China’s Cosco Shipping has opened a sea and air logistics centre in Guangzhou Airport’s economic zone to expand global operations. The facility is to include warehousing, logistics, e-commerce and other value-added services, said a statement. Its opening marks the start of the Shanghai-headquartered company’s regional supply chain platform in southeast China. Cosco Shipping Logistics chairman Han Jun said: “This logistics park applies [a] smart management system, which can make the best use of visualisation, digitalisation and intelligent technology to build a safe, convenient, efficient and green park. “This project is in line with the national Great Bay Area development strategy and we will increase investments in core resources and accelerate upgrading [to create an] integrated logistics supply chain.” CMA CGM, Maersk and Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) have all invested aircraft or entered partnerships to develop their own cargo airlines. CMA CGM Air Cargo is partnering with Air France-KLM and recently launched flights to Shanghai. Maersk has bought and leased aircraft, purchased freight forwarder Senator International (rebranded as Maersk Air Freight) and set up a subsidiary airline, Maersk Air Cargo, which began operations in October 2022. Atlas Air took delivery in November 2022 of the first Boeing B777-200 freighter that it will operate on behalf of MSC.

Saudi Arabia’s Port Authority signed a 1 billion riyal ($267 million) agreement with Jeddah’s chamber of commerce to establish a logistics zone in Jeddah’s al-Khomra, both sides, said a statement. The new zone will be built in an area spanning 3 million square meters in the Red Sea port city, Jeddah Chamber said in a statement. The zone will provide a number of services including warehouses and specialized storage facilities, the Port Authority said in a statement.

Drools India, a leading provider of quality pet food and nutrition products, is proud to announce the opening of the largest CNF warehouse in the pet food category in Bhiwandi, Maharashtra, India. This state-of-the-art facility has a storage space of seventy thousand sq. ft. enabling faster supply chain management and quality control. The warehouse will revolutionize the way Drools serves its customers by sharing fresher inventory straight out of their manufacturing unit. It has already established primary routes across the state and will serve the expanding customer base across key cities such as Mumbai, Nashik and Thane. The warehouse features advanced technology and equipment that will streamline the loading and unloading process, reducing the time it takes to unload an 18-MT vehicle to just three hours and to load an LCV in just one hour. It further will be able to load and unload five vehicles at once, reducing billing and delivery time to just 48 hours. Commenting on the new warehouse, Dr. Shashank Sinha, CEO and Veterinarian, Drools, said, “The inauguration of the largest CNF warehouse in this industry marks a significant step ahead for Drools. We are excited to unveil this new state-of-the-art warehouse, which will significantly improve our supply chain and customer experience. It will provide a direct upgrade to 2500+ retail outlets, pet stores and shops. Our ultimate goal is to provide all our stakeholders with the highest quality products and exceptional service, and this new facility will allow us to do just that.” “We are committed to investing in our infrastructure to better serve our customers and continue our growth as a leader in the pet food and nutrition industry”, he further added. This new …

Ecom Express Limited has opened its fulfillment centre in Chandigarh. This will be the Company’s first grocery fulfilment center in Punjab and 60th fulfilment centre in India. The new grocery centre in Chandigarh sprawls across the area of approximately 90,000 Sq. ft. The site has been selected for its strategic location-based network centricity. It is designed to support over 30 dark stores to supply grocery items on demand, speed to market and customers. With this growth, the grocery chain will be able to serve a wider range of customers and transport their orders to towns in neighboring states and the region more quickly. The facility has a value creation area that provides labelling, packaging, and dispatch services, with an average inventory of close to 2.8 million items and processing capacity to handle up to 270,000 units throughput per day at full capacity. Modern Vertical Reciprocal Conveyors (VRCs) lifts, and spiral conveyers with long-span multi-tier shelving will optimise the operations to give high mobility and speed in the movement of items. Furthermore, with temperature-controlled system, up to -20 degrees, the facility can handle fruits and vegetables operations with less chances of wastage.

