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Tuesday, 8 March 2016

Govt relaxes cabotage rules to boost transhipment

Business Standard
To promote transhipment at Indian ports, the Union shipping ministry has allowed some relaxations in cabotage rules. Cabotage is the transport of goods or passengers between two places in the same country, usually along a coast. Transhipment is the movement of goods and containers to an intermediate destination, usually to be transferred to another place on another mode of transport. At present, Indian ports are not popular transhipment destinations, losing out to Colombo, Dubai or Singapore. Now, ports with less than 50 per cent of its cargo being containers can become transhipment hubs. This will be applicable to Exim-laden or empty containers only. Any new or existing container port handling transhipment traffic can apply for the relaxation to the Directorate General of Shipping, said the ministry. The directorate general will grant a relaxation for a year for an old port and two years for a new one.

Govt to speed up port clearances

Times of India
The government is lining up a series of steps to cut the time for clearing export and import consignments by half and help reduce the transaction time for Indian traders. A World Bank study has ranked India 133rd among over 180 countries in trading across borders. An exporter on an average spends nearly 150 hours or over six days in completing documentary and border compliance rules including clearances from port, customs and other regulatory formalities to get his consignment cleared, while for importers the time taken is close to 380 hours or nearly 16 days. Although the customs authorities maintained that the Ease of Doing Business Rankings overstate the problem, the Narendra Modi government has started moving ahead to reform the systems. A cabinet secretary-appointed panel headed by commerce secretary Rita Teaotia, which met on Tuesday.

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Govt to sell 5% stake in Concor tomorrow; may get Rs 1,165 crore

DNA
Government on Wednesday to sell 5% stake in Container Corporations of India (Concor) at a base price of Rs 1,195 a piece, which may fetch it an estimated Rs 1,165 crore. The floor price for the Offer For Sale (OFS) is 2.58% below the company's current share price, which closed at Rs 1,226.65 on the BSE on Tuesday. In a regulatory filing, the company said the government will sell up to 97,48,710 shares, representing 5% stake, tomorrow for non-retail investors, while retail investors can bid in the share sale a day after. "20% of the offer size shall be reserved for retail investors," the filing said. Retail investors would be allocated shares at a 5% discount to the cut-off price. Such investors can bid for shares worth up to Rs 2 lakh. "No single bidder other than mutual funds and insurance companies shall be allocated more than 25% of the offer shares," the company said.

Just not enough, gripe exporters

Business Standard
Exporters, while waiting for the global downturn in commodities to pass, feel the government could have done more in the recent Union Budget to stem the continuous slide in export. Merchandise export fell in January for a 14th month in a row. Major foreign exchange earners such as petroleum products and engineering items continue to contract, due to softening prices and subdued demand globally. Trade experts warn against optimism for February, too, with China’s services and manufacturing growth in decline. While the recent Budget scores on socio-economic and infrastructure spending, plus more ‘ease in doing business’ the FIEO is disappointed at the lack of immediate relief. Only widening the scope of duty drawback and the promise to continue supporting exporters through earlier declared incentives like interest subvention and the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme was not enough, it said.

Lenders may sell majority stake in ABG Shipyard

Live Mint
Lenders to ABG Shipyard Ltd are in talks with an investor to sell a majority stake in India’s largest private shipbuilding company as part of the strategic debt restructuring (SDR) invoked by them in December, according to two bankers familiar with the development. “There are not too many buyers that have come up for this stake buy as the shipping sector is presently going through a tough period. We are in talks with a financial investor from Vietnam for a majority stake sale,” said one of the bankers cited above, requesting anonymity as the talks are confidential. ABG Shipyard’s executive director and chief financial officer did not respond to calls and text messages seeking comments. The SDR was invoked after the firm did not find a potential strategic investor on its own, said the second banker cited above.

