MSC has announced a new direct service from India to West Africa, the MSC India Africa Service (IAS), effective from week 3, 2021 to enhance its services to customers shipping goods between India and Africa. The MSC IAS will provide a direct, fast and reliable service to our clients further demonstrating our commitment to the Indian trade, connecting Northwest and South India to West Africa, with a call at Colombo in Sri Lanka. On the way back, this new service will also connect South Africa directly with the Middle East, Pakistan and India. The rotation of India Africa Service will be as follows with the first sailing MP The Law, ETD Mundra on January 24, 2021: Mundra – Nhava Sheva – Colombo – Port Louis – Tema – Lome – Cotonou – Cape town – Durban – Jebel Ali – Abu Dhabi – Port Qasim – Mundra

Reacting to December 2020 export figures, Sharad Kumar Saraf, President, FIEO said that the monthly exports have moved towards positive territory as major export products show signs of further revival as expected. Marginal decline of just 0.8 per cent with US$ 26.89 billion of exports showing signs of revival as order booking position have continuously improved besides more new orders in the offing. He reiterated that the New Year 2021 has brought a ray of hope and optimism for all from the worst of Covid-19 and effective vaccines are expected to bring both life and economy back on growth trajectory with a v-shaped recovery in world trade. Arrival of vaccines have also helped in boosting the business sentiments for the sector as a whole, which can be further seen from the positive figures of the upcoming months said Saraf. FIEO President added that December exports also signals that our traditional and labour-intensive sectors of exports have passed the most challenging and testing times as both Christmas and New Year Season sales have shown positive trends with further improvement in coming months. Going ahead by this trend, we expect our inventories to be liquidated, adding further to the overall demand, observed Saraf. FIEO Chief said that the exports of other cereals along with oil meals, iron-ore, cereal preparations and miscellaneous processed items, jute mfg. including floor covering, handicrafts excl. hand-made carpet, carpet, ceramic products and glassware, drugs and pharmaceuticals, spices, electronic goods, fruits and vegetables, organic and inorganic chemicals, cotton yarn/fabrics/made-ups, handloom products etc., rice, meat, dairy and poultry products, gems and jewellery, mica, coal and other ores, minerals including process, tea and engineering goods showed either a very high or …

Turkish Cargo carried the first batch of the Covid-19 vaccines (Sinovac), procured from China by the Ministry of Health, to Turkey. Loaded inside 17 containers equipped with dedicated cooling systems, the Covid-19 vaccines have been delivered to the officials of the Turkey’s Ministry of Health after having been successfully transported from Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) to Ankara Esenboga Airport (ESB) via a dedicated flight. Contributing to the continuation of the food and medicine supply chain, Turkish Cargo, on top of its considerable flight network power, has increased its capacity by 30 per cent to lend its support in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. The cargo carrier also enhanced its cold chain shipment scale to 25 thousand tonnes per month thanks to the capacity to satisfy additional 150 aircraft pallets, reinforcing its capability for carrying vaccines around the world. Holding the IATA CEIV (Center of Excellence for Independent Validators) pharma certificate, Turkish Cargo, maintains the cold chain at the optimal conditions with its TK Pharma product which was designed to carry pharmaceuticals such at global standards. Maintaining its continuous dialogue with the pharmaceutical manufacturers, forwarders, airports, ground handling companies and the national authorities, the flag carrier is capable of satisfying a wide range of requirements of the pharmaceutical manufacturers by making use of dedicatedly cooled containers and means such as dry ice for the shipments at ultra-frozen range (-70°C). Turkish Cargo, which creates a global pharmaceutical corridor between more than 400 destinations by transporting pharmaceuticals to the key and certificated destinations such as Mumbai, Brussels, Istanbul, Singapore, Dubai, Basel, London and Amsterdam, reaches more than 300 destinations, 96 of which are direct cargo destinations, and continues to offer service …

