PowerTorque Magazine, one of Australia's premier truck publications, has awarded Scania's R 730 flagship one of its two annual awards, for Technology and Innovation.

The awards recognise the significant advances in safety, performance and ability made by truck manufacturers through innovative design and the introduction of new technologies in this highly competitive segment.

“The awesome performance of the Scania R 730 prime mover with its additional high focus on vehicle safety systems makes this vehicle a stand out performer in the Australian heavy truck market,” said Chris Mullett, Publisher of PowerTorque Magazine.

"This combination of a 730 hp engine and the Opticruise automated manual transmission improves efficiency while minimising fatigue levels for the driver. It enables the operator to maintain consistent journey times over our national road network but does so effortlessly. A clear advantage for driver and vehicle safety,” added Mr. Mullett.

Scania

CHINA'S Ministry of Railway and National Development and Reform Commission have announced an increase of domestic railway freight rate by CNY0.01 (US$0.0016) per tonne per kilometre, namely an average growth of 9.5 per cent, to CNY11.51, in order to relieve pressure from higher fuel and labour cost, Xinhua reports.

The increase this time covers coal, grain, fertiliser, iron ore and many other kinds of cargo. Industry opinions pointed out that the raise will pass the pressure on to the industries that are heavily reliant on railway transportation, like steel plants.

Shanghai Steel Service Trade Industry Association Secretary Ye Liming said the increase will have severe negative effect on the steel trade industry which is already gloomy. Though the industry has expected a rate increase, the timing and extent of the increase will put "unbearable" pressure on some companies, Mr Ye said.

Steel, cement, timber, coke and iron ore are the types of product that takes up the largest percentage in railway transported freight. Now the rates of these cargoes have gone up by 13 to 14 per cent. Experts from the industry said the increase of raw material transportation cost will push up the prices of final products.

But estimation shows that even after the increase, railway freight rate is still one fourth to one third of road cargo rate.

Sun Zhang, a professor of railway from Shanghai's Tongji University, said that the railway cargo capacity is still to be expanded in order to lower transportation cost. The building of more high-speed railway can release capacity from current railways for cargo transportation.

But some experts points out that railway departments should think of more ways to optimise their operating results instead of only levying rate increases.

Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News

CHINA has met a 31 per cent American tariff for the alleged dumping of solar panels by charging six US eco-tech projects in five US states are operating in violation of international trade law.

The Ministry of Commerce accused the US of illegally helping its domestic solar industry but did not release details, saying the results were preliminary, reported the Wall Street Journal. The US has said it will impose tariffs on Chinese solar panels that being sold on the US market below cost.

Four Chinese solar equipment manufacturers, Yingli Green Energy Holdings, Suntech Power Holdings, Trina Solar and Canadian Solar announced in at a joint press conference that they were forming the Solar Energy Promotion Alliance to counter US allegations.

Canadian Solar, founded by Chinese Canadian Shawn Xiaohua Qu. is based in Guelph, Ontario, but most operations take place in China.

Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News

NORTHEAST China's Liaoning province has opened a new cargo railway for Panjin port, the nearest coastal marine outlet for northeast inland, reports Xinhua.

The five-station railway is 48.4 kilometres long and costs CNY2 billion (US$315 million), which is designed to accommodate an annual transport capacity of 20 million tonnes. It is the first railway operated by the local Panjin government.

Panjin port started to operate in September 2010, serving as the nearest port to central Liaoning and northeast area. With a throughput of over 100 million tonnes, its port area occupies 40 square kilometres and is equipped with 60 berths to handle 50,000 tonnes of cargo.

Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News

FAST-TRACK back-to-work legislation is expected to get Canadian Pacific Railway workers on the job once it passes through parliament before the end of the week, ending rail stoppages at many of Canada's ports.

Transport Minister Denis Lebel said the strike is forcing some companies to abandon Canadian ports such as Vancouver for terminals south of the border. "Uncertainty leads to a lack of competition," he said.

But the Port of Prince Rupert, Vancouver's rival to the north, is unaffected because its Canadian National Railway workers, represented by the same union, have signed a three-year contract.

"From past precedent, we'd like CP Rail continuing to roll on Thursday," said Candian Labour Minister Lisa Raitt. "It is very clear that the Government of Canada must act now to resume rail service at CP Rail, as the prospect of ratified agreements in the short term is highly unlikely."

The CP Teamsters unit has been on strike since May 23 over pension issues and work rules, shutting down freight operations across Canada, noted Reuters. The latest round of mediated talks between the company and workers broke down at the weekend.

The CP back-to-work bill requires the federal government to appoint an arbitrator to resolve disputes within 90 days - "or any longer period that the minister may allow".

Teamsters negotiator Doug Finnson is protesting plans to reduce pension benefits, after weeks of proxy battling at the CP board level which ended with the old board being ousted by a reform-minded New York private equity firm, which holds 14 per cent of the stock.

Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News

THE Greek Piraeus Port Authority, where Hong Kong-listed Cosco Pacific runs the big container terminal, posted a first quarter pre-tax profit of EUR185,400 (US$231,250) after a year on year loss of EUR2.94 million.

Revenue grew 5.3 per cent to $30 million, and there was a $652,500 profit after tax, compared with a $4.1 million loss in the first three months of 2011 with container traffic contributing the most to the upturn.