MSC adds Hazira to India-Africa service

JOC
Mediterranean Shipping Co. has expanded the port rotation of its India-South Africa service by introducing a direct call at Hazira, a privately-operated cargo complex on India’s west coast, in an attempt to pick up additional hinterland cargo. The fixed-day, weekly service employs a fleet of six vessels, each with a capacity of around 6,500 twenty-foot-equivalent units. The MSC Valencia, voyage IZ 611R, will make the first call at Adani Hazira Container Terminal on April 9, the Geneva-based carrier said in a trade advisory. The upgraded port rotation will be as follows: Salalah, Oman; Jebel Ali, United Arab Emirates; Bin Qasim, Pakistan; Mundra, Nhava Sheva (Jawaharlal Nehru Port) and Hazira, India; Colombo, Sri Lanka; Port Louis, Mauritius; Durban and Coega, South Africa; and back to Salalah. The new mainline call adds further momentum to Hazira’s rapidly rising volume growth.

Master planning takes off for port based zone at Dhamra

Business Standard
The state government has initiated the task of preparing the master plan for developing a port based manufacturing zone at Dhamra. The cost of developing infrastructure for the proposed zone is pegged at Rs 3,100 crore. Of this, the Government of India is set to contribute Rs 1,844 crore while the balance Rs 1,256 crore will be borne by the state government The zone is planned on 7,500 acres of land. "The master plan is being prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). It is expected to be readied in three months", said a government official. Pilot project has been approved by the Department of Economic Affairs, Government of India as port based manufacturing zone under PPP (public private partnership) for Regional Integrated Development of Enterprises. It is envisioned as an economic hub for port based manufacturing enterprises in the Asia-Pacific region.

VPT proposes elevated corridor from VCTPL to Convent Junction

The Hindu
Visakhapatnam Port Trust has mooted construction of an elevated freight corridor from VCTPL near Fishing Harbour to Convent Junction to decongest city roads. A flyover up to a length of eight km is proposed to decongest traffic via Three Horse Junction, St. Aloysius School Junction and seven-metre high compound wall of the port. “The funding for the project will be sought under Sagarmala project,” VPT Chairman M.T. Krishna Babu told The Hindu. According to preliminary estimates, the project will involve an expenditure of Rs. 200 crore. The five-road connecting Convent Junction has been identified as an accident-prone area due to heavy traffic. Once heavy vehicles carrying freight are separated, it will pave the way for free flow of traffic. Mr. Krishna Babu said Sagarmala, one of the thrust areas of the Central government, aims at reducing logistic cost by strengthening linkages for faster evacuation of cargo.

Barc innovation to help biodegradation of perishable cargo

Business Standard
A solution developed by premier research establishment Barc is all set to help the logistics sector tackle the problem of dealing with abandoned containers having perishable cargo. Barc has tied up with APM Terminals Inland Services South Asia for implementing the solution, a statement said today. "Container freight stations and inland container depots witness frequent cases of abandonment of containers carrying perishable cargo like chocolates, fruits, vegetables, nuts, spices, meat and beverages," it said. The "in-situ biodegradation" developed by Barc scientists enables natural decomposition of stale perishable cargo within the container right inside the container freight station, as against the requirement of transporting the cargo to a specially approved facility, it said. The solution also restricts the carbon dioxide emissions, it added.

Chennai port to be made preferred cruise destination

Deccan Chronicle
The Union shipping and tourism ministries initiative to develop cruise and coastal tourism is likely to place the Chennai port in an unenviable position in terms of attracting greater cruise traffic in the coming months. Aiming to roll out red carpet to receive scores of visitors from the sea, the authorities have developed the Cruise Passenger Facilitation Centre at the existing Passenger Terminal at Chennai Port at a cost of Rs 16.72 crores provided by the Union tourism ministry. The terminal which will become operational from this April has numerous facilities including escalators, passport baggage scanners, duty free shops, media centres, customs and immigration clearance facilities, first aid and food court facilities.

