Thursday 19 January 2017

DAILY SHIPPING NEWS - THURSDAY JANUARY 19, 2017

Air Freight News :

Cargo demand at Schiphol reaches record levels in 2016.
·         Amsterdam Schiphol Airport saw cargo volumes reach record levels in 2016, with demand to Asia and e-commerce volumes leading the way.
The airport, which is the third busiest in Europe by cargo volumes, saw demand increase by 2.5% on 2015 levels to reach 1.7m tonnes.  In December, demand improved by 10.4% on a year earlier to reach 149,000 tonnes.
The demand improvement is a reflection of general market growth, with Airports Council International Europe estimating that airport demand in the region improved by 3.5% year on year during the first 11 months of 2016.
Asia remains Schiphol’s largest market, with Shanghai, the busiest destination, and new direct flights launched to Xi’an and Ningbo, both in China.  Another trend at the airport was a switch from direct services to China, to those transiting via other European hubs
Finnair opts for ECS Group in Southeast Asia.
·         Finnair has selected ECS Group as its new general sales and services agent covering six southeast Asian markets.
Under the contract, ECS Group will market, promote and sell cargo products on behalf of Finnair on its passenger flights operating from several destinations across Asia into its European and North American network.
The countries that ECS will cover on behalf of Finnair are Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Cambodia as well as extending the current main contract for Singapore.  Finnair operates two daily flights from Bangkok, daily flights from Hong Kong and five flights a week from Singapore.
In addition, Finnair operates flights from Shanghai, Beijing, Chongqing, Xi'an and Guangzhou in China, Incheon in South Korea, and Narita, Nagoya, Osaka and seasonal Fukuoka in Japan.
Finnair fleet mostly consists of Airbus A350s and A330s, which offer a cargo capacity of 15-20 tons per flight.
Cargolux passes GDP renewal audit.
·         Cargolux Airlines has passed its Good Distribution Practice (GDP) renewal audit for handling pharma products to European Union regulatory requirements and of World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines.
In addition, the GDP certification recognises the European all-cargo carrier’s fleet of Boeing 747 freighters with four independently-controlled temperature zones.
The audit also extends to the Luxembourg-based airline’s qualified team of cool chain experts, experienced in the handling of healthcare goods in an effective, end-to-end temperature controlled process.
Cargo revenues and demand down at Delta.
·         Delta Air Lines ended 2016 with declines in both cargo revenues and demand once again. The US airline saw cargo revenues decline by 17.8% year on year during 2016 to $668m, with declines being particularly strong in the first half of the year. Delta also reported revenue declines in 2015 and 2014.
Delta does not provide commentary on the results of its cargo division, but the decline in revenues does reflect the wider industry trend of rate declines for the majority of the year.  Revenue declines also mirror a 9.5% year on year decline in annual demand to 2bn cargo ton miles. On the traffic front Delta has been registering declines ahead of US rivals American and United this year.
Sea Freight News :
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Cabinet approves India-UAE maritime transport and highways pact

IB Times
The cabinet committee on Wednesday approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on institutional cooperation in Maritime Transport. The MoU will set the stage for facilitation and promotion of maritime transport, simplification of customs and other formalities. Additionally, the agreement would also encourage the use of existing installations for waste disposal and enable shipping companies in India and UAE to enter into bilateral and multi-lateral arrangements for sustainable trading activities, the government said in a statement. The cabinet also approved an agreement on bilateral co-operation in the Road, Transport and Highway sector. Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, India and the Federal Transport Authority (Land and Maritime, UAE) together inked the MoU.

Trade partners: boosting US-India maritime cooperation

Ship Technology
It was only a few days after the Indian government announced cargo traffic at twelve of its largest ports was up by 6.2% that a major step forward in US-India maritime cooperation took place. During a week-long trade delegation to the US back in 2016, India’s shipping, road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari met what his office described as “captains of trade and industry” to push forward major investment plans for new ports and new berths and terminals at existing ports. For many, those investment plans can’t come soon enough. While traffic continues to grow - up to 159 million tonnes from 149.74 million in the previous fiscal year - India’s ports remain crippled by problems around infrastructure, connectivity, and low funding. The way non-major ports are used and the low share of inland waterways in moving goods and passengers really obstructs the ecoomy from reaching its full trade potential.

