sea and Air Service Pvt Ltd

Monday 25 April 2016

UPDATED DAILY SHIPPING NEWS FOR TUESDAY APRIL 26, 2016