New import duty likely to hit cashew kernel exports

Financial Express
The export of cashew kernel from India is likely to suffer further with the recent Budget imposing an import duty on raw cashew. The domestic cashew industry is already under stress with the Union government reducing export incentives from 5% to 3 % some time earlier. India produces 6-7 million tonne (mt) of raw cashew per annum and was until recently the leading supplier of kernels to the global market. India has to import more than half of its requirement of raw cashew due to the poor productivity of its cashew plantations. Indian productivity is lower by three to four times of Vietnam’s. The Budget has imposed a 9.36% duty on the import of raw cashew nuts that comes into effect from March 1. This is the first time that raw cashew has been subjected to import duty.

Monday, 7 March 2016

Government eyes Rs 25,000 crore annual savings through coastal shipping

Economic Times
Government is eyeing annual savings of Rs 25,000 crore on logistics costs by 2025 by promoting coastal shipping under its ambitious Sagarmala project. Sagarmala aims at promoting port-led development by harnessing the country's 7,500-km long coastline, 14,500-km of potentially navigable waterways and strategic location on key international maritime trade routes. "Across all commodities, coastal shipping volumes could grow to 5-6 times of current levels to about 400-480 million tonnes (MT) by 2025. This would save logistics costs of about Rs 25,000 crore per annum," a blueprint on Sagarmala unveiled by the government said. Coastal shipping volume at present is about 80 MT. Logistic costs account for a large part of the country's non-services GDP compared to benchmarks of 8-10 per cent for developed nations, it said.

Govt panel to meet tomorrow on ways to fast-track exports

DNA
Concerned over continuous decline in exports, a committee of top officials including from commerce and shipping ministries will meet on Tuesday to discuss ways to fast-track clearance processes and improve ease of doing business to boost shipments. The meeting will be chaired by Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia. The committee would deliberate on facilitating implementation of measures for fast tracking the regime for export and import clearances besides other trade facilitation steps, an official said. It would also work on ways to expedite the progress of e-trade and its various components like creating paperless and contact free approval environment for export and import clearances. The committee to facilitate trading across borders and fast tracking of export import clearances was constituted last month by the Prime Minister's Office.

Sagarmala Project Intensifies

Port Technology
In order to connect India's sea, coastal and river ports and to relieve congestion on its roads, reduce logistics costs, and ensure a more environmentally friendly transport model, the Indian government is set to invest US$60 billion into its Sagarmala Programme, which will involve a total of 150 projects throughout the next 10 years, according to IHS Fairplay. In a statement, the Indian Shipping Ministry said: "These projects include capacity augmentation at existing ports and [the] development of five to six new ports including a transhipment hub." Manish Saigal, Managing Director of port and logistics tracking company Alvarez & Marsal India, said: "To attract private and foreign investment, however, there must be a package of financial incentives. “Existing inland waterways have not been able to attract significant cargo volumes, shipping lines look at volumes. This aspect needs to be addressed.”

2 mega port projects set to get cabinet nod this week

Economic Times
Two mega port projects entailing an initial investment of about Rs 15,000 crore are likely to get the Cabinet's approval this week. The ports are proposed to be built in Colachel in Tamil Nadu and Dahanu in Maharashtra under the public-private partnership or PPP model. "These two projects are likely to get Cabinet clearance this week. Two more major port proposals, one in Sagar in Maharashtra and another in Andhra Pradesh, will be sent for the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs' clearance next month," a senior shipping ministry official said. India's 12 major ports handle close to 600 million tonnes of cargo traffic. The government has set a target of doubling this in the next five years.The Colachel port in south Tamil Nadu is envisaged as a southern gateway of trans-shipment in the country. The port will have an initial investment of Rs 6,000 crore for phase I.

