Reacting to the February 2022 Trade Data, FIEO President, Dr A Sakthivel said that the exports of USD 33.81 billion with a growth of 22.36 percent during the month has once again showcased the continuous resilience of India’s exports sector. The enthusiasm with which the Exim community has impressively performed has not only given a boost to the sector, but has also helped the economy’s growth recovery process. With monthly exports crossing the USD 30 billion mark for 11th consecutive time during the fiscal, we are on course to cross the USD 400 billion exports target for the fiscal. Praising the efforts and hard work of the exporters, Dr Sakthivel thanked the Hon’ble Prime Minister, whose clarion call to exporters further enthused the exporting community for such an outstanding performance. Dr Sakthivel also welcomed the steps taken by the government under the able and dynamic leadership of the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi and also the Union Finance Minister and the Union Commerce & Industry and Textiles Minister for showing confidence and trust on the exporters during these challenging times. The FIEO President said that the top sectors, which performed impressively during the month were Engineering Goods, Petroleum Products, Gems & Jewellery, Organic & Inorganic Chemicals, Electronic Goods, Cotton Yarn/Fabrics/Made-ups, Handloom Products etc., RMG of All Textiles, Plastic & Linoleum and Rice. Out of these, many of them were labour-intensive sectors contributing majorly to the exports basket, which itself is a good sign, further helping job creation in the country. However, imports clocking USD 55.01 billion during the month with a growth of 34.99 percent, is a point of concern and should be analysed, said Dr A Sakthivel. The FIEO …

Even as the world is fighting a battle with the pandemic, the impact of the Russian-Ukraine war has hit logistics and cargo like a Damocles sword. The conflict has made commercial shipping through sea routes in Russia and Ukraine suicidal. Most ports in the region are closed and commercial ships are not accepting orders from Russia or making port calls. As per a statement, Container xChange, premier container leasing and trading marketplace, stated, “Due to disruption to commercial shipping on the sea lanes, we expect container build-ups at ports to exacerbate at storage areas in the region. The closure of airspace across Russia and Europe has reduced air freight capacity.” It added, “Maritime trade with Russia and businesses could be difficult in the near future. On Monday, the UK has banned all Russian ships from entering its ports. What’s more, the EU intercepted and seized one ship. On the Asia-Europe trade, we see more demand for maritime shipments and equipment out of Asia due to modal shift.” “Russian and Belarussian ports in the Baltic, Black Sea and Sea of Azov may see a build-up of boxes if carriers refuse port calls due to the precarious situation and sanctions. The full implications of sanctions are not yet clear, but the closure of the SWIFT system to Russia will make payments from Russian partners difficult.” An official said, “Borders with the EU are closed. We expect the war to add to the stretched nature of global container supply chains, bringing more inflation and delays.”

American Airlines Cargo has announced a dedicated suite of products and priorities to make it easier for customers to book a variety of Life Sciences and Healthcare shipments – a segment that has seen a 17% volume increase over the last years across regions the airline serves. With advancements in individualized healthcare and medical innovations that lead to longer, healthier lives, fast and reliable transportation of these shipments has never been more crucial. This new offering leverages the network of the world’s largest airline and award-winning expertise to serve customers now and into the future. The Life Sciences suite offers cargo products designed for time-sensitive shipments. Whether under 100lbs, bulk or containerized, American’s Priority Parcel Service (PPS) or ExpediteFS services provide benefits including next-flight booking options, priority boarding and the shortest tender times. These two products are also customizable, as the airline offers an array of handling and monitoring capabilities based on the level of handling a shipment may need – from prioritized take-off and landing for life-saving medical shipments with MEDEVAC service, to enhanced monitoring and proactive updates with Critical PPS service. Also included in the Life Sciences suite is American’s cold-chain solution, ExpediteTC. This product offers both active and passive temperature capabilities for shipments and has earned the airline Center of Excellence for Independent Validators in Pharmaceutical Logistics (CEIV Pharma) certification. Awarded by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), CEIV Pharma certification recognizes air carriers and entire air cargo supply chains that have established the tools, procedures and staffing to ensure pharmaceuticals are properly handled and maintain product integrity. American is currently CEIV Pharma certified for its operations in and out of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), Philadelphia …

