Category Archives: Supply Chain

Dr A Sakthivel, the new elected President of FIEO welcomed the stimulus package of Rs 6,28,993 crore announced by Hon’ble Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs, Ms Nirmal Sitharaman to support Indian economy in fight against COVID-19 pandemic during these difficult and challenging times. This includes expansion of the scope of an emergency credit guarantee scheme, that offered relief to a large number of MSMEs, from ₹3 trillion to ₹4.5 trillion and guarantees to banks for their loans to micro lenders for lending up to ₹1.25 lakh per person. These will further help in increasing liquidity for micro and small businesses across the country, said Dr A Sakthivel. New FIEO Chief added that yet another initiative to give a boost to the exports sector by the FM is the announcement of Rs 33,000 Crore for Project Exports through National Export Insurance Account (NEIA). This will facilitate both goods and services exports as many economies are opening up with large investment to propel project exports from India. Further Rs 88,000 crore boost to Export Insurance Cover through Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECGC) will address the rising credit risks, during and aftermath of the pandemic, thereby providing relief to the exporters in terms of liquidity, reiterated Dr Sakthivel.

Indian multinational conglomerate Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) is investing in building state-of-the-art supply chain infrastructure across India by linking all major sourcing and consumption locations. “An automated, modular, reliable and scalable warehousing and logistics ecosystem will enable us to deliver products anywhere across the country in the shortest possible time,” announced Chairman of RIL, Mukesh Ambani during the 44th Annual General Meeting. The chairman said that the company’s retail business is on a hyper-growth trajectory and it is in a position to be able to provide 10 lakh jobs in the near future.

FM Logistic will introduce its new tagline, “Supply Change”, in an event on sustainable supply chain models on June 29th. The new tagline was created by FutureBrand, a brand consultancy. The new signature acknowledges that supply chains must transform to foster a more responsible consumption and sustainable economy. It also reflects FM Logistic’s commitment to contributing to that change. Finally, Supply Change speaks to the evolution of FM Logistic. “FM Logistic aims to become a reference partner in the field of sustainable, omnichannel supply chains. The double whammy of the pandemic and business disruption urges us to rethink the way supply chains work. They have to become more sustainable and cooperative, while meeting demands for solidity, resilience, speed and cost-efficiency. Our new signature, “Supply Change”, speaks to our commitment to working alongside our customers and business partners in this direction and to making a collective impact,” said FM Logistic’s CEO Jean-Christophe Machet

In a bid to protect thousands of Customs Brokers, their staff and family members, Delhi Customs Brokers Association (DCBA) has organized a 4-day COVID-19 vaccination camp at New Customs House (NCH), near IGI Airport, New Delhi from June 15 to 18, 2021. Supported by the Office of the Chief Commissioner of Customs (Delhi Zone), the vaccination camp is being conducted by Medanta Hospital. The vaccination camp was inaugurated by Smt. Ranjana Jha, Chief Commissioner of Customs (Delhi Zone) along with Smt. Simmi Jain, Principal Commissioner of Customs, Air Cargo Import and Shri Manish Kumar, Commissioner of Customs, Airport & General. Customs Brokers are one of the vital components of the logistics & supply chain system and recognised as frontline warriors in respect of the fighting against COVID-19 pandemic through their immensely valuable services. Risking their lives, the Customs Brokers are working 24×7 to clear all urgent Covid related cargo/material including oxygen concentrators, oxygen cylinders, ventilators, PPE kits, vaccines, etc from airports, ports and ICDs.

As the world economy recovers from COVID-19 disruptions and demand for exports rises, container prices at major ports, such as Chennai, Mundra and Nhava Sheva, remain high.The average price of a 20-ft dry container at the Chennai port stood around $1,600 (Rs 116,736, at Rs 72.96 to the dollar) at the end of May, compared to around $1,083 (Rs 79,015) in May 2020. The average price of a 20-ft dry container in Mundra at the end of May stood at around $1,550 compared to $1,163 recorded in June 2020, while for Nhava Sheva in Navi Mumbai, it was at $1,700 in May against $1,075 in June 2020. Demand for exports, especially vaccines, medical equipment like masks, personal protective equipment kits, and oxygen concentrators, has risen in the past few months, shipping companies said. “Many companies are likely to get into bidding wars to extradite their export and import cargo, and this is likely to lead to higher tariffs,” another Mumbai-based shipping analyst said. Demand for white goods has also picked up in the last few months.

