Category Archives: International

S Ramakrishna, Chairman, Federation of Freight Forwarders’ Associations in India (FFFAI) urged for greater collaboration between FFFAI and Nepal Freight Forwarders Association (NEFFA) for mutual benefits and enhancement of bilateral trade, at the Silver Jubilee Celebration function of NEFFA. Currently, freight forwarders in Nepal are showing concerns over irrational charges levied by shipping lines operating container services between India-Nepal route including labour charges, additional surcharges and demurrage charges resulting in increase in logistics cost. In addition, congestion at dry ports and exorbitant registration charges to use of government’s cargo tracking system remain other areas of concern.

The International Airport Transport Association (IATA) recently awarded the Mumbai and Hyderabad branches of Dachser India with the prestigious CEIV Pharma certification, recognizing the company for its excellence in transporting Life Science and Healthcare (LSH) products. The certification is a significant achievement for the logistics service provider given that only very few companies are currently accredited in India. In fact, the Dachser Hyderabad branch is only the second logistics firm in the area to receive the recognition; while its Mumbai branch is only among a few in the region. The Center of Excellence for Independent Validators in Pharmaceutical Logistics (CEIV Pharma) certification is a globally recognized certificate that acknowledges companies who excel in transporting Life Science and Healthcare (LSH) products. It is a quality mark and an industry standard that recognizes the logistics service provider as being able to safely, security and efficiently handle pharmaceutical shipments through the supply chain to assure product integrity and compliance with national and international guidelines. “Obtaining the CEIV Pharma certification is an important milestone for Dachser India. It emphasizes our continued focus for providing highly reliable logistic services to our valued customers in the LSH segment”, said Huned Gandhi, Managing Director, Air & Sea Logistics for the Indian Subcontinent. “Quality and efficiency have always been the cornerstones for our success and our teams are extremely proud to receive this accreditation from IATA”, Gandhi added.

DP World has launched the ‘India-UAE Bridge’ to attract India trade and investments to its Jebel Ali Port and Jafza by offering end-to-end solutions to companies and entrepreneurs. The initiative is set to attract trade and investments for both Indian and the UAE, as DP World offers technology-driven end-to-end (e2e) smarter trade solutions to Indian trade fraternity. The India-UAE Bridge is strategically designed to facilitate trade integration capabilities of global trade enabler DP World’s portfolio of over 150 operations in over 40 countries across six continents. The e2e solutions delivered under the India-UAE Bridge will support investors through value propositions by leveraging assets and capabilities in both countries.

Maersk Line has completed its first successful shipment of mangoes from Nhava Sheva in Mumbai, to Felixstowe, London. Bombay Exports shipped 21 tonnes of Kesar and Badami mangoes within a period of three weeks through Maersk’s reefer containers that use advance Remote Container Management (RCM) technology. Controlled Atmosphere (CA) is one of the offerings which helps in extending the shelf life of perishable fruits and vegetables by slowing down their ripening process. With this innovative offering, perishable goods, which otherwise required airfreight solutions, can now be shipped. Steve Felder, Managing Director, Maersk South Asia, said, “With the difficulties in airfreight in the current scenario, approximately 200 metric tonnes of air exports of fruits and other perishables are being impacted every week, leading to a huge loss of produce. Furthermore, a strong demand for mangoes in European markets, provided us with a chance to leverage our superior technology in preserving refrigerated (reefer) cargo.

Delhi International airport launched a dedicated facility exclusively for cargo handling, called, Transshipment Excellence Centre. The facility, spread over 6,500 square metres, can handle about 20,000 tonnes of cargo a month. The facility can process cargo in a span of 45 minutes to six hours, depending on the type and volume of cargo. The international transshipment cargo is sent from airlines to the centre where it is segregated and sent for onward despatch. The facility will allow exporters and shippers in the region to bring their cargo to Delhi and move it globally.