FedEx Express Canada with Innomar Strategies started Canada’s first operations to distribute the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine across the country on behalf of the Government of Canada from December 24, when the first shipment arrived at the FedEx Express Canada hub in Toronto. Part of this initial shipment will continue onwards to the territories to facilitate vaccine distribution in Canada’s northern regions. The vaccine roll-out will be facilitated by the vast FedEx Express Canada network, utilising the specialised, cold-chain storage and packaging capabilities of Innomar Strategies, a part of AmerisourceBergen and a leading patient support provider in the Canadian specialty pharmaceutical market. The arrival of the vaccine from Brussels, Belgium, occurred within 48-hours of Health Canada’s approval, a key logistical requirement from the federal government. Meeting the deadline was made possible by extensive collaboration with the government of Canada to move more vaccines from Europe into the country. The delivery of the first Moderna Covid-19 vaccine is notable as it will be the first vaccine to arrive in the Northwest territories. The Canadian roll-out comes shortly after the FedEx network started delivering both the Pfizer-BioNTech and later the Moderna vaccines across the US, beginning mid-December. FedEx is well-positioned to handle Covid-19 vaccine shipments around the world with temperature-control solutions, near real-time monitoring capabilities, and a dedicated healthcare team to support the express transportation of vaccines and bioscience shipments. Innomar will safely and securely store the vaccines in its GMP-compliant Canadian storage facilities across Canada. The storage facilities—which are equipped to store complex pharmaceutical products, including those with cold chain requirements—are temperature-controlled and have a validated monitoring system to protect the vaccine shipments. Before the vaccines are shipped, teams will put them …

Emirates SkyCargo has successfully transport the Brazilian satellite Amazonia-1 from Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil to Chennai, India. This is the first time that Emirates SkyCargo has transported a space satellite from South America. The satellite is due to be sent to space in February 2021 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on the East coast of India. Emirates SkyCargo had to undertake extensive preparations for this charter flight to ensure the safe and secure transport of the satellite. The air cargo carrier had to apply for special permission to operate a Boeing 777 freighter from Sao Jose dos Campos airport to uplift the satellite. Emirates SkyCargo together with the INPE, the airport and local partners conducted two comprehensive simulation sessions ahead of the transport date to be able to transport the sensitive cargo safely from the airport. During the transportation process, the Amazonia-1 satellite was dismantled into multiple components to facilitate easy loading and unloading from the aircraft. The satellite components were packed inside large containers to avoid any damage during the transport. Overall, the total cargo weighed around 22 tonnes. Four members of the team from INPE also travelled with the satellite to continuously monitor the status of the cargo during the flight from Sao Jose dos Campos to Dubai and then onwards to Chennai, India. Emirates SkyCargo has expertise in transporting satellites and other cargo developed for space technology. In 2018, the carrier transported Khalifasat, the first satellite developed completely by Emirati engineers at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre from Dubai to Seoul. Amazonia-1 is the first satellite to have been developed completely in Brazil by the National Institute for Space Research (INPE), Brazil’s apex body …

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the project Deepening and Optimization of Inner Harbour Facilities including Development of Western Dock on Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis under Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode to handle cape size vessels at Paradip Port. The estimated cost of the project is Rs3,004.63 crore, which includes the development of the new Western Dock on BOT basis and capital dredging by the selected Concessionaire at a cost of Rs.2,040 Crore and Rs 352.13 crores respectively; and Paradip Port’s investment will be to the tune of Rs612.50 crore towards providing common supporting project infrastructure. The decision was taken in CCEA meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The proposed project envisages Construction of Western Dock Basin with facilities to handle cape size vessels by the selected BOT Concessionaire with an ultimate capacity of 25 MTPA (Million tonnes per annum) in two phases of 12.50 MTPA each. The Concession period shall be 30 years from the date of Award of Concession. Paradip Port Trust (Concessioning Authority) shall provide the Common Supporting Project Infrastructure works like breakwater extension and other ancillary works to facilitate handling of cape size vessels.