Export organisations say proposals for Budget not heeded by Centre

Business Standard
Even while domestic exporters wait for global downturn in commodities to pass, many feel the government could have announced more steps in the recent Budget to stem the continuous slide in exports. India's merchandise exports fell for the 14th consecutive month in January with major foreign exchange earners like petroleum products and engineering products continuing to contract, due to softening prices and subdued demands globally. Trade experts warn against optimism for February as well since China has not been able to pick up services or manufacturing growth. While the recent Budget by finance minister Arun Jaitley scored high on socio-economic and infrastructure spending aimed at long term economic growth and ease in doing business, industry bodies like the Federation of Indian Exports Organization are disappointed over the lack of immediate relief measures.

VPT mulls setting up of dry ports in Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Odisha

The Hindu
Visakhapatnam Port Trust, which is on an expansion mode, is contemplating setting up of Inland Container Depots in Telangana, Chhattisgarh and Odisha to transform the premier port under the Central Government into a container hub. The States concerned have been informed through letters about the intention of the VPT for which the Ministry of Shipping has given in-principle consent. The plan is to acquire land to an extent of around 200 to 400 acres each in Hyderabad, Raipur (Chhattisgarh) and Jharsuguda (Odisha) and develop required facilities to convert them into ‘dry ports.’ “As logistic cost will come down substantially if containers from the three States are transported to the City of Destiny by rail to ensure faster evacuation of cargo, it is considered a most viable option,” Visakhapatnam Port Chairman M.T. Krishna Babu told The Hindu on Monday.

Stage set for waterways in AP

The Hans India
Inland water transport is going to be a reality soon in River Krishna. The Inland Waterways Authority of India is planning to finalise the tenders to develop waterways from Muktyala to Amaravati within 15 days. The 85-km long waterways would help transport cement at cheaper price as majority of cement industries are located on the border of Krishna and Nalgonda districts. Tenders to be finalised within 15 days to develop inland waterways from Muktyala to Amaravati. CM Naidu sees tremendous potential for goods transportation through waterways. The survey for developing water transport was already completed. The successful bidders have to identify the waterways in Krishna river as it is necessary to maintain 2.5 metres depth and 50 metres width for sailing of 1,000 tonnes capacity barge. Speaking to The Hans India, IWAI deputy director V Sridhar said once the tenders are finalised,

Major India ports post modest container growth

JOC
India’s major ports booked a 2.6 percent increase in container volumes in the first 11 fiscal months compared with the same period the prior fiscal year, the newest provisional port figures show. The 12 public landlord ports handled a combined throughput of 7.45 million 20-foot-equivalent units from April 2015 through February, up from 7.26 million TEUs during the corresponding period of fiscal 2014-15. Total containerized cargo tonnage in the 11-month period was up 2.8 percent year-over-year to 112 million tons. Of that, JNPT accounted for 4.1 million TEUs, edging up 0.6 percent from 4.08 million TEUs during April 2014 to February 2015, but that was way below the port authority’s forecast of 4.39 million TEUs for the first 11 fiscal months. The combined impact of off-and-on disruptions and weaker global demand is believed to have dragged down throughput growth at India’s largest, public container handler.

Indian Budget Proposals for Maritime Sector

Marine Link
Finance Ministry Arun Jaitley in Union Budget for financial 2016-17 (Apr-Mar) has announced imposition of 14% service tax on services provided by domestic shipping companies transporting goods from outside India. “The service tax on services provided by shipping companies by way of transportation of goods by a vessel from outside India up to the customs station in India will be 14% with effect from 1 June, 2016,” said the Budget. Shipping Corporation of India, Mercator and Great Eastern Shipping among others are some of the top domestic shipping companies. The Modi government has allocated Rs 800 crore next fiscal year for development of new ports and ongoing work on its National Waterways project, Arun Jaitley said. "In 2015, India's major ports have handled the highest ever quality of cargo. We have also added the highest ever capacity in major ports.

