As container pricing and related supply chain challenges rise amid wild demand swings and capacity imbalances, Indian and Bangladeshi shippers and freight forwarders – in co-ordination with government logistics leaders – have begun switching to breakbulk and other unconventional modes. Mumbai-based Allcargo Logistics, parent company of less-than-container-load (LCL) consolidation heavyweight ECU Worldwide, is among many freight forwarders offering customers such alternatives. According to Shalin Shah, VP of business development at Indian digital freight forwarder Freightwalla, “commodities like rice and sugar, often shipped on liner routes, have lately found their way onto bulkers. Though this change has happened only for a few commodities, it has brought some relief to a few traders who were struggling to find space at a reasonable cost,” he said. “But we believe this is a temporary phenomenon.”

With holiday season approaching and a shift from ocean transport to air happening, the cost of air shipments has been on a steady rise. As per the Baltic Exchange Airfreight Index (BAI), last week’s prices on freight services from Hong Kong to North America had reached USD 11.22 per kg, almost 23% higher than that in the starting of October and highest ever on the BAI. Similarly, fright travelling from Hong Kong to Europe is USD 7.80 per kg which is also relatively inflated. On the other hand, the Freightos Air Freight Index revealed the airfreight rates from Asia/China to West Coast of US reached USD 14.22 per kg and those for East Coast of US reached USD 12.76 per kg. In its weekly market wrap up, Freightos said that with the holidays nearing and ocean delays pushing some shipments to air, peak season air cargo rates have continued to climb

Freighter airline MENA Cargo has partnered with Awery Aviation Software to streamline operations on its scheduled and charter services across the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. The Bahrain-headquartered MENA Cargo will use Awery’s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) product, as well as its CargoBooking tool. Awery ERP is a web-based, customisable platform, which MENA Cargo will initially use for flight and crew operations and charter sales management. The CargoBooking tool delivers instant quotes, manages bookings, and has full Application Programming Interface (API) integration. Awery and MENA signed the deal at the Dubai Air Show in the UAE last week, and MENA will be rolling out Awery solutions over coming months. Said Peter Hewett, general manager at MENA Cargo: “In creating a lean and efficient cargo airline with SMART technology at its core, it makes sense for us to collaborate with leading global suppliers of customisable aviation software. We believe that this partnership with Awery, who have the same mindset in business adaptability, will enable the realisation of our strategy to quickly scale, while remaining flexible in our operations and agile in our approach.”

Cathay Pacific Cargo rolled out its latest digital innovation, Click & Ship, an online booking platform that offers registered customers “an intuitive, always-on booking interface”. Said Tom Owen, director cargo: “Our customers have been telling us that they want a quicker and more efficient way to book shipments at any time. “We listened. We’re rolling out Click & Ship progressively across our network and we aim to make real-time flight schedules, space availability, allotments, and updated rate information available on cathaypacificcargo.com and ezycargo.com for all Cathay Pacific Cargo customers over the next year.” Users will be able to book through an easy, three-step process whenever they like, said a Cathay Pacific Cargo spokesperson – with most bookings “confirmed on the spot”. It also gives visibility of pricing and space availability to defined routes 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The global roll-out is being led by the South West Pacific region, where customers have been trialling the technology ahead of a wider introduction.

Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, Nirmala Sitharaman visited Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) to get a comprehensive understanding about Port operations and the array of Customs facilities offered by the Port to accelerate trade and commerce. Upon arrival at the Port, Sanjay Sethi, IAS, Chairman, JNPT, and Unmesh Sharad Wagh, IRS, Deputy Chairman, JNPT, welcomed the Union Minister, where she was accorded a guard of honour by the CISF personnel stationed at JNPT. During her day-long visit at the Port, the Union Minister visited JNPT’s state-of-the-art Centralized Parking Plaza and inaugurated the foundation stone for setting-up a customs examination facility for factory sealed export containers within CPP. In addition, the Union Minister took a top-angle view of all terminals and surrounding infrastructure from the JNPT Gazebo view-point. Earlier in the day, the Union Minister assessed the layout and infrastructure of all Port terminals from the sea-side, where she was briefed about several of JNPT’s initiatives aimed at accelerating trade and commerce, further facilitating the maritime community.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi layed the foundation stone for the Noida International Airport at Jewar in Uttar Pradesh, which would one of the largest aerodromes in Asia. Modi highlighted the development activities in the poll-bound state and said the new airport will help the state become an export-centre whereby even MSMEs will have easier access to overseas markets. He said the Noida International Airport, slated to be completed by 2024, will become the logistics gateway for North India. He asserted that infrastructure is “not politics for us but part of national policy”. “We are making sure that the projects do not get stuck, do not keep hanging…we try to ensure that the infrastructure work is completed within the stipulated time,” Modi said. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said he expects investments of over ₹ 10,000 crore after the first phase and up to ₹ 35,000 crore once the airport is fully built. Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has claimed the Noida airport will be Asia’s largest and will generate employment opportunities for more than one lakh people.

