Adani Ports considering acquisitions in India, abroad Live Mint Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd, India’s biggest private port operator, is looking to complete its “string of pearls” ports strategy by plugging gaps that remain in a few coastal states. In addition, the company is also eyeing overseas acquisitions. The company, part of billionaire Gautam Adani-led infrastructure conglomerate Adani Group, is actively looking at acquisitions, two company executives said, adding that chief executive officer Karan Adani is leading the drive. Karan is Gautam Adani’s son and took charge of Adani Ports on 1 January. In India, the company is looking to expand its presence in Maharashtra and West Bengal. In overseas markets, the company is scouting for port opportunities in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the US and Europe, apart from the ports planned in Australia. “The overall objective is to make the group a trans-shipment port company,” one of the executives cited above said on condition of anonymity.

Planned Colachel port could recapture India transshipment cargo JOC A new deep-sea container transshipment terminal at Colachel on the southwestern coast of India should be able to capture a significant portion of domestic cargo currently relayed over other hub ports in the region, especially Sri Lanka’s Port of Colombo, a preliminary feasibility study for the port project shows. A report by Typsa Group and Boston Consulting Group, two global management consulting firms, found that transshipment traffic via the proposed facility should go up from 700,000 twenty-foot-equivalent units in 2020 to 2.8 million TEUs by 2025 and to 3.9 million TEUs by 2030. The consulting consortium was hired by V.O. Chidambaranar Port Trust, also known as Tuticorin, to determine the location and design of the new terminal, as well as to evaluate the long-term viability of the project. The study recommended that the project be set up at Enayam, near Colachel, which offers a natural water depth of 20 meters (about 66 feet) and is close to the busy Suez route. Logistics Chennai,International Freight Forwarders in Chennai, Custom Clearance Agents in Chennai , Checkout http://www.jupiterseaair.com

Container volumes grow 7 per cent in January: IPA Economic Times Container volumes at major ports jumped 7% in January this year on a year on year comparison says the recent data by Indian Ports Association (IPA). Among various regions, South-based ports showed healthu volumes. Ports at Chennai, Tuticorin and Vizag recorded 6%, 26% and 39% respectively on a year on year comparison. According to a report by Axis Securities, "Aggregate cargo volume at major ports grew 5% YoY in Jan (up 3.4% YTD), which was driven by 23% growth in Iron ore and 9% rise in Coal volumes, while fertilizer volumes declined 23%." The report states, " While near term growth for Container Corporation (CCRI) and Gateway Distriparks (GDPL) may remain muted, we are optimistic on their medium term growth prospects given healthy expansion plans across strategic locations.

Budget 2016: Construction of ports should be exempted from service tax payment for reviewing the sector First Post ‘Make in India’ has been poised as one of the most ambitious programs launched by our Honorable Prime Minister, pledging lower barriers to doing business and promoting foreign investment, thereby transforming Asia’s third largest economy into a manufacturing powerhouse like China. However to support the ‘Make in India’ campaign, India needs enhanced infrastructure facilities which includes effective and efficient connectivity between ports, better road and rail connectivity between ports and plants and initiatives from the government to create more facilities to enable the seamless inward and outward movement of goods. In an economy, for any manufacturing or trade activity to breed and grow, robust backing of equally efficient infrastructure and logistics sector plays an extremely critical role. Ports are economic multipliers, as they induce factors in development of an area thus providing space for industrial clusters.

Simatech leads in Gulf feedering Seatrade Maritime Dubai’s Simatech Shipping claims to be the largest feedering player in the Gulf and is continuing to grow despite concerns over the impact of the low oil price on volumes. “I can say we are leading the market. I would say we have around 30% market share in Jebel Ali, if not more,” Simatech MD CF George, told Seatrade Maritime News in an exclusive interview. George estimates fleet capacity utilisation at between 80-90%. “We always have a policy to keep extra tonnage available, so that we don’t need to say no to customers.” He fears that volumes and rates will go down this year as low oil prices hit the market. “Major projects could be delayed or suspended. Nobody whom I have met recently has made any positive remarks on what is going to happen in 2016, [but] everybody is hoping Iran opens up.” During 2015, George said Simatech handled 1.63m teu at Jebel Ali, growth of 11% compared to 2014. Logistics Chennai,International Freight Forwarders in Chennai, Custom Clearance Agents in Chennai , Checkout http://www.jupiterseaair.com

Asia Climate Partners invests in cold chain logistics firm ColdEX Live Mint ColdEX’s customers include the likes of Mondelez India Foods Ltd, Burger King Corp., Yum! Brands, Starbucks Corp., and Amul. ColdEX Logistics Pvt. Ltd, which runs a fleet of 850 refrigerated trucks known as reefers, has agreed to sell a stake in itself to private equity fund Asia Climate Partners for an undisclosed sum. As part of the deal, Asia Climate Partners, backed by the Asian Development Bank and ORIX Corp. of Japan, will also buy a stake held by another private equity firm, India Equity Partners, which acquired the stake in ColdEX in December 2010. With Asia Climate Partners coming on board, this would be the second round of institutional investment in the company. The cold chain company did not disclose details of the stake sale. Cold chain refers to the transportation and storage of products such as meat, dairy, fruits, vegetables, drugs and medicines under temperature-controlled conditions in order to increase their shelf life.