WTO pact: Centre to implement single window customs clearance

Business Line
India will operationalise single window customs clearance from April 1 and allow deferred payments to importers as part of a trade facilitation pact of the World Trade Organisation. “The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) is already working on a pilot for single window customs clearance at 13 air and sea ports in the country. We hope to roll it out from April 1 and we will gradually expand it to all ports,” said Najib Shah, Chairman, CBEC. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had in the Budget proposed to amend the Customs Act to provide for deferred payment of customs duties for importers and exporters with proven track record as well as implement the Indian Customs Single Window Project. Importers will be able to get clearance from most regulators including food safety, plant quarantine, textiles and drugs through the new mechanism, which will also cut down their dwell time by 50- 60 per cent.

Vizag Port cruising towards handling 58 million tonnes by March, 31.

The Hindu
The slump in economy notwithstanding, Visakhapatnam Port is all set to retain fifth slot in the country by either surpassing or finishing close to last year’s cargo of 58 million tonne by March 31. “The market is very dull this time. All the major and non-major ports in the East Coast have handled five per cent less cargo than the previous year whereas we have so far recorded 1.3 per cent less,”Port Chairman M.T. Krishna Babu told The Hindu on Monday. The reason for the dismal scenario despite capacity addition by some ports is attributed to almost nil steel exports after China flooded the domestic markets with cheap products following glut and drastic fall in coking coal imports. Due to situation in China, exports of iron ore fell steeply. Container traffic has gone up by five lakh tonne. Other commodities like break cargo went up by two million. “All this made it possible to put up a reasonably good performance by us,” Mr. Krishna Babu pointed out.

V.O. Chidambaranar Port sets Container handling record

Business Standard
V.O.C Port has achieved a momentous landmark in container handling by surpassing the previous financial years container traffic of 5,59,727 TEUs by handling 5,61,586 TEUs 25 days ahead of the close of the current financial. This year, upto 6th March 2016, the Port has maintained an impressive growth at 9.36 percent as compared with the same period of last financial year. It is notable that V.O.C Port offers the fastest transshipment time to Colombo among all Indian Ports. At present there are two Container Terminals in V.O.C Port. Berth No.7 with a capacity of 4.17 lakh TEUs is being operated by PSA SICAL. The Terminal commissioned under BOT basis on 21.12.1999 operates 8 services a week, of which 6 services are operated between Tuticorin and Colombo, 1 Coastal service and 1 international cum coastal service connecting Tuticorin Colombo Mundra Jebel Ali Mundra Pipavav Cochin and Tuticorin.

Salalah Port Inks Iran Deals

Marine Link
Oman's top port Salalah has signed trade agreements with key Iranian terminals in the latest efforts by the Gulf country to boost shipping ties with Tehran following the lifting of international sanctions. Measures against Iran were lifted in January as part of a nuclear deal with world powers, ending years of isolation which saw the international shipping sector cut ties and disrupt supplies to import-dependent Iran. The United Arab Emirates previously enjoyed greater shipping activity with Iran but ports in Oman are looking at expanding ties. Salalah, located near the Gulf of Aden, said on Monday it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Iran's biggest cargo port Bandar Abbas and with Chabahar port, which would "facilitate growth in shipping, trade and commerce" between the two countries.

Mega-ships come under fire for hiking supply chain costs

JOC
Container lines have been accused of raising costs across the global supply chain — from cargo terminals to hinterland transport — as they pursue economies of scale through the deployment of increasing numbers of mega-ships. The maximum size of container vessels has doubled in the past decade, considerably reducing carriers’ own costs but imposing additional costs on shippers and other players in the transport chain, according to Chris Welsh, secretary-general of the Global Shippers Forum, an industry lobby. While most industries evolve, container shipping innovates in “big chunks” and the rest of the supply chain “can’t keep up,” Welsh told the International Cargo Handling and Coordination Association conference here.

