Category Archives: Supply Chain

Global supply chain continues to face disruptions as China, has been facing challenges ranging from power crunch to slowdown in its manufacturing sector. The worst ever power outage crisis in China forces most manufacturing units to operate only two or three days a week. The country has been facing acute power shortage since summer and several of its provinces have witnessed sudden blackouts recently. The sudden power shortage crises in the country are attributed to a rise in demand, weather conditions and measures to cut the use of fossil fuels. Besides this Evergrande, a prominent real estate firm in China, has recently experienced debt crunch, and consequently lead to disturbance in global financial markets. These developments will have consequences on the world economy given the heavy import dependency on China.

ICRA ratings expects the overall volumes at Indian ports to continue witnessing improvement and the same in FY2022 is likely to surpass FY2020 (pre-Covid) volumes. The optimism is based on the performance of the sector in 5m FY2022 wherein all segments except fertilisers have witnessed healthy Y-o-Y growth. The overall cargo volumes are largely stable in 5M FY2022 in comparison to similar period in FY2020 and are driven by healthy growth in containers, iron ore and other miscellaneous segments. The positive growth can also be attributed to the base effect since the same period during last fiscal (FY2021) was most severely impacted by the pandemic-related lockdown. The exceptions to volume growth (apart from fertilisers) are POL and coal volumes which have remained subdued. POL and thermal coal segments had remained subdued in FY2021 too due to demand contraction and while there has been a Y-o-Y improvement in 5m FY2022, the volumes remain lower compared to FY2020 levels.

Riding on the digital success with eCommerce contributing to 25% of its annual sales, Orion, one of the largest Korean food companies, has now announced its Direct-to-Consumer website ShopOrionIndia.com in India. The announcement comes within just a year of Orion’s India launch and ties in with its digital-first approach. The company owned online store has already clocked in 500 – 1000 visitors per day in the pilot phase and is expecting a traffic surge of 100% during the festive season. Consumers will be able to buy their favourite Orion snacks using www.shoporionindia.com at zero delivery charges. Orion’s foray into India’s $44.6 billion Direct-to-Consumer space is part of the company’s efforts to establish a direct connect with consumers across India. It will also help the company cater to the rising demand for its products from cities where it is yet to make a retail debut, especially around the festive season. A leading logistics solution provider and fulfilment centre have been enrolled as partners for quick and seamless delivery experience

GEODIS announced the upcoming launch of a new multi-user facility at the LOGOS Logistics Estate in Luhari, 60 kilometres north of Delhi. This will support the rapidly growing needs of GEODIS clients within the retail sector. Developed by LOGOS, one of Asia Pacific’s top logistics property groups, the new purpose-built facility offers both a modern infrastructure and an extensive space that allows GEODIS to fully optimize its contract logistics offerings to the Indian market which is currently experiencing unprecedented demand. The shift towards online shopping and omnichannel platforms, accelerated by the pandemic, has compelled retailers to seek logistics operators who can provide the sheer capacity to manage large merchandise inventory, along with the necessary tools to ensure both real-time and end-to-end visibility. The 26,654 sqm warehouse will have a state-of-the-art storage system consisting of both selective and very narrow aisle (VNA) pallet racks. Equipped in this way, the new facility addresses retailers’ concerns regarding space availability and packing efficiency to ramp up order processing procedures.

Mahindra Logistics Ltd., has scaled up its operations to meet the festive season demand by ramping up hiring and expanding capacity. The company plans to recruit more than 14000 employees on a seasonal basis adding to its third-party workforce. During the upcoming festive season, the company is adding solutions like pop-up facilities across 8 major cities in India aggregating to 1.1 million sq. ft. These additions are for its e-commerce customers spanning across fulfilment center, sort center and returns processing centers, which would ensure efficient and timely delivery to customers. Besides this, the company has also increased its last mile reach by opening multiple last-mile delivery centers across the country. These centres are equipped to deliver more than 100,000 shipments per day for small as well as large packages.

Northern Railway has launched its new AC freight express train service running from Ferozepur Division’s Sanhewal to South Western Railway’s Yesvantpur, with 20 second and third AC carriages. The first AC cargo express train left Sanhewal of the Ferozepur division for Yeshwantpur of the South Western Railway. According to authorities, this is the first time an AC freight express train has operated on Indian rails. Northern Railway General Manager Ashutosh Gangal announced that a train carrying ICF’s standard air-conditioned passenger coaches had been converted into freight for the first time and there are plans in place for the loading of 121 tonnes of material. Chocolate, raw materials, noodles, sauce, and fabric, among other things, have been put into the train.