CJ Darcl Logistics Ltd, has partnered with Netradyne, a SaaS leader in artificial intelligence to provide advanced fleet safety solutions. The engagement provides fleet of 1000 vehicles of CJ Darcl with AI-enabled embedded safety technology, helping the company improve fleet operation performance, driver behavior, and reduce thefts. By deploying Netradyne’s Driver•i, CJ Darcl Logistics enhances their fleet management and further builds upon cost-effective services and sets new safety standards. The Driver•i system helps the company achieve its goals of improving driving behavior through automated driver coaching. It also supports in expediting driver exonerations as well as in handling insurance claims. Durgadutt Nedungadi, Vice President – International Business, Netradyne, said, “We are thrilled to partner with CJ Darcl Logistics, and we will deliver our industry-leading AI-based safety technology solutions to its fleets. The partnership paves the way for us to showcase our technology’s flexibility to cater to our customers’ diverse needs.” Nikhil Agarwal, President- CJ Darcl Logistics Ltd said, “Our vision is to train and to make the drivers follow the best road practices to avoid accidents. CJ Darcl aims to accomplish zero accidents and to understand and address the areas of concern while driving. Partnering with Netradyne’s Driver•i with smart safety dash cams will help to control the driver’s distracted sight. We have also conducted certain trials. Hence, it is helping in maintaining the Driver’s scorecard with other promising results.”

Bobba Group inaugurated its new 75000 square foot tech enabled warehouse facility located at Sonnappanahalli, Bellary Road in Bengaluru. The newly launched Bobba Logistics warehouse is a sprawling 75,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility with temperature monitoring technology. The warehouse has a cold storage with a 600 pallet capacity, 8 docking stations and remote monitoring system. It has a complete provision to manage end-to-end supply chain needs, including newer strategies like micro-fulfilment. V. S. Bobba, Managing Director, Bobba Group said “Bobba group has been a pioneer in the aviation, airport cargo and ground handling services for over 30 years. We have 500 employees managing air cargo terminals, providing ground and ramp handling services. The opening of our new warehouse is a significant milestone for the Bobba group. The Bobba Logistics warehouse is a tech enabled multi story warehousing facility that will help companies reduce their transportation costs and improve their delivery time. Our warehouse is strategically located near the city center to ensure quicker deliveries to multiple locations.” The Bobba Logistics warehouse facility is located at Sonnappanahalli, Bellary Road, Bengaluru. The warehouse is strategically located along NH 44, 12 kilometres from Bengaluru International Airport and 25 kilometres from Bengaluru’s City center (MG Road). This facility is an ideal location for businesses as it provides excellent connectivity to the Bangalore City center and further connects to cities such as Hyderabad, Kurnool and Anantapur. Chandrakala Bobba, Director, Bobba Group said “We are thrilled to open the Bobba Logistics warehouse facility in Bangalore today. This is a new inning for the Bobba Group. We have built the facility to serve a number of industries, including e-commerce. Depending on the needs of the client, we offer first-mile, …

GreenLine Logistics (Green Planet Logistics Pvt Ltd.), India’s first and only LNG-fuelled heavy trucking logistics company, has deployed Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Limited’s first fleet of LNG trucks at its Chandrapur plant in Maharashtra. Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Limited (DCBL), a leading Indian cement manufacturer and a subsidiary of Dalmia Bharat Limited, has tied up with GreenLine Logistics for this significant initiative towards building a ‘green’ supply chain, with an initial order of 35 LNG trucks. These trucks will be deployed at DCBL’s plants in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, in a phased manner. Under its green logistics strategy for the decarbonization of its transportation fleet, DCBL plans to transition 300 trucks to LNG by the end of FY24. GreenLine has deployed two types of LNG trucks — trailers and bulkers, for inbound and outbound logistics of raw materials and finished product. GreenLine’s LNG trucks reduce CO2 emissions by 28 per cent, translating to emission reduction of 24 ton CO2 per truck per annum, compared to conventional diesel trucks. Over the initial fleet of 35 LNG trucks, this adds up to a significant reduction of 840-ton CO2 per year. In addition, these LNG trucks significantly reduce other dangerous emissions — SOx emissions by up to 100 per cent, NOx emissions by up to 59 per cent and Particulate Matter by up to 91 per cent.

