According to the JLL report ‘India Real Estate Outlook – A new growth cycle’, despite unfavourable socio-economic environment, warehousing stock in top eight cities, which includes, NCR Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Pune, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad has added 27 million sq. ft to reach a total of 238 million sq. ft. in 2020. Further, the demand is expected to grow around 160% to reach 35 million sq. ft in 2021 if the external conditions stay stable, mainly if there is no relapse of COVID / lockdown and so on. Probably over the next one to two quarters, a clearer picture will emerge. “In Q4, the market started gaining momentum with highest supply and absorption in 2020 post the lockdown. Industrial spaces witnessed a 13 per cent Y-o-Y growth in total stock in Grade A & B warehousing space in top eight cities. The overall warehousing space stands at 238 million sq. ft at the end of 2020 compared to 211 million sq. ft in the previous year thereby resulting in a net supply of 27 million sq. ft,” said Yogesh Shevade, Head Industrial Services, JLL, India. “Important point to note here is that in 2020 the end -users / tenants have looked for new and innovative ways to taking up spaces on short term / temporary leased of tenure 9 -12 months for leasing of ‘white spaces / unused spaces’ in existing leased warehouse on sub-lease. Unfortunately, these does not get captured in net absorptions (considering these are already leased),” he added. The warehousing and logistics market in India started gaining impetus with highest supply and absorption in the Q4 of 2020. The demand is expected to increase in 2021 …

Railways undertook a successful trial run of double stacked dwarf container train from Mehsana (Gujarat) to JN Port on March 3, 2021. The ‘dwarf’ containers provides 67 per cent increase in volume when double-stacked and can carry a weight of 71 tons, against 40 tons by an ISO container. Indian Railways has given 17 per cent discount on haulage cost for double stack dwarf container trains compared to double stack ISO container trains coupled with additional volume benefit. JN Port is in the process of finalising an Operator for “Management, Maintenance and Operation of Dedicated Dwarf Container Depot (D-Depot) inside the Port area at JNPT”. Inside the D-Depot, ISO EXIM containers will be destuffed/restuffed and then re-stuffed in Dwarf Containers for further movement on rail to and from JN Port. The train with five wagons of double stacked dwarf containers arrived at 11:30 hours and departed at 13:00 hours. The concept of Dwarf container would be game changer as the rail movement of EXIM cargo through double stacked dwarf containers would significantly provide cost advantage to the customers and enhance rail traffic at JN Port.

Tata Motors has launched its latest offering in M&HCV segment – the Tata Signa 3118.T – India’s first 3-axle 6×2 (10 wheeler) rigid truck with 31 tonnes Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW). The Tata Signa 3118.T offers a unique blend of value proposition in terms of both, revenue and operating cost, for its customers. With a 3,500kg* higher certified payload than the corresponding 28-tonne GVW rigid truck and equivalent cost of operations with similar fuel, tyre and maintenance cost as a 28-tonne truck, this product is conceived to significantly enhance the net operating profit for its customers by ~45%* over a 28-tonne truck. The incremental investment on the Signa 3118.T, over the corresponding 28-tonne truck, can be recovered in less than one year of operations and followed by years of incremental earnings. Commenting on the launch of the new model, Rajesh Kaul, Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Commercial Vehicle Business Unit, Tata Motors, said, “The Signa 3118.T is a landmark in Tata Motors’ journey towards customer excellence. The model is evidence of unmatched customer-focused engineering and unique value positioning by Tata Motors. Value features like fuel economy switch, gear shift advisor, ICGT brakes, Fleet Edge telematics system with inbuilt anti-fuel theft, reverse parking assistance perfectly complement the pioneering vehicle design exceeding the expectations of the new-age customer. The Lx version also comes with air conditioning and unitised wheel bearings. This model expands the array of choice for customers seeking to enhance their profitability through revenue growth model”. The Tata Signa 3118.T, with its 12.5-tonne dual tyre lift axle configuration, marks the value discovery of white space in M&HCV segment. It can operate at 31-tonne GVW with the lift axle down and …

