DAILY SHIPPING NEWS - MONDAY DECEMBER 19, 2016

Air Freight News :

Mixed November for European cargo airports.

Europe’s leading cargo hubs saw a mixed November for volumes, with Germany’s Frankfurt Airport hit by airline strikes while London’s freight hubs registered increases of more than four percent versus like month 2015.

Frankfurt’s November cargo volumes fell by 2.1% to 191,461 as throughputs at the German gateway were “impacted by the strike and an unfavourable timing of weekends and weekdays”.

Europe’s number one cargo airport in 2015, handling 2.1m tonnes, is now marginally ahead of last year’s rolling total, registering a 1.3% increase over the first eleven months of 2016 versus prior period 2015.

Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) and Amsterdam Schiphol airports, number two and three European freight hubs respectively last year, have yet to publish their November figures, but CDG registered a 3.2% year on year rise in cargo volumes for the first ten months of 2016.  If that trend continues, CDG looks set to pip Frankfurt to the post as the top European cargo hub for airfreight and mail volumes in 2016.

Schiphol, with a 1.9% cumulative rise for year to date October 2019, is on course to remain in third place.

Brussels and Budapest airports continue the European cargo growth trend.

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Europe’s gateway and secondary airports continue to see increased airfreight volumes, with strong results at both Brussels and Budapest.

Cargo traffic at Brussels Airport surged 15.2% in November to 45,500 tons, with full-freighter services continuing the strong growth trend at the key European hub.

November was also a strong cargo month for Budapest’s Ferenc Liszt Airport in Hungary, whose air and trucked volumes passed the 100,000 tonnes benchmark for the first 11 months of 2016, a 21.5% rise over the same period in 2015.

Iran Air reaches 80 aircraft agreement with Boeing.

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Iran Air has made further moves to re-position itself on the global stage with an agreement for 80 aircraft from Boeing.

The aircraft in the agreement have a list price of $16.6bn and include 50 Boeing 737 Max 8s, 15 B777-300ERs and 15 B777-9s.

The agreement follows on from an order for 118 new aircraft from Airbus announced earlier this year.

The two deals will allow Iran Air state to begin the process of replacing aircraft that in some cases date to before the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

While the new aircraft are passenger, Iran Air current lists two Airbus A300B4Fs operated by its cargo arm plus a mothballed B747 freighter.

ACS expands in Florida.

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Air Charter Service's (ACS) Florida operation has moved to larger premises following impressive growth in its first 15 months.

The Florida operation, which started trading in September of last year, has taken on an office space allowing them to triple the workforce.

Joel Fenn, managing director of ACS in Florida, said: “Our business here in the south has really taken off, beating all of our original targets, so this new office is much needed and essential to our growth plans going forward.

"Our cargo division has had a really strong year, with a particular highlight being the AN-225 charter two weeks ago, carrying the heaviest single piece of cargo ever flown in the Americas.

Sea Freight News :

250 cars awaiting export at Chennai port wrecked by Vardah Times of India As cyclone Vardah hurtled towards Chennai on Monday , some 250 Nissan cars awaiting export were at Ennore port. The gusts touching 140kmph made landfall around 2pm, tossing the cars around, damaging all of them. Some 50km away, at the factory's yard in Oragadam, another 1,100 cars awaiting dispatch to dealers across the country were damaged. The two ports -Chennai and Ennore --had raised catergory 10 signal for the storm, indicating it was the severest. "The cyclone had an impact on our exports. We have initiated necessary actions for recovery ," said a statement from Nissan. While company officials did not give the numbers, sources said that 256 cars meant for exports from the Ennore port and 1,149 cars meant for sale at dealerships across India have been impacted.
India Identifies Two Maritime Clusters. Marine Link Two Maritime Clusters have been identified in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, as part of the National Perspective Plan of Sagarmala Programme. Based on the study conducted under Sagarmala Programme, these proposed Maritime Clusters will comprise of shipyards, ancillary units for shipbuilding, service providers for shipping industries, marine tourism and marine products (MPX) such as fisheries and aqua culture. The proposed Coastal Economic Zones (CEZs) are aimed at promoting development of port-proximate industrial clusters, encourage port-led development, reduction of logistics cost and time for movement of EXIM and domestic cargo and enhance the global competitiveness of Indian manufacturing sector.
New Ports Bill may end supremacy of privately-run ports: Report Economic Times Government's bid to create a level-playing field between major and non-major ports through the Major Port Authorities Bill puts the supremacy of the privately-run ports at risk, a brokerage report has said. "The recent Cabinet approval to the Major Port Authorities Bill is a big step towards providing a more level-playing field to state-run major ports," says a report by Kotak Institutional Equities. "With the major ports already upping the ante in 2015-16, the prospects of sustained outperformance of non-major ports appears at risk," the report adds. The dozen state-run major ports have been closing in on privately-run non-major ports, which had earned an upper hand over the past few years, due to easy regulations.