Cathay Pacific Cargo has been rebranded as Cathay Cargo as part of the Cathay group’s overall brand redesign. The launch of the new name follows several ‘refreshed’ solutions, said the carrier, including Cathay Priority and Cathay Pharma. Cathay Mail. Group chief executive Ronald Lam said, “This is an opportune moment to align our cargo business with the master brand as we continue our cargo investments in Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area for a promising future. This rebrand reflects our Cargo business’ commitment to the same ‘Move Beyond’ ambition as the Group, while building on a strength that the Cathay brand has long been known for – offering leading-edge services to our customers.” A statement said, “These services cater to the respective burgeoning demands by customers for effective temperature-sensitive solutions, and efficient and reliable delivery solutions with new digital technology that better meets the requirements for shipment visibility, reliability and speed.” The rebranding will be done officially in March.

Suid Cargo Airlines, South Africa’s newest Cargo Airline, will begin non-scheduled flights from its hub at OR Tambo International Airport in the second quarter of 2023 utilising a leased Boeing 727-200F from Kenya’s Astral Aviation, in addition to Astral’s Boeing 747-400F, Boeing 767 and Boeing 757F on charter basis. Making the announcement at the air cargo Africa 2023 event in Johannesburg, Thomas Honiball, Accountable Manager and CEO, stated that it plans to acquire additional freighters in 2024 which will comprise of narrow body freighters such as the Airbus 320F or Boeing 737-800F in addition to the Embraer 190 Freighters in 2025. “We are honoured to support South Africa’s newest Cargo Airline, Suid Cargo Airlines, initially with our Boeing 727-200F and to offer our fleet of B747-400F, B767F and B757F on charter basis, which will enable the start up Cargo airline to scale its operations to cover Southern, West and East Africa including Asia, Middle East and Europe,” Astral Aviation’s CEO Sanjeev Gadhia said. Kevin Moodley, Commercial Director of Suid Cargo Airlines, explained that the new airline will promote exports from South Africa in addition to transit shipments to over 20 African destinations, and will have a unique Sea-Air Cargo product from the Ports of Durban and Cape Town thus reducing transit time to the land locked regions in Africa. Suid Cargo will enter into long term partnership with freight forwarders, consolidators, integrators, e-commerce retailers and shipping lines in addition to interlining with African and Foreign Airlines to promote the Johannesburg Hub with plans to transition to scheduled services in 2024 which will include operating a domestic network.

According to Knight Frank’s Asia-Pacific Logistics Highlight H2 2022 report the Asia-Pacific (APAC) logistics market saw a rental growth of 2.5% in year over year (YoY) terms, slightly lower than the 3% YoY increase seen in 2021. The key Indian cities Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi-NCR featured among the top 10 APAC markets in terms of warehousing rent growth in 2022. Data for Indian markets relates to financial year. The report which tracks prime logistics rents across 17 key APAC markets cited that all the cities recorded stable or increasing rents in 2022, except Bangkok, which saw rent contract by 0.1%, its first decline since the start of the pandemic. In comparison, Australasia continued to outperform APAC markets, registering a strong performance at an average yearly growth rate of 12.9%. Sydney led the region in rental expansion with a 29.6% YoY growth. Mumbai ranked 6th in the APAC logistics market in terms of annual rental growth. At INR. 22/ sq ft/ month, the city witnessed rental appreciation of 9.3% YoY in 2022. Mumbai is expected to gain an additional warehousing space supply of 1.1 mn sq ft in 2023. Bengaluru ranked 8th in the APAC logistics market on the basis of annual rental growth. At INR. 20/sq ft/ month, the city witnessed rental appreciation of 6.4% YoY in 2022. Bengaluru is expected to gain an additional warehousing space supply of 0.5 mn sq ft in 2023. Delhi-NCR ranked 9th in the APAC logistics market based on annual rental growth. At INR 19/ sq ft/ month, the city witnessed rental growth of 5.9% YoY in 2022. Delhi NCR is expected to gain an additional warehousing space supply of 1.1 mn sq ft …