Exporters miffed at budget's inability to stem steady slide

Business Standard
Even while domestic exporters wait for the global downturn in commodities to pass, many feel the government could have announced more steps in the recent budget to stem the continuous slide in exports. India's merchandise exports fell for the 14th consecutive month in January with major foreign exchange earners like petroleum products and engineering products continuing to contract, due to softening prices and subdued demands globally. Trade experts warn against optimism for February as well since China's services and manufacturing growth remain negative. While the recent budget by finance minister Arun Jaitley scored high on socio-economic and infrastructure spending aimed at long term economic growth and ease in doing business, industry bodies like the FIEO are disappointed over the lack of immediate relief measures.

CPT gets Chairman in-charge

Shipping Ministry appointed Cyril C. George as in-charge of Chairman of Chennai Port Trust on Monday, an official release stated. Mr. George, who is Deputy Chairman of the port, assumed the additional charge on the Monday. He has been Deputy Chairman and Chairman In-charge of Mormugao Port Trust.

Tuesday, 23 February 2016

Sri Lanka offers discount for Myanmar Transshipments, threat from Vizhinjam

Lanka Business Online
Sri Lanka Ports Authority has decided to grant a 10 percent discount on transshipment handling charges of the ship companies who comply to carry out Myanmar transshipment operations through the Colombo port. The decision aims to attract fast growing transshipment industry in Eastern India, Bangladesh and Myanmar, to the Colombo port. Ports Authority said the transshipment volumes at East Indian ports and Bangladesh ports have been increased during last two decades though Singapore still claims the biggest portion. The Authority said the transshipment activities of several deepest ports namely Mundra, JNPT, Hazira and Kochin in Western coastal of India have now divided among several ports. The Authority however says the port of Vizhinjam has a high potential to obtain a significant portion from the transshipment handling market of Western India, Pakistan and in Gulf region.

Ports see growth via car cargo route

Business Standard
This virtually unlocks a huge potential for coastal shipping in India, especially for automobiles cargo, said port authorities. Hyundai Motor India Ltd recently shipped 800 cars made at its Chennai plant to its markets in western India using a roll on-roll off vessel. The cargo was loaded at Chennai Port and it reached Pipavav Port in Gujarat last week. India has already established itself as a major automobile manufacturing hub, with most vehicles sold in the country being made domestically. This necessitates huge cargo movement (by rail and road networks) from the manufacturing clusters (in and around Chennai, Pune, Gujarat and the National Capital Region) to the consumption centres spread across the country. Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) recently shipped 800 cars made at its Chennai plant to its markets in western India using a Roll on-Roll off (Ro-Ro) vessel called MV IDM Symex.

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Port sector to get benefit from several governments initiatives

Live Mint
Indian ports sector plays vital role in fastening the country’s trade and economic growth as Indian ports handles around 95% of nation’s merchandised export-import trade and stands at 16th spot among the maritime countries. Increased import of energy, containerization of export and import cargo and fertilizer agro commodities will continue to grow the cargo volumes at Indian ports. There are 12 Major Ports & 187 Minor/Intermediate ports along the 7,517 kms long coast line of the country. The major ports in the country are Kolkata, Haldia, Paradip, Vishakapatnam, Chennai, Ennore, KandlaTuticorin, Cochin, V.O.Chidambaranar, New Mangalore, Mormugao, Jawaharlal Nehru at Nhava and Mumbai. Between FY07- FY15, cargo traffic grew at CAGR 2.9 per cent Over FY07-15. Cargo traffic during FY15 for solid, liquid, and container cargo was 273, 188.9, and 119.4 MMT, respectively.

