American footwear giant Sketchers has opened its national distribution centre spanning over 6,00,000 sq ft at Lodha Industrial and Logistics Park at Palava township in Kalyan. The state-of-the-art facility located close to Taloja MIDC is designed to streamline supply chain operations facilitating Skechers’ expansion of its footprint in the Indian market and enabling shipping of up to 60,000 units per day. Lodha group said this is the first warehouse building in western India to feature Free Movement (FM1) super flat flooring which enables easy transportation of shipments and has been designed to be an IGBC Platinum pre-certified building. This is the first phase of a strategic partnership to develop a 1.1 million sq ft facility in Palava township developed by the Lodha group.

Allcargo Logistics Limited Board and Allcargo Gati Limited board have approved the composite scheme of arrangement for restructuring of businesses under Allcargo Limited and Allcargo Gati Limited (Formerly Gati Limited). As per the scheme, International Supply Chain (ISC) business will be demerged into a separate entity: Allcargo ECU Limited. This would include the India part of International Supply Chain business along with the international subsidiaries held under the ECU Worldwide NV. Express business and Contract Logistics business would come under the resulting entity Allcargo Logistics (post ISC demerger) which will benefit from combined synergies and the shareholders of Allcargo and Allcargo Gati will get direct shareholding eliminating inefficient complex corporate structure. As per the approved swap ratio, based on the recommendations of the independent valuers, shareholders of Allcargo Gati will get 63 shares in the resulting Allcargo Logistics entity (post ISC demerger) for every 10 shares held in Allcargo Gati. Shareholders of Allcargo will get 1:1 shares in the demerged Allcargo ECU Limited and continue to hold their shares in Allcargo Logistics Limited, which will now be the resulting entity holding Express and Contract Logistics business directly. This takes into account 3:1 bonus shares approved by shareholders for Allcargo Logistics recently.

Ethiopian Airlines has secured a $450m loan agreement that it will partly use to finance the purchase of two of its previously announced Boeing 777 freighters. The loan will also finance three Boeing 737-8 passenger aircraft. The airline said that “delivery of all the aircraft will be completed in the US state of Washington in December” but it did not specify when the freighters would join its fleet. The loan will be secured against the value of the five planes and has been arranged exclusively by Citi’s Corporate Banking and Export Agency and Finance teams. It is guaranteed by the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM). Ethiopian took delivery of its 10th 777Flast month, for operation by Ethiopian Cargo. The aircraft is part of an order for five 777Fsmade by Ethiopian in May 2022. The B777 freighter can carry up to 107 tonnes of cargo with a maximum range of 9,200 km.

Cathay Cargo has announced the selection of the next-generation Airbus A350F freighter to meet its future fleet requirements. Cathay has placed an initial firm order with Airbus for six aircraft and has secured the right to acquire 20 more aircraft. This order for state-of-the-art aircraft to be delivered commencing from 2027 will help further strengthen Hong Kong’s status as the world’s number one air cargo hub, providing even greater cargo connectivity between Hong Kong, the Chinese Mainland and the rest of the world. Cathay Group Chief Executive Officer Ronald Lam said, “As we move into 2024, our rebuild journey is gaining momentum. This order marks another major component in our investment for the future. It reflects Cathay’s confidence in the Hong Kong hub as we look ahead to the opportunities provided by the Three-Runway System. “These highly fuel-efficient, next-generation freighters will provide important additional cargo capacity, expand our global network and contribute to our sustainability leadership goals.” *******

As per the recent ‘India Warehousing Market Report – 2023’ by Knight Frank, top 8 markets in India registered a historic high in warehousing demand space, reaching 51.3 million square feet (msf), in the financial year 2022-23 (April 2022 – March 2023). The report also states that this growth is driven by a surge in activities from the third-party logistics (3PL), manufacturing, and retail sectors. The 3PL sector has seen the highest rise in demand at 34% compared to the previous year, and have emerged as the linchpin of the logistics and warehousing industry in India. The Knight Frank report attributes their success to their ability to adapt to industry best practices and processes, thereby enhancing efficiency and reducing operational costs. The 3PL service providers have also played a pivotal role in addressing the challenges faced by the warehousing sector, such as the lack of modern facilities, infrastructure bottlenecks, and the need for advanced technology adoption. Their expertise and investments have elevated industry standards, ensuring that warehousing facilities in India are increasingly aligned with global benchmarks. *****

