Category Archives: International

Japan Airlines has partnered with Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) in Liege to provide cargo handling and ramp transportation for its new weekly Boeing 747 freighter flight from the Belgian airport to Tokyo. In a separate development, Japan Airlines has also extended its offline handling agreement with WFS at Brussels Airport, which sees WFS working closely with the airline’s cargo GSSA partner, J-Air, to coordinate road transport connections for Japan Airlines’ flights from Paris, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and London. WFS has also been appointed by Japan Airlines to handle a series of all-cargo flights ex Brussels Airport to Osaka this summer carrying Covid vaccines. “We are very happy to expand JAL’s European partnership with WFS, which responds well to our requests, such as for the high quality handling of vaccines in Brussels and our requirements for time definite handling of large volumes in Liege,” said Tatsusuke Osakabe, the airline’s regional manager cargo and mail, France, Spain and Belgium.

Reacting to the trade data for July 2021-22, Dr A Sakthivel, President, FIEO said that the sustained growth in exports of about 48 percent with USD 35.17 billion over FY’ 2020-21 and by 34 percent over FY’ 2019-20 yet again demonstrated the strength and resilience of the exports sector. This is the highest-ever exports recorded at least in the previous 9 years as per the data readily available with FIEO. It also is a sign that global trade is recovering fast, added Dr Sakthivel. FIEO Chief reiterated that the global demand during this period has also remained buoyant as the order booking positions of the exporters have still been impressive. Dr Sakthivel complimented the government under the able and dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and also the Union Finance Minister, Union Commerce & Textiles Minister for showing confidence and trust on the exporters during these difficult times, who have not only continuously performed impressively but have also been able to showcase that the government’s vision of Atma Nirbhar Bharat has given a boost to the sector.

Close on the heels of the announcement of Uzbekistan Airways announcing Aeroprime as its Passenger Sales Agent; comes an additional announcement of Aeroprime being given the mantle of the Cargo Sales Agent as well for India. Aeroprime’s mandate will be to look at the holistic cargo and passenger sales channels for the airline and will responsible for the airlines’ cargo sales, operations, customer service apart from passenger sales, reservations, marketing and other associated services. The twin appointments demonstrate the positive intent of Uzbekistan Airways to the Indian market and its commitment to scale up its business and brand awareness in India through close cooperation with Aeroprime.

India and Bangladesh restored regular operations of freight trains through the Haldibari-Chilahati rail route after 56 years on Sunday, in a step aimed at strengthening rail connectivity and bilateral trade between the two countries. The Haldibari-Chilahati rail link was inaugurated in December 2020 during a virtual meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina to boost trade relations between the two nations. This rail link is also set to provide northeast India with an opportunity to enter the international market. The first goods train left Dumdim station of Alipurduar division on Sunday and will reach Chilahati station in Bangladesh via the Haldibari-Chilahati rail route. It will also boost e rail network accessibility to the main ports and dry ports to support the growth in regional trade and to encourage economic and social development of the region.

The world’s largest container-equipment leasing company, Triton International (NYSE: TRTN), announced record results and provided the latest intel on box production. The price of a new container, which had stabilized at around $3,500 per twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) earlier this year, has risen again and is now at $3,800 per TEU. Prices are “at unprecedented levels,” said John O’Callaghan, Triton’s global head of marketing and operations, during the call with analysts. The price of a new container at this time two years ago, pre-COVID, was around $1,600 per TEU, less than half the current level. What’s particularly telling is that the price is rising at the very time Chinese factories are churning out more new boxes than they ever have before. According to Triton’s estimate, which excludes sales to nonleasing and nonshipping buyers, factories built around 2.6 million TEUs of dry (nonrefrigerated/nontank) containers in H1 2021 — more than the 12-month totals in most years.

