Category Archives: Supply Chain

With the ongoing festive season, the new-age logistics companies expect multi-fold growth in shipments and are fully geared to meet the challenge with measures such as capacity expansion and additional hiring. With aggressive demands during festive seasons over the last few years, COVID-19 has further accelerated e-commerce adoption in all segments, be it business-to-consumer (B2C), direct-to-consumer (D2C) or business-to-business (B2B). Xpressbees Chief Business Officer for B2C, Harsha Bhoi, said, “the overall volume in the festive season goes to two-three times for the overall e-commerce markets”. “This year, we are expecting even more higher peaks considering the economy getting (back) on track. Moreover, increased adoption in tier 2 and 3 cities as well as in remote cities and COVID-19 further accelerate the overall adoption for e-commerce deliveries,” he added. Bhoi added that the company expects a peak of up to 1.5 million shipments for Xpressbees on peak days during the festive rush.

Typhoon Kompasu has resulted in the worst container shipping traffic jam in months, stretching throughout Southeast Asia and may take weeks to unravel. Although port operations are largely back to normal in Shenzhen and Hong Kong after the tropical storm’s passing, the total container ship count off the two vital hubs had ballooned to 271 as of early Friday, the highest count recorded since Bloomberg News started tracking the data in April. At least 109 ships were meanwhile reported as anchored and waiting to enter the ports, up from 67 on Thursday. “The supply chain is very stretched, with no buffer, so any little event will cause another big problem,” James Teo, Bloomberg Intelligence, said. “There are too many choke points.” Teo expects port congestion likely to continue until at least Feb. 2022.

Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbanand Sonowal has announced forming of a Special Purpose vehicle (SPV) for development of a Multimodal Logistics Park (MMLP) at VOC Port in Chennai. The MMLP to be developed through Public Private Partnership with the SPV providing land and connectivity and the actual MMLP infrastructure to be developed by a private developer. He said, all the three stake holders viz, Chennai Port Authority, TIDCO and NHAI will be equity partners in the proposed SVP. The Minister informed that equity contribution/investment of the Chennai Port is the cost of the land amounting to Rs 167 crore, NHAI/NHIDCL contribution is Rs l30 crore and that of State govt. through TIDCO is Rs 50 crore. Speaking at the virtual MoU signing in, Sonowal said, V.O. Chidambaranar Port, the economic engine of South Tamilnadu, has proposed for setting up of Multimodal Logistics Park due to its advantages such as excellent Rail-road connectivity, proximity to Main Sea Route, all weather operational conditions, and geographic position to link Eastern coast with the Western coast. The Multimodal Logistics Park would facilitate infrastructure for enabling seamless multimodal freight transfer, and specialized storage solutions, such as cold storage, warehouses equipped with mechanized material handling and intermodal transfer terminals for containers, bulk and break-bulk cargo. Further, the MMLP would be offering value-added services such as Customs clearance, bonded storage yards, quarantine zones, testing facilities, warehousing management services, post-manufacturing activities such as kitting and final assembly, grading, sorting, labelling, packaging etc.

Welcoming the launch of PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan for the multi-model connectivity, Dr A Sakthivel, President FIEO said that this will improve India’s productive capacity and global competitiveness with regard to not only manufacturing but also exports from India. To have all utility and infrastructure planning under an umbrella framework is unprecedented. For a long time, our infrastructure sector was witnessing inter-ministerial delays, multiple layers of stakeholders, and the culture of working in silos, said FIEO Chief. This has led to time and cost overruns and staggered pace for infrastructure led growth. The last mile connectivity is extremely important as it has a severe impact on the logistics cost though requiring not so substantial investment. Sakthivel said that bringing 16 Ministries on the digital platform for the integrated planning and consolidated implementation of infrastructure connectivity will be a game changer for the Indian economy. More important is the approach which can be equally applied to many other sectors where inter-ministerial close coordination and monitoring can lead to exponential growth. These kinds of master plans will not only attract global FDI but will make India the most preferred destination of investment globally, observed President, FIEO.

Union Minister of Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal urged the heads of Export Promotion Councils (EPCs) to identify and name exporters whose products fail to meet international standards and are often rejected due to inferior quality. The Minister said the EPCs have not identified specific exporters hurting the reputation of ‘Made in India’ products in the world markets despite repeated reminders. “Quality will define the future of our exports,” he quipped. Goyal also asked EPC heads to take steps to increase exports to $450-$500 billion next year. Ahead of the finalisation of the new Foreign Trade Policy, Goyal, in a mid-term review meeting with EPCs, said India’s exports of $197 billion in the first half of FY2021-22, was on the “right track”. “Our exporters have made all of us Indians proud today,” said Goyal, setting the bar higher “if we can aim to scale $450-$500 billion exports next year,” according to a statement from the Ministry of Commerce & Industry.

