According to ports’ apex body the Indian Ports Association (IPA), India’s top-12 ports witnessed considerable decline in cargo traffic for the 11th straight month in February to 600.62 million tonnes (MT). Cargo traffic at 12 major ports that are under the control of the Centre dropped by 6.61 per cent to 600.62 million tonnes (MT) during April-February this fiscal, compared with 643.10 MT in the year-ago period, IPA said in its latest report. All ports, barring Paradip and Mormugao — which recorded 0.27 per cent and 30.93 per cent increase in cargo handling to 102.90 MT and 19.28 MT respectively, saw negative growth. Cargo handling at Kamrajar Port (Ennore) nosedived 23.29 per cent during April-February to 22.23 MT, while ports like Mumbai and VO Chidambaranar saw their cargo volumes dropping by over 12 per cent during the said period. Cochin and Chennai ports suffered a sharp decline of about 10 per cent. JNPT saw a decline of 8.06 per cent in cargo volumes, while Deendayal Port Trust and Kolkata ports logged an over 6 per cent drop in cargo volume. Cargo handling at New Mangalore and Visakhapatnam slipped 5.30 per cent and 4.87 per cent, respectively. India has 12 major ports under the control of the central government — Deendayal (erstwhile Kandla), Mumbai, JNPT, Mormugao, New Mangalore, Cochin, Chennai, Kamarajar (earlier Ennore), VO Chidambaranar, Visakhapatnam, Paradip and Kolkata (including Haldia). In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, sharp declines were witnessed in the handling of containers, coal and POL (petroleum, oil and lubricant), among other commodities. These ports handle about 61 per cent of the country’s total cargo traffic. They handled 705 MT of cargo last fiscal. Ports, Shipping and …

India has supplied the second shipment of equipment to Chabahar port in Iran. “Continuing with our commitment to develop Chabahar Port, second shipment of equipment reaches Shahid Behesti Terminal,” informs, Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister of Ports Shipping and Waterways, Government of India, in a tweet. In January, India had supplied a consignment of two mobile harbour cranes to the Chabahar port, having a total contract value of over US$ 25 million. Located in the Sistan-Balochistan province on the energy-rich Iran’s southern coast, the port is being developed by India, Iran and Afghanistan to boost trade ties. Last month, Ports, Waterways and Shipping (MoPWS) Additional Secretary Sanjay Bandopadhyaya had said two more cranes are standing for loading near the port near Venice, which will reach by March-end to the Chabahar port. He had said two more cranes will be supplied to the port by June-end. Bandopadhyaya said after mobile harbour cranes are delivered, there are plans to procure rail-mounted cranes for which bidding is going on. Till January 31, 2021, about 123 vessels had berthed at the terminal and approximately 13,752 TEUs and 18 lakh tonnes of bulk/ general cargo had been handled there. The bilateral contract between Iran and India was signed on May 23, 2016 with a total value of US$ 85 million ‎for equipping, mechanising and starting operations at the port under the first phase. In this regard, a special purpose vehicle — India Ports Global (IPGL), Mumbai — was incorporated under the shipping ministry.

Sonoco ThermoSafe and Unilode Aviation Solutions have announced their partnership for the maintenance, repair and handling of Sonoco ThermoSafe’s passive bulk temperature-controlled containers at several key locations. This cooperation will play an important part in enabling the safe and efficient transport of pharmaceuticals and other temperature-sensitive products around the world. Ron Haub, Segment Director, Sonoco ThermoSafe, said, “Sonoco ThermoSafe is not only driving innovation in temperature-controlled container design with our Pegasus ULD, but our partnership with Unilode provides an innovative solution for the rapid expansion of preparation, handling and repair locations on a global basis. With Unilode, we are pleased to be working with the world’s largest owner/manager of ULDs and their massive airport network, which will accelerate the adoption of the Pegasus ULD during the world’s most demanding need for pharmaceutical distribution.” Marc Groenewegen, Chief Commercial Officer, Unilode, said, “Unilode has stepped up its efforts to broaden its MRO customer portfolio and provide high quality maintenance and repair services to specialised ULD manufacturers and service providers in the pharmaceutical industry, in addition to its core airline market. We are pleased with our new agreement with Sonoco ThermoSafe that leverages Unilode’s global MRO footprint at key airports in the United States, EMEA and APAC region for repair, handling, inspection, cleaning and equipment inventory control services. This partnership will allow both companies to contribute to the global distribution efforts of the Covid-19 vaccines and other pharmaceutical products, which require temperature-controlled containers for the transport in the air cargo supply chain.”