Announcing the second-quarter revenues, which were up by 31.4% ($6.04bn), DSV spoke about the high yields, market conditions – and competition, as it commences to integrate Agility GIL. While losing customers after the M&A is a common phenomenon, DSV which is the M&A expert feels confident that it will still be standing on solid grounds. DSV CEO Jens Bjorn Andersen and CFO Jens Lund said that while things may be a little “bumpy”, they will settle. “The Agility deal will take inspiration from Panalpina. We are more experienced; it’s smaller and we are well prepared. Once we include Agility, we’ll put a smokescreen over the numbers, but our performance will continue in terms of market share,” they said while speaking about the merger, which is likely to happen next month. We are 100% committed to market share. It sounds arrogant, but we are humble, that’s what we do. Profitability needs to follow. There are so many ways to compete with mom-and-pop shops. We have been able to outgrow the market,” they added.

Allcargo Logistics Ltd., India’s largest integrated logistics solutions provider, announced that it’s wholly owned subsidiary Allcargo Belgium NV. (Operating ECU Worldwide network), a global multi-modal logistics major, has signed a definitive Joint Venture agreement with Nordicon Group, the market leader in Nordics in LCL and rail consolidation. ECU Worldwide will hold a 65% share, while the balance of 35% will be held by the present owners of Nordicon. With this strategic investment, ECU Worldwide will now be a market leader with a near 40% market share of the less-than-container-load (LCL) business in the Nordic region. Shashi Kiran Shetty, Chairman, Allcargo Logistics, ECU Worldwide, and Gati Ltd., said, “The partnership with Nordicon is in line with our vision of consolidating our market leadership and working with entrepreneurial teams to expand into new territories who share our vision for digital innovation for the logistics sector. Nordicon is led by a strong and capable team, and we are very pleased to welcome them into the larger ECU Worldwide family. This partnership is a great way to scale the global business and better serve customers.”

DHL Express successfully delivered the first batch of 1.5 million Pfizer-BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine doses to Thailand. From door-to-door in just three days, DHL Express flew the vaccines in thermal packaging and subsequently arranged for it to be sent directly to a designated warehouse in Thailand. The arrival of 1.5 million doses, part of the US donation to Southeast Asian countries, aims to help Thailand and the region accelerate their vaccination programs and provide equitable access to immunization as to keep their populations safe, and ensure that their economies can recover quickly. “We are deeply grateful for the trust that our customers have placed in us in handling this precious cargo. It marks another milestone in combating the spread of Covid-19, assisting the country’s recovery and protecting healthcare professionals on the frontline from Covid-19 infection. We are proud to leverage our capabilities and network to transport this life-saving cargo in accordance with the stringent logistics requirements to get through the pandemic,” said Herbert Vongpusanachai, managing director at DHL Express Thailand and Head of Indochina.

Royal Cargo, one of the leading logistics service providers in the Philippines, recently inaugurated its newest facility, the vaccine depot in Parañaque City, Philippines. This new storage serves as a sizeable addition to the country’s fight against COVID-19. The vaccine depot is a $1million investment that aims to provide a pharma-grade storage facility for COVID-19 and other types of available vaccines. Parañaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez and Representative Eric Olivarez graced the inaugural ceremony of the new depot located at the Royal Cargo headquarters in Paranaque City. In his special message, Mayor Olivarez thanked the Royal Cargo management and said, “It is a great help in our country, as we face the pandemic, (the cold storage facility), will store the needed vaccines by every Filipino citizen not only from the City of Paranaque but the whole nation of the Republic of the Philippines.” The vaccine depot is strategically located near the NAIA airport for fast and easy transfer of vaccines to and from the airport.

DSV Panalpina releases the interim financial report for the first six months of 2021. The results show strong growth in EBIT before special items of 64, 7 percent during the first six months of 2021 compared to the same period in 2020. The great performance was driven by 18 percent growth in gross profit and a high productivity across all divisions. Jens Bjørn Andersen, Group CEO, “We are proud to report strong results for the first six months of 2021, where we deliver an EBIT result equivalent to our full-year EBIT of 2019. This is a clear testament to the successful integration of Panalpina and a strong performance by our organisation in an extraordinary market environment. The logistics markets continue to be characterised by tight capacity, congestion and low visibility.