Category Archives: Supply Chain

Etihad Cargo, the cargo and logistics arm of Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Aviation Group, has entered into a Proof-of-Concept agreement with SPEEDCARGO, the leading-edge logistics technology solutions provider, to utilise the Singapore-based provider’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) products to boost cargo capacity on flights. The landmark agreement makes Etihad Cargo only the second aviation company worldwide to leverage the CARGO EYE dimensioning system, and among only a few global carriers to trial SPEEDCARGO’s AI-powered CARGO MIND software solution, which delivers optimal cargo space planning and utilisation in seconds in full adherence to regulations and business constraints. “Etihad Cargo’s goal is to assess whether implementing CARGO EYE and CARGO MIND could ensure a complete end-to-end process which totally transforms airfreight operations,” explained Martin Drew, SVP Sales and Cargo at Etihad Aviation Group. “The Proof-of-Concept will confirm whether these advanced SPEEDCARGO products can boost efficiency, productivity and revenue return through digital technology solutions, with the plan to integrate them into our operations in 2022.” CARGO EYE, developed with Microsoft’s cutting-edge Time-of-Flight sensing technology, captures imagery of incoming cargo and calculates accurate dimensions based on cargo type, size, and packaging in real-time, while seamlessly integrating the data into existing warehouse management systems. The solution also feeds data into CARGO MIND to accurately build load plans, monitor, and promote data compliance, and identify damaged cargo to reduce potential claims. “Etihad Cargo is the first airline to propose using SPEEDCARGO’s new CARGO MIND-Airline Product for early-stage flight planning and creation of final booking lists and first-level load plan within the airline ecosystem,” Dr. Suraj Nair, Founder and Chief Technology Officer, SPEEDCARGO. “Thereafter, working with their GHA’s where SPEEDCARGO’s GHA solutions are deployed Etihad Cargo will further maximize …

In the first nine months of the year, at 95.8 million tonnes the Port of Hamburg achieved a 2.9 per cent increase in seaborne cargo throughput. Bulk cargo throughput advanced especially strongly, being 6.1 per cent ahead at 29.7 million tonnes. Totalling 66.1 million tonnes, in the first three-quarters general cargo throughput was a modest 1.6 per cent ahead. The upward trend was also maintained on container handling. A total of 6.5 million TEU – 20-ft standard containers – were hoisted across the quay walls of Hamburg’s container terminals, a 2.4 per cent gain. Despite this positive throughput trend, the Port of Hamburg was not yet able to fully overhaul last year’s downturn caused by Corona. Axel Mattern and Ingo Egloff, HHM – Port of Hamburg Marketing’s Joint CEOs, are, therefore, pleased that pre- and post-voyage rail-borne container transport set a new record at 2.1 million TEU. “That represents an 8.3 per cent advance,” stresses Egloff. “At 709,000 TEU, the Port of Hamburg posted the highest quarterly total in its history for containers transported,” added Mattern. The Port of Hamburg has further strengthened its position as Europe’s one of the largest rail ports. Seaborne cargo throughput in the first nine months of 2021 Throughput of containerised general cargo in the first three quarters of 2021 totalled 65.2 million tonnes, representing a gain of 1.5 per cent. At 908,000 tonnes, the conventional general cargo was up by an emphatic 5.2 per cent. In the container throughput sector, exports, 2.9 per cent up at 3.2 million TEU, outperformed imports, just 1.9 per cent higher at 3.3 million TEU. At 5.8 million TEU, the throughput of loaded containers, contributing more to the port’s …

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) has poached two container shipping services from Centre-owned Chennai Port to its Kattupalli Port located nearby as competition for cargo intensifies in the Chennai cluster. “We are in the process of shifting two services out from Chennai and we expect growth to happen in Kattupalli,” Karan Adani, Chief Executive Officer, APSEZ, told analysts during the second-quarter earnings call. “We expect more market share to be taken especially in Kattupalli Port from Chennai Port,” he added. The Far East service run by COSCO is understood to be one of the two services shifting to Kattupalli Port, industry sources said. One of the container terminals operating at Chennai Port is facing congestion, a source said, pointing to the reason for the shift. During the first half of FY22, cargo handled by Kattupalli Port declined 11.2 per cent to 3.33 million mt from 3.75 mt in H1FY21. Of this, containers accounted for 2.8 mt, while dry and liquid cargoes were 0.3 mt and 0.2 mt, respectively. Liquid cargo handled at Kattupalli Port posted a growth of over 200 per cent in H1FY22 from zero compared to last year on the back of the addition of LPG and LNG cargo to its portfolio. In the dry cargo basket, Kattupalli Port added dolomite to its business. In contrast, Chennai Port handled 23.091 mt of cargo in H1FY22 from 18.381 mt a year earlier, posting a growth of 25.62 per cent. The two container terminals operating at Chennai Port handled a combined 787,000 20-ft equivalent units (TEUs) between April and September from 561,000 TEUs in the corresponding period a year ago. Kamarajar Port Ltd, a subsidiary of Chennai …

Freightwalla has launched a free supply chain automation platform, an intelligent shipment tracking service for MSME businesses. An advanced predictive analytics system will help exporters/importers to combat risk associated with shipment delays and improve supply chain efficiency free of cost. The intelligent cargo navigation service backed by the latest ML algorithm will be available to all shippers, including local and global exporters and allied parties. Businesses can avail of the service at zero cost for tracking up to 20 containers per month. According to the Maritime Executive, on average, “Four out of every ten containers (39 per cent) missed their scheduled sailing. At the same time, some significant carriers and ports reported rollover rates of over 50 per cent.” Whereas according to Sea-Intelligence’s Global Liner Performance (GLP) report, “Global shipping line schedule reliability has dropped to 34.9% in January 2021, the lowest in history.”