Understanding the need to keep vital supply chains running smoothly, Air France KLM Martinair Cargo (AFKLMP) has set up a customer COVID Service Centre dedicated to managing all Covid-19 vaccine shipments. After a successful trial period in a few selected countries, this new 24/7 service is available worldwide. The carrier has launched a new product to ensure that Covid-19 vaccines get the special attention they require. The customised COVID vaccines solution is available for all temperature ranges and container types, and offers a variety of premium features such as highest priority on board, 24/7 dedicated service, monitoring and intervention, and specific security measures. All shipments booked as Customized COVID Vaccines will bear the mandatory special handling code SHL (Save Human Life). “Understandably, at this exceptional time, a great deal of attention is devoted to combating the coronavirus crisis and everything that comes with it, such as the transportation of vaccines. I am grateful that we can make an essential contribution to this,” says, GertJan Roelands, SVP Sales & Distribution AFKLMP Cargo. In recent months, Air France KLM Martinair Cargo has successfully transported millions of doses of Covid-19 vaccines, delivering hope to many destinations around the world. In particular to different countries in South America and Africa. UNICEF’s Humanitarian Airfreight Initiative is now fully underway and AFKLMP is a partner committed to making this crucial mission a success.

Mapletree Logistics Trust intends to acquire two yield-accretive warehouses in Maharashtra, India for Rs 4.55 billion (US$ 84.4 million). Ng Kiat, Chief executive of MLTM, said, “This will be MLT’s first acquisition in India, a fast-growing logistics market that offers attractive long-term prospects. Strong demand for logistics space is underpinned by a large growing consumer market, rapidly developing e-commerce, India’s increasing importance as a major manufacturing hub in Asia-Pacific as well as a severe lack of supply of Grade A warehouses.” Its manager, Mapletree Logistics Trust Management (MLTM), announced in a regulatory filing on Wednesday the proposed acquisition – its first in India – of a four-block, single-storey ambient warehouse and a two-block, single-storey ambient warehouse in Pune, both purpose-built with modern logistics specifications. These warehouses with remaining land tenures of 88 years and 86 years have a total gross floor area of over 89,000 square metres and occupancy rates of 100 per cent and 88 per cent. They are leased to a tenant base comprising mostly MNCs such as Kawasaki and Hyundai. The leases have a weighted average lease expiry by revenue of 2.2 years with built-in annual escalations. The acquisition is expected to generate a net property income yield of 7.4 per cent and also to be accretive at the distribution level, MLTM stated. Debts will be used to fund the purchase and the transaction is expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2021. After completion, the aggregate leverage ratio of the trust will be approximately 40.1 per cent while it will have 164 properties and assets under management of approximately S$10.7 billion.

For Indian trade, 2020 was a year dominated by unprecedented challenges, irregular manufacturing and buying patterns, disrupted trade environments and lack of predictability. With the COVID-19 pandemic spreading across the world in a staggered manner and in varying proportions, the impact on containerised trade was felt the most in Q2 / 2020 when exports contracted by 34%. As societies began to find ways to coexist with COVID-19, trade started recovering in the second half. Exports ramped up sharply in Q3, not only recovering from Q2 slump, but even increased by 14% year on year, however the economic impact on consumers led to substantially lower imports, which dropped by 28% as compared to the same period of 2019. The last quarter of the year showed growth in both imports and exports, thus making solid strides towards returning to normalcy. Demand for Indian exports across multiple categories continues to remain exceptionally strong, much of it driven by consumer demand in North America and Europe. Steve Felder, Managing Director, Maersk South Asia, said “Despite unprecedented challenging conditions, stakeholders across supply chains – from manufacturers to consumers, from Government bodies to logistics enablers – all stood up cautiously to fight the pandemic. Without the contribution from all the moving parts in the complex machinery of global trade, the path back to normalcy would not have been possible.”