India, Sri Lanka talks to develop Trincomalee port enters final stage

New Indian Express
India and Sri Lanka will soon be finalising an accord to take New Delhi’s help to develop Trincomalee Port in the East of the Island nation, a move seen as Colombo’s attempt at fine balancing India and China. China has pumped in money to develop the Hambantota port in the South and is now said to be investing in Colombo port causing much discomfort in India that sees the Indian Ocean Region as its area of influence. Speaking at the Raisina Dialogue 2017, Sarath Fonseka, Sri Lankan Minister for Regional Development, said Trincomalee is the deepest harbour in South Asia and "things are being finalised" with India to develop the port. Hambantota Port built at a cost of $ 361 million is yet to take off with the port and the Chinese-built airport failing to attract traffic. The project has been funded by loan from Chinese Exim bank and is now becoming a “huge burden” on Sri Lankan economy.

Reliance delivers Panamax bulk carrier to global shipping company

Business Standard
Reliance Defence and Engineering Limited (RDEL), a subsidiary of Reliance Infrastructure Ltd, said on Wednesday that it has delivered a 74,500 deadweight tonne (DWT) new-built Ice-class Panamax bulk carrier to an undisclosed international shipping company. “The company has delivered a 74,500 DWT new-built Ice-class Panamax Bulk Carrier viz. ‘Sea Amber’ on January 17, 2017,” the company said in a media statement. The company in its statement added this is one the largest dry bulk carriers of that class to be built in India. With this, Reliance Shipyard so far has delivered till date seven similar size, Ice-class Panamax vessels to its international customers. “These are the largest dry bulk carriers of their class ever built in India. RDEL is the only Indian Shipyard to achieve this landmark,” the company said in its statement.

Remove infrastructure holdups to put logistics sector on a growth highway

Business Standard
India, a $2 trillion economy has a logistics market size of $ 130 billion and is forecasted to grow to $ 300 billion by 2020. The logistics sector contributes close to 5-6 percent to GDP and the sector has been growing at a CAGR of 11-12 percent. The sector has been growing at 1.5 to 2 times of GDP growth and the real spend on logistics in India is to the tune of is 14.4 percent of GDP which is relatively high as compared to developed economies which is in the tune of 7-8 percent. There is a direct co-relation of economic activity in any country and the logistics and transportation infrastructure. Therefore, modernising the transportation infrastructure along with bringing trade friendly policies becomes inherent to developmental goals. Amongst all the modes, road and rail transport are the most significant.

Cochin Port Trust lines up growth plans

Times of India
Cochin Port Trust (CPT) has announced a slew of measures to generate container traffic and increase revenue. CPT has announced an outer harbour project next year and it hopes to capitalize on the increasing number of passenger liners, likely to touch port this year, with better passenger amenities and infrastructure facilities. CPT is also aiming for a smart industrial port at the southern end of Willingdon Island to boost business. CPT officials said that IIT-Madras, which is preparing the sedimentation status of the sea, will submit their report by June to the ministry of environment and forests through the environment impact assessment agency L&T Infra. "IIT-Madras is doing the study in three phases: Looking at the real-time data of pre-monsoon, monsoon and post-monsoon periods.

JNPT plans Rs 1,000 cr port on west coast

DNA
Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust's Board has plans to invest a minimum of Rs 1,000 crore as part of its latest expansion plan, wherein it may either build a new port or buy an existing one on the western coast. Even under-construction ports are being considered for acquisition. Apart from that, the port authorities are also considering investment in ancillary facilities that will not only reduce cargo movement on land but also generate higher returns. As per the plan, which is in the initial stages, JNPT wants to explore new investment opportunities on the western coast of India. "We need synergy for our existing port. The new port can preferably be in and around Maharashtra's coastline". "Apart from a port, the investment option that is being explored includes containers, dry ports, or port-related infrastructure such as logistics hubs or ancillary facilities such as wind or solar assets for captive or grid connectivity," read the proposal.

CPT records Rs 96.4-cr operating profit

New Indian Express
The Cochin Port Trust (CPT) recorded an operating profit of Rs 96.4 crore in the eight months till December in the 2016-17 Financial Year (FY). Disclosing this, A V Ramana, chairman (in charge) CPT told reporters in Kochi Wednesday that it expected Rs 128.54 operating profit in the current fiscal. He added that by June 2017, it will get an additional Rs 30 crore from Petronet LNG as the transportation of the gas via road would get under way. The total traffic up to December through Cochin Port was 18.23 MMT and the port expects to touch 23 MMT in 2016-17. The port handled 22.10 MMT cargo in 2015-16, Ramana said. “The operating income up until December 2016-17 was Rs 367.27 crore and the total expenditure was Rs 270.87 crore. We expect to clock Rs 129 crore operating profit this fiscal. CPT had handled 3.67 lakh TEUs of container till December.