Vallarpadam transshipment terminal on pace for record year

JOC
Despite the downturn in global trade, International Container Transshipment Terminal, or Vallarpadam, at India’s Port of Cochin remains well on track to complete a record-setting fiscal 2015-16, which ends March 31, according to the newest port figures. The private terminal, India’s first full-fledged transshipment facility, handled 372,941 twenty-foot-equivalent units from April 2015 through Feb. 22, up 12.6 percent from 331,344 TEUs during the corresponding period the prior fiscal year. An analysis of the data shows January was the most productive month for Vallarpadam during the year, processing 37,692 TEUs, a gain of 28 percent year-over-year.Ship calls reached 579 during the current fiscal year until now, compared with a total of 474 calls at this point of time last fiscal year. As a result, Vallarpadam has already surpassed its annual 2014-15 throughput of 366,376 TEUs and looks to go past 400,000 TEUs for the first time ever.

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Govt. studying proposed TPP agreement

The Hindu
Union Ministry of Commerce is studying the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement and the impact that it would have on Indian trade. The Centre of WTO Studies is also analysing the possible impact of the agreement on India, according to Ravi Capoor, Joint Secretary of Ministry of Commerce and Industry. He was speaking at an outreach programme on Free Trade Agreements signed by FIEO here on Tuesday. The TPP would cover 12 countries and about 35 per cent of the global trade was controlled by these countries. The agreement was expected to be signed in the next one or two years. The Ministry was looking at the possible impact it would have. India had so far signed 16 trade agreements and most of them were with South Asian and African countries. However, only 10 per cent to 12 per cent of the entire trade from the country happened under these agreements. Exporters should make use of these agreements, he said.

State refiners join forces in bid for better Opec oil deals

Live Mint
Indian state refiners are jointly negotiating oil purchase deals with OPEC producers for the first time, as the world’s third biggest consumer seizes on low prices to wrest better terms in a market awash with crude. In a sign of the shift in power from oil sellers to buyers, India is reviewing its import policy at a time when the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) members are focused more on protecting market share than boosting prices that are down some 70% in the last 20 months. While producers have shown no sign yet of willingness to discount long-term price benchmarks, or official selling prices (OSPs), they have discussed concessions on loan terms and shipping that would reduce costs, said Indian industry and government officials familiar with the talks.

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Call for clarity on reforms, GST Bill

Business Line
For the infrastructure sector, the first and foremost expectation from the Budget is clarity in policies and reforms. Implementation of the proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill and consistency in the taxation regime also top the charts. These were among the wishlist of the top representatives of the core infrastructure sector who converged at the pre-Budget roundtable organised jointly by BusinessLine and Bloomberg TV. Michael Thiemann, Chief Executive Officer of the Indian operations at Thyssenkrupp, said: “We are living in the VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity) environment and you have to be fast and flexible. “You should have a strategy, but you should be prepared to change that.” There should be ease of doing business, Thiemann said, adding his humble wish was “don’t make too many changes”.

PIL to enhance service covering Africa, Middle East and India

Seatrade Maritime
Pacific International Lines (PIL) will enhance its Africa-Middle East-India (AMI) trade from March, a service to be jointly operated with CMA CGM under a new vessel sharing agreement. The enhanced AMI service will start from Jebel Ali on 4 March, deploying a fleet of eleven 3,500 teu container vessels. “The enhanced AMI service is designed as a market-leading product with wider port coverage, increased frequency and improved transit time for our customers. AMI will provide new direct routing from Middle East and India to Pointe des Galets, Walvis Bay, Luanda, Pointe Noire and Tincan,” PIL said in a statement. The weekly service will have a port rotation in 77 days.

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Container Liner Shipping Companies Committed to Change Future Price Announcements

Hellenic Shipping News
On 16 February 2016, fifteen container liner shipping companies offered commitments to the European Commission (the “Commission”), including changes of their price announcements, as the Commission considered that the previous practices could enable those carriers to second-guess each other’s prices and facilitate coordination among them. Suspecting a breach of antitrust rules, Commission officials undertook unannounced inspections on 17 May 2011 at the premises of fifteen active companies in the container liner shipping in several Member States. On 21 November 2013, the Commission opened formal antitrust proceedings against those carriers in order to investigate the practice of publishing General Rate Increase (“GRI”) announcements. Since 2009, the carriers made “regular public announcements of price increase intentions through press releases on their websites and in the specialised trade press.”

