Category Archives: Rail/Road

The weekly AS8 is set to directly link the South-East Asian economies of Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia with the India Subcontinent markets of India and Pakistan. The AS8 will be characterised by its direct port connectivity from Laem Chabang to Pipavav, Port Qasim and Karachi. With this, shippers with India and Pakistan bound shipments from Thailand will find the AS8 service a faster alternative to relaying cargoes through transhipments. AS8 will start sailing from Laem Chabang on December 16, 2019 with the following port rotation: Laem Chabang-Singapore – Port Klang (North Port) – Port Klang (West Port) – Pipavav – Port Qasim – Karachi.

Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) along with CONCOR are commencing a weekly scheduled export train from ICD Ludhiana to JN Port to ensure faster evacuation of export containers destined for JNPT. The service also enhances the trade requirement of Ludhiana with the Mumbai. The Ludhiana ICD caters to a vast interior market that includes the states of Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, and Rajasthan. With an extensive network of more than 80 ICDs nationwide, CONCOR commands the bulk of Indian containerized rail transportation.

Allcargo Logistics has forayed into the express logistics space by acquiring a controlling stake in Gati. The company has added another domestic service to its portfolio by entering a segment which has been growing exponentially through this transaction. “The exponential rise in cross-border and domestic e-commerce has opened up new markets for traditional express players such as Gati. With Allcargo’s existing strength in the ocean transportation business and Gati’s expertise in land and air transportation, we are now in a unique position to offer our customers a suite of truly multimodal solutions,” comments, Shashi Kiran Shetty, Chairman, Allcargo Logistics. According to a study led by Deloitte in 2018, the express logistics industry is expected to reach Rs48,000 crore (US$ 7 billion) by 2023. This growth will primarily be driven by domestic consumption, shift from unorganised to organised trade, e-commerce (domestic and cross border) and significant demand from the small and medium B2B segment.

In its attempt to reduce logistics cost, the government has decided to allow introduction of ‘road trains’ on select routes and between identified points.The transport ministry’s draft rule for road trains comes at a time when the Centre is putting more focus on building 2,500 km of greenfield expressways like the Delhi-Mumbai corridor. The draft specifies the length, height and width of the roads. Even state governments are constructing more such roads. The NHAI has also been tasked to take up building economic corridors on priority, which would connect major manufacturing hubs. This move will encourage multi-container transport on the road, simultaneously reducing logistics cost. This mode of transporting freight is popular in countries including Australia, United States and in Europe to move huge quantity of cargo. Road trains consist of a conventional prime mover – truck – pulling two or more trailers. One road train in India can replace at least three trucks and is expected to prove beneficial for movement of freight.

DMICDC Logistics Data Services (DLDS) has announced the launch of its container tracking service ‘Logistics Data Bank’ (LDB) at Paradip International Cargo Terminal (PICT) in Odisha and Mormugao Port Trust in Goa. The extension of LDB’s services to India’s eastern corridor and Goa comes after it has tracked 20 million EXIM containers in three years. With an 11-digit tracking code, the container tracking solution helps supply chain operations to reduce the port dwell and transportation time of export and import shipments. LDB is a single-window ICT-based container tracking solution of DLDS currently operational across 24 port terminals in India since it began operations at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) in 2016. In 2017 it was extended to Hazira and Mundra ports of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ).

Allcargo Logistics has entered into an agreement with ONE Line India to partner in transiting containers to Nepal from the ports of Kolkata in West Bengal and Vizag in Andhra Pradesh. “Given our global scale and repute on account of being the widest CFS-ICD operators in India, we emerged as the preferred partners for expediting Customs clearance solutions and boosting ONE Line’s ex-im business in Nepal. With an operational presence in Nepal as well as Kolkata, we are also strategically positioned to assist ONE Line in ensuring faster clearance of goods, ensuring speedy last mile delivery services and gaining critical leverage and connectivity to the emerging markets and industrial hubs of Nepal,” says Prakash Tulsiani, CEO – CFS-ICD, Allcargo Logistics.

Delhi Customs Brokers’ Association (DCBA) has elected its new managing committee for the ensuing two years at the 36th annual general meeting held on November 24 in Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi. The Office Bearers who have been elected are S Ramakrishna (President), Gurvinder Singh (Vice President), Santosh Kumar Choudhary (Hony. Secretary), Rajbir Singh (Hony. Joint Secretary) and Bhim Singh Jain (Hony. Treasurer). Anil K. Mishra, Devendra Singh Bhadoria, Rajiv Kumar Sharma, Rohit Kapoor, Vaneet Aggarwal, Vijay Raghvan G, Vikrant Gogia and Yogesh Kumar have been elected as Managing Committee Members of DCBA. On taking over charges of President, Ramakrishna said that his primary focus would be skill development and training programmes for the benefit of the DCBA members and CB/FF Community. “More emphasis would be put on conducting regular knowledge sessions to make awareness on changing government policies in terms of export/import, increasing digitisation and artificial intelligence,” he adds.

Dubai-based DP World has launched two services – MIAX (Middle East–India–Africa Express) and IEX (South India Europe Express) to connect its terminals in Nhava Sheva, Chennai and Kochi with European and South African markets. MIAX will connect Nhava Sheva International Container Terminal (NSICT) with West and South Africa; while the IEX will connect Chennai Container Terminal (CCT) and India Gateway Terminal (IGT) with Europe. Rizwan Soomar, CEO & MD, DP World Subcontinent, said “The launch of IEX and MIAX will create stronger opportunities for EXIM cargo and for Indian manufacturers to cater to global markets.”

With a view to improve the ease of doing business at grass root level enabling reduction in dwell time in EXIM trade and to discuss strategic and operational issues currently faced by customs broking industry. The office bearers of the Federation of Freight Forwarders Association in India (FFFAI) headed by its Chairman, AV Vijaykumar met with Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of State (Independent Charge) Ministry of Shipping and various other ministry officials in New Delhi. The association presented the issues of customs brokers and freight forwarders before the minister for reduction in transaction cost and dwell time by improving infrastructure at various ports and Inland Container Depots (ICDs); increasing connectivity with ICDs and gateway ports and enhancing costal cargo movement.

Due to the trade diversion effects of Washington’s tariff war with China, India gained about $755 million in additional exports, mainly of chemicals, metals and ore, to the US, in the first half of 2019 , says a study called ‘Trade and trade diversion effects of United States tariffs on China’ by UNCTAD, the UN trade and investment body. It shows that the ongoing US-China trade war has resulted in a sharp decline in bilateral trade, higher prices for consumers and trade diversion effects and increased imports from countries not directly involved in the trade war. The US tariffs on China resulted in India gaining $ 755 million in additional exports to the US by selling more chemicals (US$ 243 million), metals and ore (US$181 million), electrical machinery (US$ 83 million) and various machinery (US$ 68 million), as well as increased exports in areas such as agri-food, furniture, office machinery, precision instruments, textiles and apparel, and transport equipment, UNCTAD said.