IndoSpace announced its partnership with KSH infra to develop a portfolio of grade A warehousing and logistics parks over the next five years across the country. To develop these assets spread over 10million sq. ft., IndoSpace will be investing Rs 1,000 crore in this new alliance. The primary focus of the joint venture will be the tier I premium micro-markets including Pune, Mumbai, Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR), and Bangalore. In this venture, KSH Infra will take the responsibility of identifying and developing the assets and will also be co-investing in the assets along with IndoSpace. “The demand for warehousing and logistics space is high and the opportunity is enormous. As a market leader in this space, we are always looking to support India’s growth by enhancing our reach. With an established partner like KSH Infra, we are confident of tapping into the market potential,” said, Rajesh Jaggi, Vice Chairman, Real Estate, Everstone Group.

dnata has signed a concession agreement with The Government of Zanzibar, along with Emirates Leisure Retail and SEGAP, a joint venture between airport infrastructure and operations specialists Egis, and private equity fund manager AIIM. dnata will oversee the operations of Zanzibar Abeid Amani Karume International Airport’s (ZNZ) newly-built international terminal (T3), with SEGAP supporting the Zanzibar Airports Authority (ZAA) in a management capacity. Emirates Leisure Retail will partner with MMI as master concessionaire for all food and beverage, duty-free and commercial outlets at T3. dnata’s expansion into Zanzibar represents an investment of over US$ 7 million and will create up to 400 direct local jobs with the company. dnata will provide its globally renowned, quality ground and passenger handling services to airline customers at ZNZ, ensuring safe and timely operations of flights and an excellent travel experience for passengers. dnata expects to handle over 4,000 flights annually at the airport.

GEODIS, a global transport and logistics services provider announced a new sorting center in Schoten, as well as a new office within the airport of Liege. The first will facilitate the expansion of one of its largest international e-commerce customers into the Belgian market. The second is intended to reinforce GEODIS’ e-commerce footprint in Europe. In Schoten, the new 6300 m2 sorting center will host between 100 to 150 express trucks per day. In order to process up to 20,000 parcels daily (140,000 per week) and ensure the fastest possible delivery times, the facility will operate 24/7. “For our customers, this means access to more than 250 million consumers in less than a day by road, also via barge connections from Liege to Antwerp, Rotterdam and on to the Rhine; as well as through air and rail connectivity with China from Zhengzhou, Yiwu and Chengdu,” says Mark van den Assem, managing director of GEODIS for Benelux.

SpiceJet is looking to not only expand its passenger operations but also its cargo services, both domestically and internationally. The airline plans to induct 50 Boeing 737 Max planes by December 2023, said, Chairman, SpiceJet, Ajay Singh. Twenty additional cargo planes will be added in the next two years, the officials said. The airline may spend $2.5 billion to $3 billion to expand its cargo operations over the next few years. “A fleet of 10-12 wide-body planes and 10 freighter versions of narrow-body planes will be sufficient to expand our cargo operations in the next two years, over and above the 17 aircraft we currently have in our cargo operations,” a senior SpiceJet official said. “The cargo business is growing very rapidly and we are looking at all opportunities to raise funds to grow this business quickly, and that includes selling a stake,” said Singh. As part of SpiceJet’s cargo expansion plans, the airline will create a network for domestic and international operations. It may set up loading docks and storage facilities in India, said the officials.