Category Archives: International

LATAM Cargo has expanded its pharma network by adding four new transit stations. The transit stations provide access to Puerto Rico, New Zealand, Ecuador and Paraguay and allow LATAM Cargo to offer more routes for different origins-destinations. Cristina Onate, Vice President – Marketing and Product Development, LATAM Cargo, says, “The goods we transport with our pharma solutions to Latin America are delicate and extremely sensitive to temperature deviations.” The carrier has opened pharma transit stations in Miami, Santiago, Buenos Aires and a second entry point in Sao Paulo over the last three months. This allows the carrier to expand the number of routes it can serve with its CEIV certified pharma service.

Dachser has announced that the company has invested in its location in Nuremberg, including expansion of transit terminals for industrial goods and food by over 5,200 m2. The company is investing EUR 22.5 million in the project, the construction phase of which was completed at the end of May. “Over the past ten years, our location in Nuremberg has seen positive development in the areas of industrial goods and food, as well as in warehousing. So much so that we have now reached the limits of our capacity with the existing facility,” says, Bernhard Engel, Branch Manager – European Logistics, Dachser’s Nuremberg. The company is creating extra parking spaces for trucks and employee vehicles, in addition to enlarging the office building by 1,200 m2.

In order to facilitate digital transformation of airlines, cargo.one and IBS Software has announced their strategic partnership. The two companies have been working together to create custom integrations for leading airlines, including Etihad Cargo and Nippon Cargo Airlines, to successfully help them accelerate their digital distribution capabilities. As COVID-19 forces airlines and forwarder sales teams to adapt to a new normal, cargo.one has reported a record increase in usage and demand. Moritz Claussen, Founder & Managing Director, cargo.one, says, “We see that COVID-19 has been a catalyst for digital transformation within the air cargo industry. This is reflected in the now over 1,500 forwarder branches using cargo.one on a daily basis. “Furthermore, we see that distributing capacity online at live rates is an essential part of the recovery roadmap for many airlines. Together with IBS Software we have been building a proven plug and play solution that empowers all IBS airlines to seamlessly integrate with cargo.one and get access to our ever-growing user base. It will allow airlines to boost sales online and almost instantly relieve overloaded sales staff.” Ashok Rajan, SVP & Head of Cargo & Logistics, IBS Software, says “We truly believe that leveraging online distribution is the way forward for airlines to emerge faster and stronger from the crisis and we are excited to enable these connections with innovation leader cargo.one and our state of the art technology.”

Bollore Logistics India has successfully moved aid & relief and healthcare shipments from Mumbai, to Yangon, Myanmar. The company has successfully organised these tasks through two charter flights. The first flight was carried out on April 29, 2020 with Spice Jet using Boeing 737-700F and the second flight was operated on May 15, 2020 on Indigo’s Airbus A 320, a passenger aircraft used as a makeshift freighter. India team closely monitored the charter planning and cargo execution to ensure cargo readiness for loading prior to flight arrival to avoid any last-minute delays and rollovers. The team proposed the most economical and time bound solution in close coordination with Myanmar, to the clients who awarded their shipments from various locations within India.

The Singapore-headquartered shipping company Pacific International Lines (PIL) has introduced a new India service named China-India Express (CIX) connecting Tianjin and Qingdao in North China to Indian ports Nhava Shava and Mundra. With the maiden voyage to leave from Tianjin Port on June 5, the service also links Kaohsiung in Taiwan, Singapore, Port Klang in Malaysia and Port of Colombo in Sri Lanka. Rotation of CIX Tianjin – Qingdao – Kaohsiung – Singapore – Port Klang (West) – Nhava Sheva – Mundra – Colombo – Port Klang (West) – Singapore – Tianjin.