Highlighting a clear V-shaped recovery, air cargo started the year on a positive note, with industry-wide Cargo Tonne-Kilometres (CTKs) rising above the pre-pandemic levels for the first time since the crisis started. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has released January 2021 data for global air cargo markets showing that air cargo demand returned to pre-Covid-19 levels. The air cargo volumes in CTKs terms were up by 1.1% in January 2021 compared with 2019 levels and 6.1% year on year. Meanwhile, capacity for the month was down by 19.5% compared with 2019 and 19.3% on last year. As a result, cargo load factors stood at 58.9%, which is a 12 percentage point improvement on 2019 and 14.1 percentage point increase on last year. All regions saw improvement in air cargo demand this month. North America and Africa were the strongest performers, with CTKs up by a robust 11.7% and 21.1%, respectively compared with the pre-crisis period (January 2019). Drivers of air cargo demand related to manufacturing and economic activity remained generally supportive. However, emerging markets reported weaker export demand amidst COVID-19 outbreaks. Alexandre de Juniac, Director General & Chief Executive, IATA said, “Air cargo traffic is back to pre-crisis levels and that is some much-needed good news for the global economy. But while there is a strong demand to ship goods, our ability is capped by the shortage of belly capacity normally provided by passenger aircraft. That should be a sign to governments that they need to share their plans for restart so that the industry has clarity in terms of how soon more capacity can be brought online. In normal times, a third of world trade by value moves …

According to aviation industry consultant IBA, demand for freighter aircraft continues to grow strongly as a result of Covid-19, but values and lease rates remain suppressed by an oversupply of feedstock aircraft. The data from IBA’s InsightIQ platform indicates that since May 2020, almost 200 narrow-body and wide-body aircraft have joined the worldwide freighter fleet. The active fleet of narrow-body freighters has grown by 61 to 625 aircraft with newly converted Boeing 737-800s accounting for around half that growth. The Boeing 757-200 remains the pre-eminent freighter aircraft with a fleet of 298 aircraft (converted and factory delivered), followed by the Boeing 737-400 with 148. The active mid-size wide-body freighter fleet has grown more steeply in the same period by 80 to 624 aircraft. The Boeing 767-300ER is the dominant aircraft in this segment, both accounting for more than half the growth as many ex-passenger aircraft and converted, and in total fleet size which now stands at 315 aircraft when one adds converted and factory delivered aircraft. The A330 freighter fleet is also growing strongly but from a much lower base, with 6 aircraft converted during this period, but with an additional pool of aircraft taking its fleet size to 74. The large wide-body freighter fleet has grown by 55 to 601 aircraft since May 2020. The re-entry into service from storage of 29 Boeing 747-400s and 7 MD-11Fs accounted for around half the growth, with the remainder made up of factory deliveries of 22 Boeing 777Fs and 3 747-8Fs. Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, freighter aircraft usage has grown strongly, driven by the fall in belly hold capacity as passenger aircraft were grounded. The number of freighter aircraft …

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has invited the world to come to India and be a part of India’s growth trajectory. India is very serious about growing in the maritime sector and emerging as a leading Blue Economy of the world. Through the focus areas of upgradation of infrastructure, boosting reform journey, India aims to strengthen the vision of Aatamnirbhar Bharat, he said. Prime Minister has inaugurated the ‘Maritime India Summit 2021’ through video conferencing. He noted that instead of a piecemeal approach focus is on the entire sector as one. He informed that capacity of major ports have increased from 870 million tonnes in 2014 to 1550 million tonnes now. Indian ports now have measures such as Direct port Delivery, Direct Port Entry and an upgraded Port Community System (PCS) for easy data flow. Our ports have reduced waiting time for inbound and outbound cargo. He also informed that mega ports with world class infrastructure are being developed in Vadhavan, Paradip and Deendayal Port in Kandla. The Prime Minister asserted that “Ours is a Government that is investing in waterways in a way that was never seen before. Domestic waterways are found to be cost effective and environment friendly ways of transporting freight. We aim to operationalise 23 waterways by 2030.” He also pointed out that India has as many as 189 lighthouses across its vast coastline. “We have drawn up a programme for developing tourism in the land adjacent to 78 lighthouses. The key objective of this initiative is to enhance development of the existing lighthouses and its surrounding areas into unique maritime tourism landmarks”, Shri Modi informed. He announced that steps are also being taken to introduce urban …

Responding to February 2021 export figures, Sharad Kumar Saraf, President, FIEO, said that the monthly exports declined marginally by 0.25 per cent to US$ 27.67 billion mainly on account of container shortages across the country and limited supply disruptions in the last week of the month due to increasing Covid cases in certain states. All the major sectors of export, which during the previous month were in positive territory, continued with a similar positive growth trend during February also. Saraf said that we continue to see signs of further revival not only in the order booking positions but also in the demand from across the globe, paving way for much better days and months for the sector. However, rising exports from China has led to the shortage of containers in the region as most of the empty containers are available only for exports from China because the shipping lines and container companies are being paid hefty premiums for bringing empty containers back to China. FIEO President added that the exports of other cereals along with oil meals, iron-ore, jute mfg. including floor covering, rice, cereal preparations and miscellaneous processed items, meat, dairy and poultry products, carpet, spices, drugs and pharmaceuticals, handicrafts excl. hand-made carpet, ceramic products and glassware, cotton yarn/fabrics/made-ups, handloom products etc., tobacco, plastic and linoleum, mica, coal and other ores, minerals including process and organic and inorganic chemicals showed either a very high or impressive growth or were in positive territory showing signs of further improvement. He also said that negative growth in exports of major products including petroleum products, oil seeds, leather and leather manufactures, cashew, gems and jewellery, RMG of all textiles, electronic goods, fruits and …