D B Schenker India has signed an MoU with Container Corporation of India (CONCOR) to collaborate for EXIM and domestic business with a strong emphasis on sustainability. CONCOR is a prominent logistics service provider in India, with pan India presence at 64 container terminals. The MoU was signed on 19th December 2023 in New Delhi, India, in the presence of Mr. Sanjay Swarup, CMD of CONCOR, Ms. Kinjal Pande, CEO of DB Schenker (India and Indian Subcontinent), along with senior officials from CONCOR and DB Schenker. This MoU underscores the commitment of both organizations to contribute to sustainable supply chain practices and domestic multimodal solutions in the logistics industry. Kinjal Pande, Chief Executive Officer – DB Schenker, Cluster India and Indian Subcontinent, remarked, “This strategic collaboration marks an important milestone in our commitment to provide enhanced sustainable products to our customers. Road continues to be the dominant mode of transport in India and through this strategic partnership for Rail Freight, we want to significantly change the trend towards a low carbon future.”

The air cargo peak season for 2023 appears to be peaking, according to the latest data from TAC Index, the leading price reporting agency (PRA) for air freight. “Following a series of rises in recent weeks, the overall Baltic Air Freight Index was slightly lower by 0.1 percent in the week to December 18, leaving it lower by 14 percent over the last 12 months,” says the latest update. Air freight prices outbound from Hong Kong – still the biggest airport in the world by cargo volume – kept going up last week, rising by a further one percent WoW to put that index ahead by nine percent YoY, led by a continuing rise in rates to North America. “However, outbound Shanghai gave back some ground after the recent surge, falling three percent WoW with rates to the U.S. dropping to leave that index only narrowly ahead YoY by 0.3 percent.” Market conditions continued to be mixed out of Europe, the update added. “Outbound Frankfurt gained six percent WoW, showing gains on rates both to China and to the U.S. though still lower by 48 percent YoY. Outbound London enjoyed no such bounce with rates falling on all major lanes to show a further WoW fall of five percent and a huge YoY drop of 57 percent. Meanwhile, the latest significant new addition to the data this week were air cargo rates from Europe to Japan, which showed a gain of three percent WoW.”

The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) is planning to induct 20 cargo trucks in a determined foray into organised freight business. Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy inspected one of these trucks at the KSRTC central office and will flag off 20 on December 23, said reports. The government-owned bus operator has launched its freight business called ‘Namma Cargo’ to increase its its non-fare revenue. While the KSRTC has increased its freight traffic revenue from Rs 1 crore to Rs 2.5 crore a month, it’s planning to scale up operations. The induction of 20 ‘Namma Cargo’ trucks is a step in that direction,” added reports.

AVG Logistics acquires over 50 cold chain vehicles (reefer trucks) from global multinational companies to strengthen fleet operations, says release. “We acquired this fleet of 50 vehicles after detailed due diligence and assessment of vehicle quality, condition, wear & tear. This greatly enhances AVG’s ability to service recently signed a long-term contract with India’s largest MNC FMCG Company, both on the dry and frozen goods side,” company’s Managing Director and CEO Sanjay Gupta said in a statement. This acquisition takes the company’s total cold chain fleet strength to 275. AVG Logistics provides customised and technology-driven solutions across warehousing, distribution, and supply chain management.

Welspun One, an integrated fund and development management platform, will be investing over Rs 700 crore to develop an industrial and logistics hub spread across 55 acres within the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Navi Mumbai. For this, Welspun One has entered into a strategic collaboration with JNPA to jointly develop this project. The investment includes both land as well as construction cost. This marks the second deployment from Welspun Ones’ latest alternative investment fund that has a total corpus of Rs 2,000 crore. This project will be financed through a mix of debt and equity. “By empowering businesses and fostering employment, we are driven to generate significant regional and economic influence. The JNPA project is a declaration of our commitment to industrial excellence and the future of India’s industrial framework,” Balkrishan Goenka, Chairman, Welspun World.