In order to serve scallop producers in the region of Hokkaido, Japan, DHL Global Forwarding (GH) has launched a thrice-weekly charter from Chitose in Japan to Hong Kong. Harvesting for scallops in Hokkaido typically begins in June and ends in October. The charter is the only direct airfreight service from Hokkaido’s main international airport to Hong Kong since airlines halted international flights from the airport as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Since authorities had imposed virus-related travel restrictions, exporters from Hokkaido were unable to fly scallops and other perishables to Hong Kong, which is the top importer of Japanese agricultural and marine products and also a gateway to mainland China. According to DHL GF, scallops make up the largest portion of seafood that it ships out of Japan and primarily from Hokkaido.

Ensuring the continuity of essential supply chain amid the lockdown Angré Port has handled 1,38,000 tonnes of different types of cargo since March 2020 till date. The port currently supports over 20 large and small local businesses across the state of Maharashtra, ranging from sugar, cement, manufacturing and industry raw materials. Commenting on the development, Eshaan Lazarus, Executive Director, Angré Port, said, “We work as an end-to-end port operator for our clients, ensuring timely and safe movement of their cargo, and helping them optimize their material handling cost. Our performance in H1 2020 has been good, with handling 2,41,000 MT of cargo, and we are aiming for 4,00,000 MT cargo in H2 2020 considering post COVID-19 forecasts.” The Port is also offering its 300 acres of industrial backup land on competitive lease models to strategic businesses such as mega warehouses, port-based industries, logistics, tank terminals, and business parks.

The Indian port sector has been adversely impacted due to the Covid-19 outbreak and the subsequent lockdown introduced by India and other major economies. Although, the sector has been classified under essential services and has remained operational during the lockdown, the adverse impact on domestic economic activity as well as slowdown in global trade has resulted in steep contraction in cargo volumes at the major ports. Similar to the 22% decline in April 2020, May 2020 also saw a 22% decline in throughput. While, the decline was across major cargo categories, POL, thermal coal and container segment witnessed significant contraction. Ankit Patel, Vice President and Co-Head, ICRA Ratings, says, “The recovery in the port sector will be contingent on the pace of recovery of the domestic industrial activity and the global economy. Further, factors like changes in global supply chain pattern during the recovery phase will also have an impact on the cargo profile. Of late, anti-China sentiment has also been building up momentum, which could also be a headwind for the trade growth. The full year outlook for the sector remains negative, with volume contraction expected in FY2021. The recovery among the cargo segments should be relatively better for essential products like POL and thermal coal, which should be in line with lockdown relaxations and the pick-up in domestic economic activity, while for segments like coking coal and containers the recovery may be long drawn. ICRA expects that while general cargo throughput may witness ~5-8% contraction for full year 2020-21, the container segment may witness a decline of 12-15% during the same period.”

Qatar Airways has signed an agreement with Airlink to transport 200 tonnes of humanitarian aid over the next two years for free of charge. The move was undertaken to help prevent the spread of Covid-19. Guillaume Halleux, Chief Officer – Cargo, Qatar Airways, says, “The Covid-19 pandemic has shown how essential air freight is to responding to crises and we are pleased to support the work of governments and NGOs around the globe, transporting essential supplies to places where they are needed.” Steven J Smith, President & Chief Executive, Airlink, adds, “The 200 tonnes of freight space is a generous donation that will help fragile communities now, amid the Covid-19 pandemic, and in future disasters.

cargo-partner has added over 3,600 pallet slots to its warehouse in Dunajska Streda, Slovakia, bringing the total up to 26,700 pallet slots on an area of 18,300 square meters. The investment consists of 2,727 slots for euro pallets (120×80 cm) as well as 900 slots for 160×80 cm pallets on an area of 1,000 m². Two new very narrow aisle (VNA) forklifts with floor induction ensure highly efficient warehouse operations. The forklifts are used in the storage zone and service area for fine picking, kitting and packing of over one million parts per year for two main clients of the very service-sensitive automotive sector.

Commenting on if regionalisation of supply chain would open a big window of opportunity for India in the manufacturing and logistics, N Sivasailam, Former Special Secretary (Logistics), Ministry of Commerce & Industry first talked about the shipping ministry decision to promote Indian flag vessels. He says, “In my view, regionalisation means India’s self reliance along with the globe.” He continues, “I am pretty certain that this initiative would create facilitative environment in order to ensure a good reign of business. It may cover not only the movement of petroleum and other essential strategic but also a whole lot of India’s export in container trade. We are not trying to say that vessels should be of Indian investment or there should not be any foreign investment. However, this is also a means of attracting foreign domestic investment in India and making India an attractive place for FDI for the service sector.”

Stressing on integration as an important factor in logistics, Suresh Prabhu, Former Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Government of India, says, “The biggest hurdle the Indian business faces, among other barriers, is logistics. We must distinguish between logistics and infrastructure. Infrastructure is basic necessity for logistics but just by creating infrastructure one cannot address the problem of logistics. Even today, if we can make an optimum use of infrastructure available in our country, that itself will solve the problem of logistics to a greater extent. Despite investing enough into infrastructure in the last decade or two, the logistics problem has not been solved. What we need to focus on is integration in the logistics industry.”

With the aim to log 35 per cent growth year-on-year over the next three years, FM Logistic India has announced to add 40 lakh sq feet of warehousing space under its operations during this period. The company had announced setting up of a 31-acre multi-client logistics facility at an investment of USD 30 million, last year, which is expected to be completed by the end this year. This project is part of the company”s plans to invest USD 150 million in the next five years in setting up warehouses in India, announced in March last year. The French 3PL (third party logistics) player forayed into the domestic market after acquiring Pune-based warehousing firm, Spear Logistics in 2016.

Commenting on the cash constraints being faced by the industry at CargoTalk’s second digital conclave, A.V. Vijayakumar, Chairman, Federation of Freight Forwarders’ Associations in India (FFFAI), says, “Covid-19 would eat away freight forwarders’ finance on various accounts including massive outflow but without having inflow of revenue. We will have to go a long way with this critical and uncertain time. We need to review and revisit our business model with proper financial planning and control. Our proficiency will be measured by our financial management, credit management, utilisation of digital platform and reducing admin cost.” “Since the lockdown begins, we logisticians have also come in action along with health workers and police. We started the emergency clearances and approx 300-350 gate passes are generated with all these difficulties around. Digitalisation has played a very crucial role in working in such difficult times,” he adds.

Talking in the second digital conclave of CargoTalk, Manoj Singh, Senior Vice President & Head – Cargo, Mumbai Airport shared his experience on how Mumbai Airport has overcome the challenges with the help of stakeholders’ collaborative approach. He said, “We, as an industry, have learned a lot with the Covid crisis. It is a new experience for all of us and as an air cargo industry player we look forward for the continuity even after this Covid gets out. This sector is playing a major role at this stage and in future there is a possibility of further growth.” “We, as a stakeholder, have really worked hard to keep the things moving. It is not possible to achieve these numbers without the combination of all the stakeholders working towards the same goal,” he adds.