Raag Technologies and Services (RTS) is enabling supply chain efficiency with its IoT-enabled logistics control tower. RTS has enabled the country’s leading manufacturing and distribution companies to save costs and enhance efficiency significantly. The ever increasing need for more visibility and traceability within the supply chain has made it pervasive to generate significant interest in unified supply chain systems and lower risks. Therefore, delivering end-to-end visibility becomes an important task. RTS’s state-of-art logistics control tower, enables an enhanced visibility and traceability to the customer’s dealer/distributor network and is designed to make the various aspects and steps of the chain clearer and easier to follow. Abhik Mitra, MD and CEO, Spoton Logistics, comments, “With one stop Control tower Web Portal, RTS is enabling an effective and strong end-to-end visibility, thereby enhancing the efficiency of our supply chain and operations. By creating an ecosystem that focuses on transparency, companies can have visibility in order to reduce the risk of potential issues as well as gain data on how to better manage orders”. Commenting on the same, Narsmihan Raghavan said, “Supply chain visibility and control are progressively improving, therefore it becomes more critical than ever that supply chains find a way to establish and sustain a competitive advantage within their respective markets. The RTS’s state-of-art logistics control tower uses AI and serves as a system of engagement across trading partners, people and things to work together in real-time to serve the end consumer.”

In spite of Covid challenges, on February 28, 2021, Indian Railways has surpassed last year’s cumulative freight loading for same period corresponding. Freight figures continue to maintain the high momentum in terms of loading, earning and speed in the month of February 2021 as well for Indian Railways. According to the release shared by Ministry of Railways, loading on February 28 crossed 5 million tonnes; Indian Railways cumulative freight loading was 1102.17 million tonnes for this year, as on 28 February 2021, which is higher compare to last year for the same period (1102.1 million tonnes). On a month to month basis, up to February 28, 2021, Indian Railways loading was 112.25 million tonnes, which is almost 10 % higher compared to loading up to February 28 of last year. (102.21 million tonnes). On day to day basis, on 28th February, 2021, the freight loading of Indian Railways was 5.23 million tonnes, which is 36% higher compare to last year’s loading for the same date (3.83 million tonnes). The average speed of Freight Trains in the month of February 2021 was 46.09 kmph which is more than double as compare to last year for the same month (23.01 kmph). On 28th February, the average speed of freight trains was 47.51 kmph compare to 23.17 kmph last year for the same date which is also more than double. Also in the month of February 2021 Indian Railways earned Rs 11096.89 crores from freight loading which is 7.7% higher compare to last year’s earnings for the same period (Rs 10305.02 crores). On 28th February 2021 Indian Railways earned Rs 509.44 crores from freight loading which is 34% higher compare to last year’s …

Cathay Pacific has successfully delivered the first batch of Fosun Pharma/BioNTech vaccines to Hong Kong, drawing on its long-established expertise in pharmaceutical shipments under cold chain protocols to meet the handling demands of the Fosun Pharma/BioNTech product. The first delivery of the first batch of one million Fosun Pharma/BioNTech vaccines to be supplied to Hong Kong arrived from Frankfurt were unloaded as priority from a freighter flight to the Cathay Pacific Cargo Terminal. Tom Owen, Director – Cargo, Cathay Pacific, said, “Different vaccines have differing requirements. The Fosun Pharma/BioNTech vaccine must be transported in a deep frozen state, which requires more complex transportation and storage solutions. Our ‘vaccine solution’ has proven itself to be ideally suited to the fast and effective distribution of this and other vaccines across the globe, using our freighter and passenger fleet, and our extensive global network.” The Cathay Pacific shipments to date include the milestone import of the first vaccines for use in the airline’s home city of Hong Kong on 19 February. The one million doses of Sinovac vaccine were loaded inside six temperature-controlled Envirotainer RAP e2 containers, to maintain the vaccine temperature range of 2°C to 8°C, and carried in the belly hold of an Airbus A330 operating the scheduled passenger flight, CX391. Owen adds, “This was also the first shipment to use our new Ultra Track service, a key part of our vaccine solution.” On the same flight, there were 200,000 doses of the Sinovac vaccine destined for Mexico. The single Envirotainer RAP e2 container was towed to the Cathay Pacific Cargo Terminal in a thermal dolly and transferred to a cool room set at 15°-25°C, where it was recharged ahead of …