Why GST needs to pass in Budget:A warehousing sector perspective Money Control Given the importance of Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill for several industries, its passage in this Budget season assumes far greater importance than ever before. It will not only test Modi government’s floor management skills in the Parliament but also show its seriousness on pushing ahead with economic reforms. GST will provide a big push to the manufacturing as well as warehousing and logistics sectors in India and is touted to have the potential of adding 1-2 percent to the country's gross domestic product (GDP), from about a year after it is rolled out. GST is built into the value-added structure that would eliminate the cascading effect of taxes (tax on tax) and is expected to boost tax collection by making compliances easy and also reduce overall taxation levels. According to a World Bank analysis, India is gearing to move up the logistics performance index (LPI) from its 54th rank in 2014 among 160 countries.

Infra sector: issues and expectations Live Mint Revival of the infrastructure sector has been one of the priorities of the National Democratic Alliance government over the past 20 months. The government has increased public investment in infrastructure, announced measures to address issues impeding the sector, such as access to long-term funding, inequitable risk allocation in public-private partnership (PPP) projects, adequate institutional capacity, and so on. Sector-specific policies, such as permitting 100% equity divestment after two years of completion for all national highway PPP projects and a one-time fund infusion to revive and complete such projects that are languishing have also been put in place.Key issues faced by the sector in the past few years relate to funding, the financial situation of their developers, and inflation pressures. Overcoming such challenges will take a long time. Logistics Chennai,International Freight Forwarders in Chennai, Custom Clearance Agents in Chennai , Checkout http://www.jupiterseaair.com

Scanning at ports sought to block arms as deal with Myanmar soon The Financial Express-BD The home ministry seeks mandatory scanning of incoming goods and persons at seaports before their entry into Bangladesh under a proposed coastal shipping agreement with Myanmar, officials said. The deal is part of a move for waterway connectivity with littoral countries. After examining a draft deal prepared by the Ministry of Shipping (MoS), the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) has made the recommendation to block entry of illegal firearms and explosives, they said. "To avoid entry of illegal weapons and explosives modern scanning machines can be installed at the entry point of seaports," the ministry said in its opinion. A senior official at the MoS said the government is giving importance on establishing coastal shipping connectivity with the littoral neighbours-India, Myanmar, the Maldives and Sri Lanka-for promoting trade and tourism.

Forget GST, let’s talk - That should be the objective of the Budget session Financial Express Given the heightened tension over the bungling at JNU and the aftermath of the Jat agitation, the Budget session will most likely be another washout with few Bills getting passed. Yet, the government has done well to try and calm things. While prime minister Narendra Modi’s presence at the all-party meeting last week was one signal, Rajya Sabha chairman Hamid Ansari also met senior political leaders to ensure ‘more discussions and fewer disruptions’. The most significant move by government, though, was choosing West Bengal finance minister Amit Mitra as the chairman of the empowered committee of state finance ministers on GST. The West Bengal finance minister has taken over from Kerala finance minister KM Mani, who had to resign in November last year due to the corruption charges, and is the second chairman of the empowered committee from West Bengal. Logistics Chennai,International Freight Forwarders in Chennai, Custom Clearance Agents in Chennai , Checkout http://www.jupiterseaair.com

Container freight market hit by ‘exceptionally weak’ demand, as idle capacity undermines charter earnings Hellenic Shipping News The latest Container Shipping Forecaster from Maritime Strategies International reports ‘flickers of improvement’ in February after an opening to the year which saw 1.3m teu of capacity idle, freight rates struggling and the charter market on its knees. Having suffered a torrid end to 2015, liner companies finally managed to produce some upwards movement in freight rates, albeit as a result of the slower erosion of the massive General Rate Increase imposed on January 1. As of mid-February freight rates on the China-North Europe route were assessed at $431/TEU by the Shanghai Shipping Exchange, a level suggesting little positive momentum. However, since the period immediately after Lunar New Year is normally challenging for the freight markets, MSI cautions that how the freight markets develop over the first weeks of March will provide a better indicator as to the likely tone of 2016.

Budget 2016 can boost commodities business Economic Times The announcement of the Sebi-FMC merger in the last budget gave a policy boost to commodity markets. An empowered regulator and the introduction of commodity derivatives under the definition of securities in the SCRA are bold moves to drive commodity markets growth. The forthcoming budget can take this to its logical conclusion by addressing three key issues. The first, and most important, is the matter of CTT (Commodities Transaction Tax). Since it was levied, exchange volumes have fallen by 60% leading to low liquidity and making it difficult for the market to meet its key objectives of price discovery and efficient risk mitigation. It has also encouraged ‘dabba’ trading, variously estimated to be between 3 and 10 times of exchange volumes – and generating negative revenue to government in addition to allied social ills.