The 9th edition of India Warehousing Show, underway at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, gained a good start through numerous product promotions and an increased number of footfalls this year. The summit was graced by N Sivasailam, Special Secretary (Logisitcs), Department of Commerce, Ministry of commerce & Industry. Commenting on the National Logistics Policy, he says, “We are trying to integrate players at one platform through National Logistics Portal. A flavour of that is available, called PCS, to those who are dealing with the ports wherein we are trying to sort out the issues relating to transactional data protection.” The summit aims to cover pertinent interesting subjects of the industry, be it the building smart warehouses, the changing face of technology in a warehouse, skilled manpower deterrents, to name a few. The summit will conclude on June 22, 2019.

Bahri, the leading direct, full-liner service provider from US East and Gulf Coast ports and Canada to Jeddah, Dubai, Dammam and Mumbai (including way-port calls along the liner service route in the Mediterranean and Europe), has announced the expansion of its market presence in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region’s maritime industry. The stronger presence will help the company gain deeper insights into market trends as well as customer needs in chemicals and logistics sectors in Singapore and the wider APAC region. The expansion will also enable Bahri Logistics and Bahri Chemicals, two of five business units of the company, to market their offerings, acquire new clients, serve existing clients, and channelise communications. The company also plans to expand the services of its other business units to the APAC region in the future. Bahri’s global network of destinations already includes ports in China, India, Singapore, and South Korea.

E-booking platform Freightos WebCargo has acquired India’s Air Freight Bazaar, a regional air cargo rates and sales platform based in Chennai. “This acquisition combines WebCargo’s advanced air cargo rates, sales and e-booking platform, used by over 1,400 leading forwarders, with Air Freight Bazaar’s market share of 300 leading regional air forwarders,” said a Freightos WebCargo spokesperson. Air Freight Bazaar customers will receive access to WebCargo’s existing platform, including access to on-demand air rates, dynamic pricing, and e-booking with airlines like Lufthansa Cargo. Vinay Sethia, Co-founder, Air Freight Bazaar, said, “With WebCargo by Freightos, we can offer our customers improved technology, direct access to over 300 airlines, and e-booking. We’re also excited to represent WebCargo and Freightos in India.” Zvi Schreiber, Chief Executive Officer, Freightos, said, “Air Freight Bazaar has been a regional leader in freight digitalisation, making them a natural fit. Our initial focus in India will be on further automation for local air freight forwarders and collaborating on dynamic pricing and e-boking with regional airlines.”

India and Afghanistan have opened another air freight corridor connecting Herat to New Delhi to promote bilateral trade, bypassing Pakistan. The corridor was inaugurated just a few days after Afghanistan sent the first cargo shipment, carrying 200 kg of saffron and 1600 kg of Pistachio, to New Delhi from Herat in the first flight. India and Afghanistan established a direct air freight corridor connecting Kabul to New Delhi in June 2017 after a decision was taken in September 2016 in a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. Since then, the corridor also expanded to the Kandahar-New Delhi sector. On February 24, Afghanistan started a new export route through Iran’s Chabahar port that marked the first end-to-end use of the trade route for Afghan exports. The Zaranj-Chabahar route allows Afghan goods to reach India without crossing the Pakistani territory. The Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ACCI) has said that Afghanistan’s economic dependency on Pakistan has gone down following the establishment of new alternative trade and transit routes with several countries, including an air corridor with India.

In the survey which was a part of the 10th annual Agility Emerging Markets Logistics Index, India, China, Vietnam, Brazil and Indonesia are the countries seen as having greatest potential. India is the emerging market with the greatest potential, ahead of a slowing China, according to an annual survey of global logistics industry executives. In the Index itself, China remains atop the annual 50-country rankings and India is in second position, followed by United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Qatar, Turkey and Vietnam. China, India and Indonesia rank highest for domestic logistics; China, India and Mexico are top for international logistics; and UAE, Malaysia and Qatar have the best business fundamentals. Andy Vargoczky, SVP Sales & Marketing Asia-Pacific, Agility Global Integrated Logistics, says, “The logistics industry’s optimism is based on what India has accomplished – the Goods and Services Tax and other reforms – and on what can still be done to create economic growth and prosperity.”