As the government is working on a new multi-modal national logistics policy, the Container Freight Stations Association (CFSes Association), whose members have been finding their going tough since 2016, has said CFSes should be allowed handle more logistics services, especially domestic cargo, so that their idling space can be gainfully engaged. According to the association, the 160-odd CFSes across the ports have been operating at around 40 per cent capacity on one hand, and on wafer thin margins on the other, as most containers are directly delivered to consignees now. With the increased DPD (direct port delivery) and various Customs-initiated reforms like RMS (risk management systems), almost all the CFSes remain largely underutilised. They are currently functioning at around 40 per cent of their functional capacity, Umesh Grover, Secretary-General, Container Freight Station Association. He said earlier as much as 70 per cent of containarised imports were through CFSes, which after the DPD began in 2016, is down to a paltry 25 per cent now. Over 50 per cent of all imports are through DPD facility today which has massively brought down delays and cost for importers, he said, but was quick to add that there is also a problem of over capacity of CFSes, with 160 stations now. Each CFS has can handle 500 TEUs of cargo. Another reason for the losing business is the introduction of RMS by the Customs, which as taken away 60 per cent of the non-DPD business. Under the RMS regime, as much as 60 per cent of the shipments do not need Customs clearance. Then there is the issue of fees which have just halved from Rs 10,000 per day to under Rs 5,000 …

RedSeer and Shadowfax have launched the ‘Delivery Delight Index’ to help brands and platforms assess their relative positioning in terms of delivery experience provided to the end customer and take measures to continually improve their delivery experience score which in turn will help them to drive customer satisfaction and improve their revenue per customers. Commenting on the launch of Delivery Delight Index, Abhishek Bansal, CEO, and Founder, Shadowfax says, “I have said this in the past and continue to foresee that five years down the line, e-commerce will evolve into maximum two-day deliveries. While discounts on products are no longer a key driver for consumers to shop online, speed of delivery, safety and hygiene have become imperative in the past few months. Third-party logistics will emerge as an important driver for bringing consumer delight to the brands offering safer, faster deliveries. We have come together with RedSeer to bring the Delight Delivery Index for brands. The index will enable a deeper understanding of customer behavior and preferences and help the brands better serve their customers. The Index outlines interesting facts about the change in consumer behavior. Delivery Delight Index will also help brands and platforms understand satisfaction levels of their end customers across key parameters like Speed of Delivery and Delivery Experience. Some of the traditional/retail and digitally native brands who have partnered with 3PL companies are leading in better delivery experiences. This reveals that the industry needs an agile supply chain management and warehousing solutions of 3PL players to improve on their delivery experience score leading to better revenue per customer.” ‘Delivery Delight Index’ has been developed after ~9,000 consumer surveys covering 34 players across four types of platforms …

In addition to CEIV Pharma certification as an airline, the Lufthansa Cargo Pharma Centers in Munich and Chicago, which opened in summer 2020, recently got CEIV Pharma-certified. After extensive testing, the CEIV Pharma label of the International Air Transport Association also confirms to Lufthansa Cargo in Munich and Chicago the reliable handling and storage of urgent and temperature-sensitive shipments according to the highest international standard. This is also particularly relevant for the transport of highly sensitive COVID-19 vaccines, as these must be transported worldwide and with the utmost reliability. “The latest CEIV Pharma certification of our centers in Munich and Chicago confirms our high competence in handling pharmaceutical products. With the construction of the two new state-of-the-art centers, we have been able to significantly expand our excellent pharma network. Particularly in view of the corona pandemic, these are promising investments for the future. We can offer our customers the global transport of sensitive corona vaccines via two additional certified centers. We are pleased about the official confirmation of our offer by the CEIV Pharma label,” explains Thorsten Braun, Senior Director Industry Development and Product Management at Lufthansa Cargo.

On the heels of its recent acquisition of Ocean Insights, project44 has announced the availability of its free port visibility reporting service, Port Intel™. Free for a limited time, Port Intel is an online service that provides subscribers with free reports that summarise port congestion, inform them when their containers are anchored near congested ports, and help them make critical inventory and management decisions. Port Intel is powered by Ocean Insights from project44. “The impact of oceanic bottlenecks on the global economy is staggering,” said Jett McCandless, Founder and CEO of project44, in adding, “Given the critical nature of the port blockages, we released Port Intel as a service to enable global shippers to identify where the delays are occurring and how they can mitigate delays and avoid future crises. Just days after closing our acquisition, it was amazing to see the p44 and Ocean Insights teams move quickly to integrate our solutions and deliver Port Intel.” As the global economy rebounds from COVID-19, virtually every business is impacted in some way by disruptions in international shipping, with port delays, lack of capacity, container shortages, and other imbalances all wreaking havoc on trade. With so much at stake, Port Intel is a timely solution for frustrated supply chain professionals. Port Intel helps them assess the status of their shipments and supply chain, allowing for proactive planning and risk mitigation. Users can access the report by visiting the Port Intel site and entering vessel identifiers, bill of lading identifiers or ocean container numbers. Using these details, Port Intel generates customized updates that include projected time out and port dwell times. The reports are curated by project44’s visibility experts to provide recommendations …