With Covid-19 vaccinations starting in Germany, Dachser is stepping up to organise vaccine logistics in the German capital on behalf of the Berlin Senate. Working on behalf of the Berlin Senate, Dachser will manage the vaccine supplies upon their delivery to the central vaccine warehouse. It will also undertake daily quality-assured deliveries to Berlin’s six vaccination centers, eleven hospital pharmacies, and up to sixty mobile vaccination teams. The requisite vaccine equipment will be supplied from a warehouse operated by the logistics provider. “We’ve been working in close collaboration with the Berlin Senate since July this year to store personal protective equipment and rapid coronavirus tests and distribute these to healthcare facilities in the city,” says Olaf Schmidt, General Manager of Dachser’s Berlin-Brandenburg logistics center in Schönefeld. “We’re pleased to be providing our logistics expertise to support this supply chain that is so important for society.”

FM Logistic has announced its plans to double its warehousing space to 1.2 crore sq ft in three to four years from 60 lakh sq ft at present. According to Alexandre Amine Soufiani, MD and CEO, FM Logistic, “The demand for such facilities will increase in the aftermath of the pandemic. We expect sales to return to pre-COVID levels by March 2021 as 90 per cent of the business has already recovered by December.” With its plans to set up Grade-A facilities in all metro cities and dynamic economic areas, especially multi-customer units, and focus on urban logistics, FM Logistic looks to attain leadership position in the sector. Grade-A warehouses are categorised on the basis of construction quality, available space, location, amenities and clients, among others. In March 2019, FM Logistic had outlined its plans to invest US$ 150 million over the next five years to set up new warehouses in India, with focus on multi-client warehouses. “When we acquired Spear Logistics in 2016, there was only 20 lakh sq ft space and four warehousing units. Today we have 60 lakh sq ft in four years and we want to double this to take it to 1.20 crore sq ft under our operations in the next 3-4 years,” Soufiani said. The company has already announced its plans to add 40 lakh sq ft warehousing space in the next three years that will take its total space to 1 crore sq ft, he said, adding that it could add another 20 lakh sq ft. He said the company has added a total of 10 lakh sq ft space in the last six months, all for multi-customers facilities, including omni channel, pharma, …

As per the ICRA report on Ports sector, cargo at Indian ports has turned positive for the first time after seven consecutive months in October and November 2020, recording a three per cent and one per cent Y-o-Y growth respectively. During March-September 2020, the Indian port sector has been adversely impacted due to the COVID-19 outbreak and the subsequent lockdown introduced by India and other major economies. Although, the sector was classified under essential services and remained operational post the initial period of lockdown, the adverse impact on the domestic economic activity as well as slowdown in global trade has resulted in steep contraction in cargo volumes at the Indian ports. While positive growth in the past two months is positive, for the 8M FY2021, cargo has reported a 12 per cent decline however, the same is significant improvement compared to the 22 per cent decline recorded in Q1 FY2021. The pace of decline has moderated sequentially every month for key cargo segments, indicating continuing signs of a recovery. Ankit Patel, Vice President and Co-Head, ICRA Ratings, mentions, “POL, coal and container segment have witnessed a contraction with ~13%, ~23% and ~12% Y-o-Y decline during 8M FY2021. However, there are definite signs of recovery given that in October-November these three segments recorded significantly better performance than previous months. The pace of recovery in the port sector will be contingent on the pace of recovery of the domestic industrial activity and the global economy. Further, factors like changes in the global supply chain pattern during the recovery phase will also have an impact on the cargo profile. Despite the expectation of a better H2FY2021, due to the significant under-performance in H1FY2021, …

To fulfil the growing global commitment for storage and transportation of COVID 19 vaccine, as well as other temperature-controlled pharmaceuticals, Skyways Air Services has received GDP Compliance Certification under international WHO (World Health Organisation) norms until December 31, 2023. The certification was completed after detailed scrutiny of various parameters in storage, handling, documentation, transportation and trainings modules which has covered dedicated personnel assigned to the temperature controlled shipments in the range of 2 – 8 degrees and 15 – 25 degrees. With this certification Skyways Air Services joins a select band of Indian logistics companies which are fully compliant to handle COVID-19 vaccine and temperature-controlled pharmaceuticals.