Exporters told to make use of preferential duty tariff under free trade pacts

Business Line
Preferential duty tariff that exporters can claim under the FTAs (free trade agreements) is not being fully utilised. Data shows that only 10 to 12 per cent of the entire trade is happening under the FTAs, said Ravi Capoor, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Capoor said “FTAs are the least understood. India has signed 16 trade agreements so far out of the 200 inked by various countries across the world between 2000 and 2015. Most of the agreements signed by India are with countries in the South-East Asian region.” “While the partnering country to the agreement can avail itself of the preferential tariff agreed to by the group (of countries) amongst its members, it is not being utilised either due to lack of awareness or because of the exporter’s dependence on the clearing agent,” Capoor said. He urged the participants to look up the indiantradeportal and avail the concessional tariff.

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Container ship MV Olf arrested in Malaysia for hit and run accident

Maritime News
The container ship MV Olf was arrested by Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency for accident in Singapore Strait a few days ago. The vessel was detained by patrol boat of local authorities and escorted to anchorage on 2.7 nautical miles off the coast. The vessel was suspected by hit and run accident in Singapore Strait off Batu Ayam in Malaysia, making collision with two tankers Tina 7 and Straits 3. The container ship left the scene of the accident without reporting about collision and didn’t stop or contacted damaged ships. During the accident the both tankers suffered sufficient damages of the boards, but remained afloat. Fortunately according to police investigation, there were no injured people and no water pollution after collision.

Gujarat to get India's first roll on-roll off passenger ferry service by April 2017

Business Standard
Gujarat's Dahej is all set to get India's first roll on-roll off (Ro-Ro) vessel passenger ferry services around April 2017. The Rs 550 crore project being executed by the Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) is expected to bring down travel time between Saurashtra region in Gujarat with its Southern parts significantly. At present travelling from Ghoga in Saurashtra to Dahej in South Gujarat takes around 10-12 hours for trucks and buses, and even by cars it is not less than 6-8 hours. Once the Ro-Ro ferry service commences, this time would be dramatically shortened to one and a half hours. Speaking about the project A K Rakesh, vice chairman and managing director of GMB said, "Ro-Ro passenger ferries are common in European countries, however, this is the first such project in India, or for that matter South Asia."

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Shippers have fewer Africa liner service options

JOC
Shippers face fewer delays due to less congestion and more reliability at African ports and connecting liner services, but they have less services to choose from and the delays of critical port projects may cause the continent’s port productivity gains to slip, according to two new reports. Consolidation via CMA CGM’s absorption of Europe-Africa carrier Delmas, the exit of Asian carriers from the Asia-Africa trade, and the reorganization of Safmarine representation created less choice for beneficial cargo owners, according to Port Overview Africa, a website that evaluates African port performance. Meanwhile, the World Bank has said that the privatization of container terminals in West Africa has limited shipper choice and not provided the gains it was thought would be created.

Asia Pacific to Emerge as Major Bunker Fuel Market: Strategic Location of Ports, Rising Consumerism Driving Growth.

Industry Today
In marine fleet operations, the fuel that is loaded into a ship’s bunker and powers its engines is bunker fuel. Bunker fuel can be obtained as a distillate or residue of crude oil, with the latter accounting for a share of close to 75% in the global bunker fuel market in 2013. Intermediate fuel oils of grades IFO 180 and IFO 380, which are residual fuel oil types, are the most preferred due to their low cost and easy combustibility. Fuel oil, as bunker fuel is also known, is used in thermal plants, gas turbines, marine engines for transportation, electrical power applications etc. Over a period of time, due to the development of high-power diesel engines that run on fuel oil, today commercial shipping has become a major industry. The occupation has enabled trade between distantly located regions across the world for economic development.

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