Taking advantage of the good momentum, Combi Lift is expanding its business into the Americas. “Houston is the perfect location in the USA. It is one of the main project capitals in the world,” explains explained Klaus Hilpert, Managing Director and Chairman of the Board of Directors at Combi Lift. “Solutions are becoming more complex and project risk profiles are increasing.Clients are looking for trusted and globally connected partners who can leverage their assets and drive risk-sharing throughout project delivery. For all of these reasons, opening the Houston office was therefore the logical next step for us.” The new branch is headed by Grant Wattman, President and Managing Director of Combi Lift Americas LLC. “Grant brings life-long industry experience in leadership roles, defining and implementing strategic plans, driving growth, operational excellence and building a strong financial portfolio”, said Klaus Hilpert. “I am extremely pleased that Grant is part of our team. He is a one of the industry heavyweights. Together, we will set new standards in the project logistics industry.” Grant Wattman is looking forward to the new challenge: “I am excited to be joining Combi Lift at a unique time for the global supply chain. Combi Lift provides subject matter expertise and assets, and is a member of the Harren & Partner Group, which also owns SAL Heavy Lift and Intermarine. The market is looking to those companies that will stand up and take a fresh approach to project cost, risk and predictability. The strength of the Combi Lift portfolio positions itself strongly for this new paradigm.” The new Combi Lift office is located in the Brookhollow Central III (2900 N Loop W, Suite 1100, Houston, TX 77092) which …

LOBB has announced that it has raised $1.1 million in Pre-Series A funding round led by Byju Pillai, Group Managing Director, Inflow Technologies and angel investor Gopal Kaul. The round also saw participation from 3one4 Capital and other investors, including Srinath Ramakkrushnan (Zetwerk & Ofbusiness), Mohit Mittal (Southern Cargo Carriers), M D Ramaswami (former MD, Dell India) and Vishad Gupta (Fidelity Information Services, India). The funds raised will be primarily used to scale the business and expand LOBB’s network across newer geographies in India. The company is also looking to strengthen its technology to automate tasks, grow its team across functions to increase fulfilment ratios, and acquire more customers—i.e., add more truckers and transporters onto the platform. Currently, LOBB is operational in 12 cities across India, such as Bengaluru, Chennai, Mumbai, and Pune, working with 500+ logistics companies. It plans to expand to another 20 cities to have a pan-India reach within the next 8 months. Founded in 2015 by techno-domain experts Jayaram Raju and Venu Kondur, LOBB was started with a mission to digitally disrupt the $100 billion Indian logistics sector. The company’s end-to-end digital freight brokerage platform connects transporters with truckers in a seamless way to ensure a national-level supply-demand match, considering the complex nuances of the trade. Through its proprietary Truck Discovery Model, which creates a unique network of fleets and routes, LOBB also aims to empower the 10 million Indian long-haul truck owners who struggle to find the right loads on time. Through its deep intelligence engine, LOBB aims to increase truck utilisation for truckers by reducing halting through digital payments, thereby increasing truckers’ revenue by 30%. On the occasion, Venu Kondur, CEO & Co-Founder, LOBB, …

Continental Carriers Pvt. Ltd. (CCPL) has been awarded the Best Freight Forwarder of the year 2021 by Assocham at the 13th International Conference cum Awards Civil Aviation & Cargo on February 28, 2021. The award was received by Continental Carriers’ chairman, Vipin Vohra; managing director, Vaibhav Vohra; and director, Viraj Vohra. This award recognises CCPL’s excellent performance, commitment, and professionalism in the freight forwarding industry.

Mahindra Logistics Ltd. (MLL), one of India’s largest Third-Party Logistics (3PL) solution providers, has announced its acquisition of a majority stake in ZipZap Logistics Private Limited, a last-mile logistics service provider operating under its brand ‘Whizzard’. The recent acquisition complements MLL’s existing last-mile delivery business and EDeL, its Electric Vehicle (EV) based delivery services. Looking to expand technology-based last-mile services as an integral part of MLL’s growth strategy, this transaction will help accelerate the addition of technology, geographical coverage, and operational capabilities of MLL. Whizzard operates an intra-city distribution network for digital commerce and last-mile delivery. The Hyderabad-based company currently enables seamless handling of 60 million packages per year, across diverse segments. In the last three years, Whizzard, which is led by a strong founding team of Ankit Madhania and Arun Rao, has grown 10X and has been serving customers with its full-stack digital capabilities and micro-distribution centers catering to 3000+ pin codes. “Last-Mile Delivery & Fulfilment continues to see strong tailwinds with increased digital adoption, expanding delivery networks, and the onset of quick commerce. This association will enhance and strengthen our existing presence for our customers in e-commerce and other segments. The Whizzard team has built deep capabilities and delivered strong growth to date. We look forward to building the association together and providing customers integrated solutions”. sid, Rampraveen Swaminathan, MD & CEO, Mahindra Logistics Limited

