Category Archives: Supply Chain

The global shipping crisis that is causing deepening shortages and shutdowns in Britain’s shops and factories will last for as long as nine months, as giant vessels carrying Christmas goods start to queue in the English Channel to unload in Europe’s congested ports. A body representing British ports said that it expects the congestion affecting deliveries to millions of retailers and businesses to persist potentially until next summer as the shipping industry struggles with challenges from container shortages to a lack of lorry drivers to move cargo once it reaches quaysides. One major shipping line told that the delays, which are forcing vessels to anchor in clusters in the English Channel and North Sea, will have a knock-on effect for supplies of consumer goods and manufacturing components in the coming weeks and months – with a risk that up to 20 per cent of goods ordered for peak Christmas demand will not reach retailers in time.

V.O. Chidambaranar Port, offers a maximum draft of 14.20 Mts. to accommodate bulk carriers upto 95,000 DWT and Container vessels upto LOA of 300 metres. The Port’s two container terminals, with the capacity to handle 1.17 Million TEUs of Containers are well supported by 17 Container Freight Stations & one ICD. The terminals facilitate daily connectivity to Colombo and reaching further to the Far East, through its weekly mainline services. It is the fastest growing Port in Tamil Nadu, is growing hand in hand, along with the growth of Indian economy. This has resulted in a significant rise in the volume of freight moved by road. In VOC Port, 76 % of cargo is transited by road, 20% by conveyor, and 2% by pipeline and rail. More than 3000 trucks ply through the Port road connectivity everyday to transit the EXIM cargo, that are seamlessly connected to Tirunelveli and beyond in the South, and Madurai to cater to the northern hinterland, through NH138 and NH38. The 595 Km. long East Coast Road also connects Chennai. The Port is well connected to the Indian Railway network through the Meelavittan – Madurai broad-gauge line. This enables faster and effective cargo transfer to Dindigul, Karur, Bengaluru, Coimbatore and Chennai regions.

Safexpress has launched its ultra-modern Logistics Park in Ludhiana. This state-of-the-art facility is strategically located in on Payal NH-1 link road. On this occasion, senior dignitaries from Safexpress including S.K Jain- Vice President, Malay Mohan Srivastava, Regional Manager, Punjab & Chandigarh, Vinay Kumar, Area Manager- Ludhiana, and including others were present. Ludhiana has been a thriving hub of Woolen clothes, traditional handloom & handicraft, fabric based small & medium scale enterprises. This new Logistics Park will serve as a nodal point for logistics and to provide for the transitional connective facility with all Indian states, especially with nearby districts and manufacturing hubs. Safexpress Logistics facility in Ludhiana is spread over a land area of 2.5 Lakh sq.ft, enabled with ultra-modern transshipment and 3PL facilities, which will boost storage & warehousing needs of this region while providing for faster connectivity. The new Logistics Park is cross-dock, equipped with loading and unloading of over 80 vehicles simultaneously. It has a column-less span of over 80 feet, which facilitates uninterrupted movement of goods within the facility. To enable all-weather loading & unloading of goods, the facility is equipped with 16 feet wide Cantilever Shed.

Delta recently shipped its 4 millionth COVID-19 vaccine dose from the U.S. to Colombia. As a part of the critical supply chain, Delta is supporting global efforts to end the pandemic and reconnect the world. “I was born in Colombia but have lived in the U.S. for sixteen years, and my parents live in Bogota, so these shipments are incredibly important for me,” said Marcela Friedrich, Regional Field Operations Manager, Delta Cargo. “I feel that I am part of the solution and that I am helping to get my native country, and its economy, back to a new normal.” Once the vaccines arrive in Bogota, Delta Cargo works with a freight company to ensure they are safely delivered where they are needed most, said Carolina Vernanza, Delta’s Airport and Cargo Manager in Bogota. “With over 50 million people living in Colombia, the arrival of 4 million COVID-19 vaccines is a major boost and will really help Colombians to get closer to the country’s vaccination goals.”

Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru (BLR Airport; www.bengaluruairport.com) has emerged as the No.1 Airport in the Country for perishable shipments. According to Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), BLR Airport has processed 48,130 Metric Tonnes of perishables in the Financial Year 2020-21, accounting for 31% of India’s total perishable shipments. In the process, BLR Airport has emerged as the leading Airport for exports of poultry products and flowers during the same period. It processed 28,182 Metric Tonnes (MT) of poultry products and 1,296 MT of flowers. The perishables, which also included vegetables and fruits, was carried by 24 airlines to 46 international destinations. Doha was the top destination, followed by Singapore, London and Muscat.

Global supply chain continues to face disruptions as China, has been facing challenges ranging from power crunch to slowdown in its manufacturing sector. The worst ever power outage crisis in China forces most manufacturing units to operate only two or three days a week. The country has been facing acute power shortage since summer and several of its provinces have witnessed sudden blackouts recently. The sudden power shortage crises in the country are attributed to a rise in demand, weather conditions and measures to cut the use of fossil fuels. Besides this Evergrande, a prominent real estate firm in China, has recently experienced debt crunch, and consequently lead to disturbance in global financial markets. These developments will have consequences on the world economy given the heavy import dependency on China.

ICRA ratings expects the overall volumes at Indian ports to continue witnessing improvement and the same in FY2022 is likely to surpass FY2020 (pre-Covid) volumes. The optimism is based on the performance of the sector in 5m FY2022 wherein all segments except fertilisers have witnessed healthy Y-o-Y growth. The overall cargo volumes are largely stable in 5M FY2022 in comparison to similar period in FY2020 and are driven by healthy growth in containers, iron ore and other miscellaneous segments. The positive growth can also be attributed to the base effect since the same period during last fiscal (FY2021) was most severely impacted by the pandemic-related lockdown. The exceptions to volume growth (apart from fertilisers) are POL and coal volumes which have remained subdued. POL and thermal coal segments had remained subdued in FY2021 too due to demand contraction and while there has been a Y-o-Y improvement in 5m FY2022, the volumes remain lower compared to FY2020 levels.

Riding on the digital success with eCommerce contributing to 25% of its annual sales, Orion, one of the largest Korean food companies, has now announced its Direct-to-Consumer website ShopOrionIndia.com in India. The announcement comes within just a year of Orion’s India launch and ties in with its digital-first approach. The company owned online store has already clocked in 500 – 1000 visitors per day in the pilot phase and is expecting a traffic surge of 100% during the festive season. Consumers will be able to buy their favourite Orion snacks using www.shoporionindia.com at zero delivery charges. Orion’s foray into India’s $44.6 billion Direct-to-Consumer space is part of the company’s efforts to establish a direct connect with consumers across India. It will also help the company cater to the rising demand for its products from cities where it is yet to make a retail debut, especially around the festive season. A leading logistics solution provider and fulfilment centre have been enrolled as partners for quick and seamless delivery experience

GEODIS announced the upcoming launch of a new multi-user facility at the LOGOS Logistics Estate in Luhari, 60 kilometres north of Delhi. This will support the rapidly growing needs of GEODIS clients within the retail sector. Developed by LOGOS, one of Asia Pacific’s top logistics property groups, the new purpose-built facility offers both a modern infrastructure and an extensive space that allows GEODIS to fully optimize its contract logistics offerings to the Indian market which is currently experiencing unprecedented demand. The shift towards online shopping and omnichannel platforms, accelerated by the pandemic, has compelled retailers to seek logistics operators who can provide the sheer capacity to manage large merchandise inventory, along with the necessary tools to ensure both real-time and end-to-end visibility. The 26,654 sqm warehouse will have a state-of-the-art storage system consisting of both selective and very narrow aisle (VNA) pallet racks. Equipped in this way, the new facility addresses retailers’ concerns regarding space availability and packing efficiency to ramp up order processing procedures.

Mahindra Logistics Ltd., has scaled up its operations to meet the festive season demand by ramping up hiring and expanding capacity. The company plans to recruit more than 14000 employees on a seasonal basis adding to its third-party workforce. During the upcoming festive season, the company is adding solutions like pop-up facilities across 8 major cities in India aggregating to 1.1 million sq. ft. These additions are for its e-commerce customers spanning across fulfilment center, sort center and returns processing centers, which would ensure efficient and timely delivery to customers. Besides this, the company has also increased its last mile reach by opening multiple last-mile delivery centers across the country. These centres are equipped to deliver more than 100,000 shipments per day for small as well as large packages.