Welspun One Logistics Parks (WOLP), forays into North India with the acquisition of two strategically located land parcels spread across Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh and Farukhnagar in Haryana. The development that entails a cost of INR 180 Cr will be executed under Welspun One’s first Alternate Investment Fund (AIF) product “Welspun One Logistics Parks Fund I”, launched earlier this year. With a gross leasable area aggregating to approximately 8 lakh sq. ft., the projects shall be rented to blue-chip tenants from sectors such as e-commerce, 3PL, and FMCG / FMCD, among others. B.K. Goenka, Chairman, Welspun Group, mentions, “The demand for Grade-A warehousing multiplied amidst the pandemic, and as we move forward, it is only expected to mature further, in a big way. With the acquisition of land in Lucknow and Farukhnagar, not only are we offering warehousing facilities designed as per customer needs and in line with global standards, but these developments also mark an important milestone for the local communities as the parks have a potential to create employment opportunities for over 1500 people approximately across Northern India.”

The Association of Multimodal Transport Operators of India – AMTOI, held its 22nd AGM last month using a virtual platform. The following office bearers were elected for the year 2021-2022. Xerrxes Master-President, George Abrao-Vice President, Arun Kumar-Honorary Secretary, Devpal Menon–Honorary Treasurer. The program then moved on to a very interesting and informative “AMTOI Dialogues” session which was moderated by Xerrxes Master of AMTOI. The speaker for this session was N. Sivasailam, IAS (Ex- Special Secretary Logistics). He emphasized on Self-Regulatory Organization (SRO) and how AMTOI as an Association can set its own standards and benchmarks in achieving SRO status. In addition, he also shared the importance of Digitization in the logistics industry as we are on the cusp of a Digital Revolution, popularly known as i4.0 or the Fourth Industrial Revolution. It was a very interactive session where the audience also got a chance to put up their questions to him and get his expert opinion. The AGM concluded with Anjali Bhide, Hon. Secretary giving the vote of thanks.

Shankar Shinde is elected the new Chairman – FFFAI at 58th AGM held in Mumbai on September 24 The Federation of Freight Forwarders’ Associations in India (FFFAI) in its 58th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on September 24, 2021 elected new Office Bearers of the Executive Committee for the year 2021-23. Shankar Shinde the then Chairman-Elect for the year 2019-21, has taken over as Chairman, FFFAI for the ensuing two years’ tenure. He is also elected Managing Director on IFCBA (International Federation of Custom Brokers Association). The other elected Office Bearers are, Dushyant Mulani, Chairman-Elect. – Brihanmumbai Custom Brokers Association . Vice Chairmen- S Nataraja – Chennai Custom House Agents’ Association, Amit Kamat – Goa Custom House Agents’ Association, Rajesh Verma – Ludhiana Custom House Agents’ Association, Sudip Dey – Calcutta Custom House Agents’ Association, Shashidhar V. Hebbar – Bangalore Custom House Agents’ Association Ltd., Kartik Pancholi – Ahmedabad Custom Brokers Association, Vinod Sharma, Hon. Secretary – Pune Custom House Agents’ Association, Sudhir Agarwal, Hon. Treasurer. – Nagpur Custom House Agents’ Association.

In keeping with his commitment to nation-building and fostering a conducive atmosphere for the fruitful public, private and academic partnerships, Piyush Goyal, Hon’ble Minister of Commerce & Industry, Government of India, inaugurated the Centre of Excellence in Logistics and Supply Chain Management at the National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE) on Thursday, 23rd September 2021. While congratulating NITIE for this initiative and reminiscing about his past association with the institute when his father was a visiting faculty there, Piyush Goyal, Hon’ble Minister of Commerce & Industry, Government of India, highlighted the tremendous scope of global business supply chains in driving the nation’s economy. He urged all the students and faculty members to take into consideration the importance of efficiency and the geographic spread of industries and factories today, while committing to drive India’s progress – not just for themselves but also for the marginalised and underprivileged sections of society.