Indian Railways, Steel Ministry ink unique deal, transport costs of slurry to fall Financial Express The steel ministry has signed a unique way-leave agreement with the railways under which slurry pipelines will be laid alongside railway tracks, a move which will bring raw material transportation costs down by 20-35% for pellet manufacturers. It will also reduce pressure on the railway infrastructure and environmental degradation. A slurry pipeline is intended for transportation of iron ore fines subsequent to its conversion to iron ore concentrate in the slurry form. The transpiration of iron ore lump and fines to iron making units and ports is now done mostly through the railways from their respective linked sources. This puts pressure on the railway infrastructure. The situation is expected to aggravate considering the fact that India is looking at ramping up its installed steel capacity to 300 MT in the next 14-15 years.

Container Corporation of India: A slow coach Business Line Container Corporation of India (Concor), a State-owned rail transport service provider, has been facing some tough times. The company reported near flat revenue and a 23 per cent Y-o-Y dip in profits in 2015-16; this compares to an average revenue and profit growth of over 12 and 5 per cent, respectively, in the earlier three years. In the first half of 2016-17, revenue and profit decreased 7 per cent and 23 per cent Y-o-Y as average realisation reduced due to higher competition from the road segment. Management revised volume growth guidance to 6-8 per cent for 2016-17, down from 9-10 per cent early in the year. Concor’s stock price has been on a decline in the past year. In the last month, the stock price fell about 15 per cent. It currently trades at 27 times its trailing 12-month earnings.

Container Terminal project thrown into turmoil, all seven contenders out Hellenic Shipping News Five months after inviting Expressions of Interest (EOI) for a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) concession for the Colombo Port’s East Container Terminal, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Management (CCEM) has brought fresh conditions that eliminate all seven parties vying for the project. Meanwhile, Ports and Shipping Minister Arjuna Ranatunga has submitted a separate Cabinet paper seeking a cancellation of the BOT process. He wants approval to buy cranes so that the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) itself could run the East Container Terminal. “At the moment, everything is in a flux,” said an authoritative official source. “No final decision has been taken on how to move forward.” Five consortia and two single bidders submitted EOIs after the tender opened on June 6, 2016.

Ministry mulling on increasing cargo and freight carriers: Ashok Gajapati Raju Indian Express Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapati Raju said the ministry is mulling on increasing the number of cargo and freight carriers. The minister said Airport Authorities of India Cargo Logistics and Allied Services Company Ltd has been drawing strategies focused on developing the segment that would take the local produce of farmer to international destinations. “There is a good demand for temperature-sensitive goods globally, our country has plenty of local produce to offer. Air-Cargo’s will play a important role here… if farmers produce quality products transport should not become a bottleneck,” Raju said. Historically in India, the ministry said, while roadways and waterways have been utilised for cargo transportation, flights have been only used for passengers. “In India, cargo is hardly there maybe two airlines and three aircrafts.

