Category Archives: International

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 …

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

The unmatched expertise and a strong, global service network are what distinguish ECS Group. With Just Fly It, one of ten individually purchasable New Abilities, the Augmented GSA offers a pure and comprehensive, international charter service. What makes this particular product unique, is that it is designed to support two different customer groups: those seeking capacity, and those with capacity to offer. Freight forwarding clients requiring urgent, additional capacity, can opt to delegate the search to ECS Group. Just Fly It takes care of sourcing the right-sized charter and all the considerations listed above. Yet, Just Fly It is also a unique service offer to airlines with aircraft of all sizes available for charter. They can rely on ECS Group to put these to good use. One such example, Amelia International, which is venturing into the world of cargo, having taken delivery of its first ATR-72 freighter in January of this year. The Ljubljana-based freighter recently set off on its first commercial charter flight when ECS Group matched an urgent customer request. Within a matter of hours, ECS Group agreed the contractual terms and conditions with the customer and supervised the operational preparations for the flight. Matija Krajnc, Managing Director at Amelia International declared: “We successfully operated our first charter flight from Gyor, Hungary, to Bremen Germany. The flight, on behalf of a customer in the automotive industry, took place on 10 February 2022, carrying a full payload of around 7.5 tonnes of automotive components. We are delighted that our ATR-72 Freighter has finally embarked on its first mission to provide much-needed air cargo capacity within Europe. With ECS Group’s support, we look forward to many more, similar flights, soon.”

Tata Steel,has shipped nearly 1,800 tonnes of finished steel products from Haldia Port in West Bengal to Pandu Port in Assam using the Indo-Bangaldesh Protocol (IBP) route via Brahmaputra River. This shipment of Tata Steel’s TMT bars – that arrived at Haldia on rail before being loaded on to river barges – marks the beginning of the use of multimodal logistics, a landmark effort to decarbonise the steel sector and the country. Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways and AYUSH, Sarbananda Sonowal, said “that this maiden voyage showcases multimodal movement of cargo by harnessing the power of the river-sea combination for transportation.” The Minister urged other stakeholders to move in the same direction and commit to make it a grand national success. Says Peeyush Gupta, Vice President Supply Chain, Tata Steel, “The Indo-Bangladesh Protocol route will help us service the growing North East market better. This route can also be explored for servicing other locations enroute this waterway to deliver steel in smaller lots and in better condition for the benefit of customers in the North-East. The initiative paves the way for seamless and robust integrated logistics solution towards utilising inland waterways for India and Bangladesh.” As Tata Steel became the first in Indian steel sector to transport products over inland waterways, the IBP route will also help them lower their scope 3 carbon footprint. In July 2021, the Company had also pioneered the use of electric vehicles to move finished goods in select locations.

With around 40% of annual global air cargo typically transported in the belly hold of passenger aircraft, the grounding of planes during the pandemic, created a huge gap between demand and supply. Innovations such as loading the cabins with cargo also fell short to fill up the gap and cater to the needs adequately, creating a need and market for all cargo aeroplanes. Looking at the decline of international passenger traffic and scarcity of belly-hold space, India’s freight-forwarding specialist Jet Freight Logistics sees an opportunity and needs to establish its in-house cargo airline. In addition to this, the Incentivization of the aviation industry by the government of India with plans like GatiShakti, and the push towards agri exports has further supported the freight forwarding companies’ ambition of its all-cargo airline. Jet Freight is handling the highest volume of export Agri produced by air in the country today and expects a drastic increase in terms of cargo export volume by air especially Agri export, creating the market for cargo airlines in the coming future. With its Indian all-cargo airline Jet freight aims to help ramp up capacity in the Indian international freight market.

CMA CGM Air Cargo has applied for a US foreign air carrier permit from the US Department of Transportation as CMA CGM looks set to launch its own Air Operator Certificate (AOC) airline in the first half of this year. The application document, which is dated 22 February, said: “CMA CGM AIR CARGO (“CMA CGM”) hereby applies for a foreign air carrier permit to transport property and mail pursuant to the Air Transport Agreement between the United States and the European Union and its Member States.” The document noted that CMA CGM has applied for an Air Operator Certificate (AOC) and operations specifications from the French Civil Aviation Authority…and “expects the application to be approved soon”. A certificate from the French Civil Aviation Authority would allow the company’s rapidly expanding freighter fleet to serve additional routes out of Paris CDG. This could mean a phased switch of A330-200 freighter services from its Liege hub in Belgium to Paris CDG. The US application document confirms that CMA CGM Air Cargo plans to begin operations in Spring 2022 with service between Paris, France and Chicago in Illinois, New York and Atlanta in Georgia.

Drip Capital, Inc., a leading cross-border digital trade finance platform, announced collaboration with CARGOES Finance By DP World, a platform that enables rapid and seamless access to working capital for emerging-market small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). SMEs are one of the most integral components of the global supply chain but often face a working capital crunch to facilitate their cross-border transactions. Drip Capital offers collateral-free financing solutions for SMEs engaged in cross-border trade, thereby allowing them to manage their cash flow better and invest in business growth. The fintech firm collaborates with crucial global industry enablers across the value chain for making international trade seamless for SMEs. DP World’s CARGOES Finance Platform facilitates lender-borrower interactions and arranges an array of credit solutions from premier financial institutions worldwide. A partnership such as this will help cash-crunched SMEs avail fast and easy access to trade financing by connecting them to Drip. Elaborating on the collaboration, Pushkar Mukewar, Co-Founder and CEO of Drip Capital, said, “To be a part of DP World’s massive network and get access to a large number of SMEs is a great privilege, and we are excited to begin this journey with them. Besides this, the platform will provide Drip with vital trade data to improve its risk analysis and mitigation processes, thereby helping us procure more clients and lend more confidently. Overall, the partnership will assist us in our mission to make global trade easy and accessible to SMEs worldwide.” Sinan Ozcan, Senior Executive Officer, DP World Financial Services Limited, said: “DP World’s objective is to enable global trade. Access to trade finance is critical for the survival and growth of exporters, importers and logistics companies which are …

Shannon Group has plans to upgrade its cargo facilities at Shannon Airport in Ireland. It’s development, currently awaiting planning permission, is a “2,705 sq m distribution facility”. This facility will be located on a three-acre development site and will incorporate an additional 335 sq m of office accommodation. This facility will provide direct landside/airside access, said a Shannon Group spokesperson. “The upgrade of our cargo facilities is part of our overall plans to enhance the facilities Shannon has to offer to cargo operators using the airport,” added the spokesperson. The distribution facility forms part of Shannon Group’s development strategy, which has seen the Group invest over €150m in property since 2014. Over €5.3m in airfield rehabilitation works were recently completed at Shannon Airport. The rehabilitation works involved three separate areas of the airfield: the resurfacing of the executive jet and light aircraft park; the extension of a section the apron (which facilitates aircraft for the loading and unloading of cargo, passengers and for refuelling), and the resurfacing of the long-term aircraft parking area.