As the crisis takes a turn for the worse, and the Russian military waiting at the borders threatening Ukraine finally invades, the agri supply chains get disrupted, adversely affecting many countries. Traders from the vital Black Sea region particularly Russia and Ukraine, which are also known as the crop heavyweights have denied the supply of Wheat to several countries. While Russia accounts for about 20 percent of the world’s wheat exports, Ukraine supplies 10 percent, data from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations showed. Egypt, which is one of the prime importers of Wheat among the many Middle East and North African nations, has canceled a previous tender after only receiving one offer of French wheat and has now scheduled a new one. While old orders are being met, new deals are denied as traders are staying away from Russian grains and exporters are unable to agree to contracts at the moment as they fear they will not be able to fulfill them as the situation evolves. In addition to this, Ukraine and Russia are also major producers of corn, sunflower seed oil, barley, and rye, and much of Europe depends on it. The two nations jointly account for about 80 percent of the world’s sunflower oil exports and 19 percent of world corn supplies.

Air cargo shippers on Asia to Europe lanes should expect a spike in prices as a substantial amount of capacity has come out of the market. The EU and UK ban on Russian aircraft in their airspace, in the past three days has forced Volga-Dnepr Group’s AirBridgeCargo (ABC) remove all its aircraft from Europe. With the ban in place, at least four aircrafts have departed the EU. ABC in the current marketplace has a large capacity with its fleet containing 15 747Fs, and one 777F. With Asia-Europe its key operating region, the aircraft are currently either in Russia or operating to destinations in Asia. It remains to be seen what volumes it can carry in its new restricted world. Volga-Dnepr Airlines’ aircraft have also left the EU, with one AN-124 destined to arrive in Marseille yesterday, diverted to Tunis. Canada has also banned Russian airlines from its airspace, but one AN-124 appears to be in Toronto, and it is unclear whether it will be able to leave. Even the US is considering a ban on Russian airlines but has not yet implemented it. ABC had two aircraft in the US which departed over the weekend. EU airlines associated with Volga-Dnepr – Cargologicair in the UK and Cargologic Germany – continue to operate normally, and all aircraft are currently in the EU or UK. The impact is not only being felt by the Russian airlines. Finnair Cargo has also cut all its operations to east Asia, reducing capacity again. The airline will not operate to Osaka, Tokyo, Seoul, Shanghai or Guangzhou, with a review of the situation to take place on 6 March.

Envisioning Bharat@100, ASSOCHAM organised conference and awards to focus on various issues including ey issues related to cargo. The 13th Annual International Conference-cum-Awards on Civil Aviation & Cargo was held on the theme ‘Driving Post-COVID Growth’ on 28th February 2022. The conference aims to outline the prominent pain points that the industry is facing – pre or post pandemic – and find specific solutions to relieve stress from Civil Aviation Sector, make it self-sustainable and economically viable. Eminent participants included: Piyush Shrivastava, Sr. Economic Advisor, Ministry of Civil Aviation, GoI, Vipin Vohra, Chairman, Continental Carriers Pvt. Ltd., Vijay Sharma, Head Cargo (Commercial Aero), GMR Group, Cyrus Katgara, Partner, Jeena & Co. and President, Air Cargo Forum of India (ACFI), Keku Bomi Gazder, Chief Executive Officer, AAI Cargo Logistics & Allied Services Company Ltd., Sanat Kaul, Chairman, International Foundation for Aviation Aerospace and Drones (IFAAD), Rajesh Singh, AVP Cargo, Spice Jet Express Ltd. Key Issues discussed in the session were: • Ease of doing business in Cargo • Providing industry status to Cargo • Addressing challenges faced by cargo industry