South Korean SM Line to launch new services 'from the ashes of Hanjin'

The Load Star
South Korean conglomerate Samra Midas Group (SMG) has applied to the US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) to start a new transpacific container service. Branded SM Line, it would begin operating in April, deploying a fleet of five 6,500 teu vessels. Addressing a meeting of the National Retail Federation (NRF) in New York on Monday, commissioner William Doyle said executives from SMG had visited the FMC to discuss its application. Mr Doyle told delegates SM Line was proposing to operate a liner service between Shanghai and Ningbo in China, Busan in South Korea and Long Beach on the US west coast “from the ashes of Hanjin”. “In addition,” said Mr Doyle, “SM Line intends to operate eight intra-Asia services between China, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, India, Pakistan, Indonesia and other countries.”

Who is afraid of GST?

Forbes India
Since the announcement that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is likely to come into effect from July 2017, businesses have been scurrying for cover and are particularly worried about the sweeping nature of reforms that the GST seeks to bring in. Start-ups and SMEs are naturally concerned as they usually don’t have the financial wherewithal to deal with such large-scale changes. India has, of late, seen a boom in the start-up culture, especially in the IT industry. A Nasscom report recently found that India has 3,100 start-ups, the fourth highest internationally. The numbers could go up to as many as 11,500 by 2020. A majority of such start-ups (85 per cent) fail to flourish due to several reasons such as lack of funds, institutional support, etc.

Suzuki starts exporting India-made Gixxer to Japan

Financial Express
Suzuki Motor Corp.’s Indian unit Suzuki Motorcycle India Pvt. Ltd on Wednesday announced exports of its locally made flagship bike Gixxer to Japan, its home country. “The first consignment of made in India Gixxer motorcycles has already left India for Japanese shores where customers await them,” the company said in a statement. The company exports Gixxer to other countries in Latin America and some surrounding countries, its managing director Satoshi Uchida, said. “We are confident that the Gixxer will be well accepted by Japanese consumer as well,” he added. The Gixxer is powered by a 155cc, single cylinder, air cooled engine with a five-speed gearbox.

DP World takes control of Saint John container terminal

Hellenic Shipping News
The fourth largest container company in the world, DP World, has officially taken over operations of the west side container terminal at Port Saint John, about six months after a 30-year lease was signed between the port and company. The goal is to grow the business and two massive cranes, now ready for use, are expected to be a big part of that growth. “These cranes will really help us to not only meet the needs of current vessel owners that call the port throughout the tidal range but also be able to work with larger ships. Up to twice or maybe even three times the size of ships that are calling the port today,” said Curtis Doiron, general manager of DP World in Saint John. Doiron believes there is great potential to do even greater things in the port city.

Cosco Shipping in talks to acquire OOCL

Seatrade Maritime
China Cosco Shipping Corporation Limited (Cosco Shipping) is reportedly a contender to buy Hong Kong-based Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) in a deal valued at more than $4bn, Wall Street Journal reported. The market has been rifted with speculations that OOCL, the container arm of Orient Overseas International Limited (OOIL) could be up for sale amid the ongoing consolidation of the global container shipping sector. The media report wrote that state-owned Cosco Shipping is in the process of preparing a bid valued at more than $4bn to acquire its competitor OOCL. Cosco Shipping Lines, the container arm of Cosco Shipping, and OOCL are members of the Ocean Alliance that is scheduled to start operations in April this year.

Global shipping prices are staging a major comeback and here's why

CNBC
The CEO of the world's largest shipping firm by capacity has given his unique insight into the rebound seen in global shipping prices in the last few months. Speaking to CNBC Wednesday the World Economic Forum in Davos, Søren Skou, the chief executive officer of Maersk Group, told CNBC on Wednesday the global freight index for container shipping had more than doubled in the last nine months months. "It's simply driven by the fact that the carriers have taken a lot of capacity out of the market," he said. "They are losing significant sums of money every day, and continuing to do that and continuing to do that is simply not sustainable. Today, about 5 percent of the global container fleet is actually idle. That has helped to support prices." "We and others were surprised by the fact global trade not growing nearly as much as one would have expected five years ago."


X-PRESS FEEDERS Annuncement

X-Press Feeders are pleased to announce that w.e.f 21st January 2017 we will recommence a weekly service from Far East to Chennai taking slots on ACS service. The service offers weekly calls in the likes of Korea(Pusan), Shanghai, South China (Hong Kong & Yantian) and Manila, and boosts a very good transit time between Straits(Singapore & Port Klang) & East Coast of India (Chennai & Kattupalli).

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