Mapletree, a Singapore-based developer-cum-investor, has invested Rs 300 crore in a logistics park project of Pune-based KSH Infra Industrial Park. The deal pertains to 0.7 million square feet (sq. ft) of Grade A logistics park KSH in Chakan, Pune. This deal is part of a 1.2 million sq. ft park that the firm is developing in the Chakan area of the city. The entire development and leasing of the project will be undertaken by KSH Infra. KSH Infra Industrial Park has entered into a forward sale agreement with Mapletree, wherein the investor has committed to buy the park at a pre-agreed valuation along with pre-defined technical specifications. The park is EDGE Certified and lays great impetus on the importance of green development. The entire park aims to be healthier, more productive, and help reduce stress on the environment. The buildings are designed to be more energy and resource-efficient, resulting in energy savings, and a reduction in utility costs in the long term for its clients.

After the resumption of exports to Bangladesh through Bengal’s Petrapole land port, stakeholders in the neighbouring country have expressed despair, saying the situation has led to a crisis in industrial output and skyrocketing of prices of perishables there. According to the stakeholders, unavailability of drivers to take cargo to Bangladesh and problems related to parking of trucks in Petrapole has led to the crisis. “Even though trade has resumed, but due to complexity in your systems, export-import is not taking place to its potential of 500-700 trucks a day. A mere 10-20 trucks crossing the border will not achieve any business purpose,” Mafizur Rahman Sajan, President, Benapole body, said in the letter to the FIEO.

SpiceJet has added Moscow to its growing international cargo network, operating its maiden cargo flight from Hyderabad to Moscow carrying more than 16 tonnes of pharma supplies. The airline has deployed its Boeing 737 freighter aircraft for this cargo flight to Domodedovo Airport. “Moscow is the latest addition to our fast expanding cargo network which spans over 35 international destinations. We have added six new international destinations in the last 10 days. Since the lockdown began, SpiceJet has operated more than 2200 cargo flights and has carried around 15,700 tonnes of cargo,” says Ajay Singh, Chairman & Managing Director, SpiceJet. SpiceJet has operated special cargo flights to and from Abu Dhabi, Almaty, Baghdad, Bahrain, Bangkok, Bishkek, Cambodia, Cairo, Cebu, Colombo, Dhaka, Doha, Dubai, Guangzhou, Ho Chi Minh, Hong Kong, Huangzhou, Incheon, Jakarta, Kabul, Kathmandu, Khartoum, Kyrgyzstan, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, Male, Myanmar, Shanghai, Singapore, Sharjah, Sulaymaniyah, Tashkent, Ukraine, to name a few.

Raising the bar of warehousing in India, Rhenus Logistics has opened a new mega warehouse at Gurugram in North India. The 350,000 square feet state-of-the-art facility will enable Rhenus to provide more scalable storage options and solutions, strengthening its integrated logistics services and solutions offerings for customers across the country. “With 69 offices in India and more than 1,600 employees nationwide, Rhenus India is committed to be the first choice for an integrated logistics solution and service provider. We partner with our customers to be the single point-of-contact for the entire supply chain, trusted with our advantage in terms of our trained manpower, consistent systems and processes. The strategically-located new warehouse affirms our commitment to our customers, as we step up on our offerings, and raise the bar for warehouses here,” said Vivek Arya, Managing Director, Rhenus Logistics India.

With the recommencement of exports to Bangladesh through Bengal’s Petrapole land port, 100 local trucks got permission to go into the neighbouring country. The trade will be allowed for 12 hours daily. All Bangladesh-bound vehicles stranded in and around the Petrapole check post, around 80-km from Calcutta, will be cleared by June 14. The local administration has also asked traders to be ready with another pool of 50 drivers outside the ICP area for any exigency. Bilateral trade through this land port, the largest facility on the Indo-Bangla border, was stopped on May 2 after two days of operation, following protests by locals who were afraid that truck drivers and labourers might spread the coronavirus infection. According to FIEO, “A large number of trucks are stranded near the border due to the lockdown. We have agreed to follow the instructions given by the administration.”