Locus announced its strategic partnership with NextBillion.ai. This collaboration combines Locus’ expertise in automating complex supply chain decisions with NextBillion.ai’s industry-leading location tech offerings — map data management service, map APIs, SDKs and tools. The companies will accelerate global supply chain solutions and drive sustainable impact through their technological capabilities. “Together with Locus, we’re working to enable use cases for businesses with location at their core. Our goal is to offer hyper-localized solutions that address gaps in the mapping and geospatial data industry. We’re grateful to Locus for their partnership and support,” asserted Ajay Bulusu, co-founder of NextBillion.ai. “Our shared vision of providing full stack solutions and scalable enterprise tech solutions in logistics is a key driver of our partnership with NextBillion.ai. We are confident that with NextBillion’s data layer and Locus’ AI & ML application capabilities we will unlock new supply chain solutions and empower enterprises in this space”, said Nishith Rastogi, Founder and CEO of Locus.

APM Terminals Pipavav (Gujarat Pipavav Port Ltd) announced the financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2021. The company reported a net profit of INR 453 million for Q2FY22 as against INR 520 million in Q2FY21. Revenue from operations for the quarter under consideration stood at INR 1,947 million as against INR 1,827 million in Q2FY21. EBIDTA for the quarter was at INR 1,090 million as against INR 1,029 million during the same quarter last year. EBIDTA margin stood at 56% in Q2FY22 as against 56% in Q2FY21. The container cargo business for the quarter stood at 157,048 TEUs, bulk business was at 1.39 MT and liquid business was 0.19 MT. 7,814 cars were handled under RoRo category for the quarter under review. During the quarter, APM Terminals Pipavav became the first Port to be connected to the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) with the completion of high-rise overhead electrification of the port rail yard. By switching to electrical loco, the Port will also be able to offer environment-friendly, long-haul, high-volume freight rail transport that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Port also loaded 100th LPG rake in less than a year of installation. The port is one of the few ports in India which can accommodate a full train.

Shiprocket, India’s leading tech-enabled logistics and fulfillment platform, was processing 40,000 units per day through its fulfillment services and has now scaled to a peak of 1.8 lakh during this festive season sale. Currently, fulfillment warehouses range from 3,000 to 80,000 square feet and receive orders from sellers across different categories, but personal care remains at the top, followed by health and beauty, apparel and fashion accessories, and electronic accessories. Shiprocket Fulfillment has observed a growth rate of over 90% month-over-month in the past 12 months, with 500+ clients onboard in less than eight months, of which 50-60% are D2C brands. Moving forward, Shiprocket plans to further bolster its fulfillment services by increasing its order processing capacity to 60,000 per day with 5 million inventory storage. Also, Shiprocket will expand its total warehousing area occupied to 4.5 lakh square feet to meet the required demand.

Evergreen is adding to its fleet and equipment capacity with an order for two 24,000 teu ships from China’s Jiangnan shipyard and 55,500 containers from three manufacturers. The new buildings will cost $140m-$160m each and delivery is expected 2024-2025. The new containers will cost Evergreen $338.5m – 27,500nfrom Dong Fang International Container (Hong Kong), 15,000 from Guangdong Fuwa Equipment and 13,000 from CXIC Group. They comprise 20ft and 40ft units and will be delivered in mid-2022. Among liner operators, Evergreen now has the most newbuilding orders, with 78 vessels under construction. Alphaliner estimates that Evergreen’s orderbook-to-fleet ratio is around 45%. In September, Evergreen ordered 24 ships from another Chinese shipyard, CSSC Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding, 20 15,000 teu ships from Samsung Heavy Industries in March and two 24,000 teu ships from Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding in June, as well as four 24,000 teu ships from Jiangnan Shipyard that are due for completion next year. Evergreen president Eric Hsieh said: “We never saw such high freight rates and the present situation is quite positive for liner operators’ future business prospects.”

Trademo, a global supply chain intelligence company has secured $12.5 million seed round funding. Trademo is building a global supply chain knowledge graph to help global-trade participants discover new opportunities, remain compliant with regulations, build operationally resilient supply chains, and grow commerce. Investors include marquee Silicon Valley venture capitalists Amit Singhal (former SVP Google), Saama Capital, Neeraj Arora (former Chief Business Officer of WhatsApp), Sridhar Ramaswamy (Founder/CEO Neeva and former SVP Google) and Shalabh Singhal (founder/CEO Trademo). “Global trade and supply chains have become increasingly complex over time. It’s very difficult for a large majority of businesses to manage this complexity and avoid disruptions without using external intelligence,” explained Ash Lilani, Managing Partner, Saama Capital. “When 70% of companies reporting issues monitoring supply chains last year, Trademo’s solution comes at the right time and is using the right technology and approach to crack one of the most important problems of our times.”

Gujarat retained the top slot, amongst 21 States, on the logistics index chart, an indicator of the efficiency of logistical services necessary for promoting exports and economic growth, the release pointed out. Gujarat has been the top performer since 2018. The LEADS, Logistics Ease Across Different States 2021, report has been prepared by a team of Transport & Logistics professionals at EY LLP with inputs from Department of Logistics, Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Among the northeastern States and Himalayan Union Territories, Jammu Kashmir topped the chart. Among Union Territories, Delhi got the top position. The inputs given by the LEADS Report 2021 can lead the way to bring down logistics cost by 5 per cent over the next 5 years, Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said releasing the report on Monday. “Some States have leapfrogged in their rankings. Uttar Pradesh has moved ahead seven places. That is reflective of the efforts that have been done in improving the quality of infrastructure there,” Goyal said.