The global shipping crisis that is causing deepening shortages and shutdowns in Britain’s shops and factories will last for as long as nine months, as giant vessels carrying Christmas goods start to queue in the English Channel to unload in Europe’s congested ports. A body representing British ports said that it expects the congestion affecting deliveries to millions of retailers and businesses to persist potentially until next summer as the shipping industry struggles with challenges from container shortages to a lack of lorry drivers to move cargo once it reaches quaysides. One major shipping line told that the delays, which are forcing vessels to anchor in clusters in the English Channel and North Sea, will have a knock-on effect for supplies of consumer goods and manufacturing components in the coming weeks and months – with a risk that up to 20 per cent of goods ordered for peak Christmas demand will not reach retailers in time.

V.O. Chidambaranar Port, offers a maximum draft of 14.20 Mts. to accommodate bulk carriers upto 95,000 DWT and Container vessels upto LOA of 300 metres. The Port’s two container terminals, with the capacity to handle 1.17 Million TEUs of Containers are well supported by 17 Container Freight Stations & one ICD. The terminals facilitate daily connectivity to Colombo and reaching further to the Far East, through its weekly mainline services. It is the fastest growing Port in Tamil Nadu, is growing hand in hand, along with the growth of Indian economy. This has resulted in a significant rise in the volume of freight moved by road. In VOC Port, 76 % of cargo is transited by road, 20% by conveyor, and 2% by pipeline and rail. More than 3000 trucks ply through the Port road connectivity everyday to transit the EXIM cargo, that are seamlessly connected to Tirunelveli and beyond in the South, and Madurai to cater to the northern hinterland, through NH138 and NH38. The 595 Km. long East Coast Road also connects Chennai. The Port is well connected to the Indian Railway network through the Meelavittan – Madurai broad-gauge line. This enables faster and effective cargo transfer to Dindigul, Karur, Bengaluru, Coimbatore and Chennai regions.

Safexpress has launched its ultra-modern Logistics Park in Ludhiana. This state-of-the-art facility is strategically located in on Payal NH-1 link road. On this occasion, senior dignitaries from Safexpress including S.K Jain- Vice President, Malay Mohan Srivastava, Regional Manager, Punjab & Chandigarh, Vinay Kumar, Area Manager- Ludhiana, and including others were present. Ludhiana has been a thriving hub of Woolen clothes, traditional handloom & handicraft, fabric based small & medium scale enterprises. This new Logistics Park will serve as a nodal point for logistics and to provide for the transitional connective facility with all Indian states, especially with nearby districts and manufacturing hubs. Safexpress Logistics facility in Ludhiana is spread over a land area of 2.5 Lakh sq.ft, enabled with ultra-modern transshipment and 3PL facilities, which will boost storage & warehousing needs of this region while providing for faster connectivity. The new Logistics Park is cross-dock, equipped with loading and unloading of over 80 vehicles simultaneously. It has a column-less span of over 80 feet, which facilitates uninterrupted movement of goods within the facility. To enable all-weather loading & unloading of goods, the facility is equipped with 16 feet wide Cantilever Shed.

Delta recently shipped its 4 millionth COVID-19 vaccine dose from the U.S. to Colombia. As a part of the critical supply chain, Delta is supporting global efforts to end the pandemic and reconnect the world. “I was born in Colombia but have lived in the U.S. for sixteen years, and my parents live in Bogota, so these shipments are incredibly important for me,” said Marcela Friedrich, Regional Field Operations Manager, Delta Cargo. “I feel that I am part of the solution and that I am helping to get my native country, and its economy, back to a new normal.” Once the vaccines arrive in Bogota, Delta Cargo works with a freight company to ensure they are safely delivered where they are needed most, said Carolina Vernanza, Delta’s Airport and Cargo Manager in Bogota. “With over 50 million people living in Colombia, the arrival of 4 million COVID-19 vaccines is a major boost and will really help Colombians to get closer to the country’s vaccination goals.”

Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru (BLR Airport; www.bengaluruairport.com) has emerged as the No.1 Airport in the Country for perishable shipments. According to Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), BLR Airport has processed 48,130 Metric Tonnes of perishables in the Financial Year 2020-21, accounting for 31% of India’s total perishable shipments. In the process, BLR Airport has emerged as the leading Airport for exports of poultry products and flowers during the same period. It processed 28,182 Metric Tonnes (MT) of poultry products and 1,296 MT of flowers. The perishables, which also included vegetables and fruits, was carried by 24 airlines to 46 international destinations. Doha was the top destination, followed by Singapore, London and Muscat.