A.P. Moller – Maersk is further assisting its customers with decarbonising their supply chains with the launch of an Emissions Dashboard. The Emissions Dashboard is an analytical data tool where customers are provided with carbon footprint measurements from their entire supply chain, giving a detailed emissions overview whether their products are transported via truck, train, plane, or vessel. With an emissions overview companies will be able to disclose emissions information to the public, covering all their container flows. “As our customers trust Maersk with a wider part of their supply chains, they also expect from us that we assist their climate actions through sustainable end-to-end offerings. An increasing share of our customers are setting ambitious sustainability goals, making emissions visibility critical in order to document performance towards these targets. The Emissions Dashboard will ensure full visibility for our customers to leverage on their journeys towards decarbonised supply chains,” explains Vincent Clerc, CEO of Ocean & Logistics, A.P. Moller – Maersk.

project44, the leading supply chain visibility solutions provider, has closed a Series E investment of $202 million led by funds managed by Goldman Sachs Asset Management (Goldman Sachs) and Emergence Capital, valuing the company at $1.2 billion. To date, project44 has raised $442.5 million to improve supply chain trust and predictability. Goldman Sachs has a deep history of supporting the global expansion of growth-stage technology companies and guiding them through multiple stages of growth. This financing will accelerate the company’s expanded multimodal carrier network, make significant inroads into Asian markets, expand artificial intelligence (AI) and data science capabilities, accelerate new product innovation, and bolster sales and marketing reach globally. “We’re grateful for the confidence Goldman Sachs and our existing investors have placed in our team as we continue to solve some of the most critical supply chain execution challenges across the globe,” said Jett McCandless, CEO and founder of project44.

More than 6,000 oxygen concentrators, 500 oxygen cylinders, 60 cryogenic oxygen tanks, and several medical supplies and ventilators were transported into the country by A.P. Moller – Maersk through its ocean and air freight solutions for various institutions and corporates contributing to medical relief activities. Maersk has offered its ocean transportation service to institutions and organisations participating in medical relief at a nominal rate of 1 USD per container. All air freight shipments to India facilitated by Maersk are being done on a zero-profit basis. “The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us several lessons – empathy being one of the most important ones of them all. The crisis has urged us all to go beyond our business and support the society when it needs it the most. 15 of our top executives from different functions voluntarily got together in the early days of the second wave and put together ‘Project Oxygen War Room’, or POWR as they called it, to help society fight the virus”, said Vikash Agarwal, Managing Director, Maersk South Asia

Contienental Carriers created history by bring two frieghter charters with covid essential materials to Delhi and Kolkata with a span of two hours. Contienental carriers have been actively helping in transportation of other essential items such as oxygen concentrators from Agra to Moolchand hospital in Delhi. The company successfully chartered the two frieghters to transport 190 Euro pallets, weighing 109 tonnes of ‘Zeolite’, an essential component in Oxygen generation from the suppliers’ factory in South of Italy to Delhi. Upon arrival, Contienental Carriere seamlessly cleared the shipment within 20 minutes from the customs. In a similar way, Ilyusin IL-76 charter freighter uplifted 3 – ISO Oxygen tanks from Titanjin (China) to Kolkata, India. on the same day

Chennai/Bhubaneshwar, May 24 Ports on India’s eastern coast on Sunday restricted shipping activities and asked vessels to vacate anchorages ahead of a cyclonic storm expected to make landfall on Wednesday, port authorities and trade sources said. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has warned that a”very severe cyclonic storm” would impact States including Odisha and West Bengal, where key ports are located. Some regions are likely to receive heavy rainfall and wind speeds could reach 110 miles per hour, the weather office said. Kolkata Port Trust Chairman Vinit Kumar said the port has taken preparatory measures to avoid the loss of human lives,vessels and property. “Before the onset of the cyclone, all port vessels will be taken inside dock for shelter. No ships will be kept in river anchorages or jetties,” Kumar said. Authorities at Haldia port in the state of West Bengal have asked for inward movement of vessels to be stopped from Monday evening, two trade sources said.