We'll get a level playing field and competition will increase: Chairman of MbPT Business Standard It is a big positive. Under the proposed Bill, all PPP (public-private partnership) operators will be free to fix rates on market conditions. TAMP’s role is redefined; it will fix a tariff (rate), which will be a reference for purposes of bidding for PPP projects. A number of private ports have come up and they are deciding tariffs on their own but those in the public sector were unable to. With this provision, TAMP’s role in deciding this will go away. A separate adjudicator will be appointed, who can be approached by the port and the stakeholders for settlement of disputes. This will clearly provide a level playing field to ports in the public sector with the private sector ones. Today, it is not there; ports in the public sector are unable to reduce tariff on their own. The provision will promote competition.

Garment exporters ask govt to relax norms for payments to boost exports Indian Express To help exporting units tide over the impact of demonetisation, the Apparel Export Promotion Council has asked the government to increase withdrawal limits and relax rules for payment of statutory dues like PF, ESI and service tax for sometime. In order to facilitate transition of the readymade garment export industry towards digital payments and less cash usage, the council has shared key recommendations with the government, the exporters body said in a statement on Sunday. The council has suggested that exporting units may be allowed a higher threshold of cash withdrawal for making payments to artisans, loaders, purchases for developing new samples and for payment towards small freight amount. Availability of adequate cash should be made available at banks in key clusters.

Gautam Adani says debt level not a concern, eyes new sectors Live Mint Adani Enterprises Ltd is aiming to start production at its $16 billion integrated mining project in Australia by end of 2020, after facing a four-year delay because of stiff resistance from environmental groups. In an interview, group chairman Gautam Adani brushed aside concerns about the group’s indebtedness and said it was looking at investment opportunities in sectors such as defence, coal conversions and water. He added that the group continues to explore opportunities in the mining sector as it looks at an integrated “pit-to-plug” strategy encompassing mines, rail and the port sector. “Infra is a capital intensive business. At group level, our long-term debt to Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) is at a comfortable level of 3.25:1. Overall, for infra business, we are robustly placed,” said Adani, 54.

Major ship management centre Khaleeja Times Cyprus is today a fully-fledged maritime centre, combining both a sovereign flag and a resident shipping industry, which is renowned for its high-quality services and standards of safety. Cyprus is considered as one of the leading third-party ship management centres in the world. A significant number of ship management companies have been established in the country and manage a sizeable proportion of the local merchant fleet as well as a large number of vessels under foreign flags. Cyprus, with its long maritime tradition, enjoys a leading role in the international shipping scene, by holding third place within the European Union (EU) merchant fleets and the 11th worldwide, while having a leading role as well as a major ship management centre.

500th Neopanamax Transits Panama Canal World Maritime News Less than six months after the inauguration of the Expanded Panama Canal, the waterway welcomed its 500th transit of a Neopanamax ship on December 14, 2016. The YM Unity, an 8,204 TEU containership owned by Greek-based shipping company Navios Maritime Partners, performed the 500th transit. Built by South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries in 2006, the YM Unity measures 335.7 meters in length and 42.8 meters in beam. The ship is traveling from Asia and will stop at Colon Container Terminal in Panama before heading to US ports, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) said. The vessel began traversing through the Cocoli Locks in the Pacific and then headed north towards the Agua Clara Locks.

More Indians taking cruise holidays this year-end DNA Cruising may be a fledgling industry in India, but Indians are beginning to enjoy the view from the upper deck. With stakeholders betting big on the Indian market, there is a sudden surge in Indian passengers boarding the luxury liners. Industry sources reveal that 40% of the passengers who have booked a cruise from Mumbai are Indians. This is indeed encouraging for an industry that remained in calm waters till recently. According to Mumbai Port officials, 59 luxury liners will make a beeline to the port this season. Of these, 44 will be having 'Port of Call 'and the rest 15 'Turnaround Operation'. Port of call is an en route stoppage for a ship on its journey as compared to 'Turnaround Operation' wherein the itinerary of the ship starts and ends at the port. Last year, Mumbai hosted 37 ships and 40 in the previous year.