Pier I, the container terminal under the port authority, posted a 46 per cent year-on-year increase in the first quarter to 166,000 TEU. In the first four months of2012, Cosco Pacific's Pier II boosted volume 154 per cent to 679,600 TEU year on year.

As part of the privatisation plan to reduce Greek debt, the government plans to sell its 74.5 per cent stake in the Piraeus Port Authority this year.

Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News

ORDERS for new containerships since October are down to 3.67 million TEU at a nine-year low and have now been surpassed by the tonnage being delivered as May drew to a close.

As a percentage of the existing fleet, the orderbook currently stands at 23 per cent, the lowest level since nine years ago in April 2003, based on Alphaliner records.

The orderbook could fall below three million TEU or less than 20 per cent of the fleet by the end of the year, said the Paris-based maritime consultancy and research agency.

On the plus side, low newbuilding prices have attracted owners' interest, given that the difficulty of raising funds has limited firm orders even among owners disposed to buy.

The largest newbuilding orders are for ten 13,800-TEUers atHyundai for Evergreen, but the deal hinges on the outcome of a letter of intent in April with KIAMCO (Korea Infrastructure Investments Asset Management Co) to fund the construction of the ships with a long term lease to Evergeen, said Alphaliner.

Tight money has also delayed building feeders, including Graig Shipping's series of 2,000-TEU Bangkokmaxers as well as a number of 2,400-TEU feeders, being promoted by German owners.

Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News

HAIFA-headquartered, ZIM of Israel, one of the world's largest shipping container companies, has selected Orange Business Services to rationalize further its global Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) network in a cost-cutting move.

Under a multiple-year contract, the future-ready network will include optimized routing, guaranteed business continuity and backup solutions, as well as a unified communications and cloud computing services-ready platform and is underpinned by SLAs adapted by site, Market Watch reported.

ZIM will use the network system to support its more than 100 vessels, carrying two million containers yearly, and 6,000 employees serving ports of call in more than 120 countries.

"The Orange global MPLS network is delivering significant benefits to ZIM and is supporting its business worldwide," said Helmut Reisinger, senior vice president, Orange Business Services Europe. "For ZIM, we are providing a global network for its mission-critical sites that provides optimized value for money and meets the customer's goal of reducing network management costs. This extremely reliable network improves round-trip delay and ensures superior site availability, both very important benefits for a leader in the shipping industry."

Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News

HONG Kong Air Cargo Terminals Limited (Hactl) strongly supports the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process initiated by Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA), which forms a key element of the project to expand the airport to a three-runway system.

Airport Authority Hong Kong's (AAHK's) Project Profile has been sent to the Director of Environmental Protection, beginning an exhaustive consultation and study process involving members of the public and other stakeholders.

Mark Whitehead, managing director of Hactl, said: "It is very clear that Hong Kong's future as a world-class airline hub relies heavily on its ability to continue satisfying the future needs of passengers, exporters, importers and airlines. The current two-runway system will soon be overloaded; without positive action, this will cause major damage to Hong Kong's trade-based economy and our employment market.

"So airport expansion is necessary, but this must be undertaken in an environmentally-sensitive manner. Hactl has firmly established its own environmental credentials and, for this reason, we strongly applaud the exemplary way in which this project is being handled by the Hong Kong SAR Government and AAHK.

"We believe the two-year process that has been initiated by HKIA will ensure that every aspect of the expansions' potential impact is fully considered, and that the project will then be conducted at every stage in a way that mitigates and minimises its effect."

Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News

DRAGONAIR has welcomed the move by Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) to submit the project profile for the expansion of Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) into a three-runway system.

The submission, which includes the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study, marks an important step in the airport development project in compliance with statutory requirements, the airline said.

Dragonair CEO, Patrick Yeung said: "Dragonair strongly believes that the third runway is essential to boost the capacity of our home airport and help Hong Kong maintain its status as one of the world's leading aviation hubs. The EIA study is a crucial element in planning for a third runway and we fully support the sustainable development of the airport.

"Environmental issues have always been a major consideration during the development of HKIA. Dragonair appreciates the effort made by the Airport Authority to set up special focus groups and community liaison groups that will enable it to gauge public opinion from the outset."

Mr Yeung added: "Studies and assessments will be conducted to examine the impact of the third runway project on air and water quality, noise levels, marine ecology, landscape and heritage. We are looking forward to a balanced discussion that takes into account socio-economic benefits as well as environmental protection matters."

Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News

DRAGONAIR has commenced twice-daily service from Hong Kong to Taichung, a city in west-central Taiwan, operated using an Airbus A320 aircraft.

The company celebrated the launch of the service by holding a cocktail party in Taichung attended by 100 guests, including Jason Hu, the Mayor of Taichung and John Leung, Director of the Hong Kong Economic, Trade & Cultural Office.

Speaking at the reception, the airline's chief executive officer Patrick Yeung said: "Taiwan is a very important market for Dragonair and the Taichung service will further boost traffic between Taiwan and Hong Kong. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to the authorities in both locations for their great support in getting our Taichung operation up and running smoothly.

"2012 is an exciting year for Dragonair as we expand our network through the addition of at least seven destinations. In addition to Taichung, we have already launched a new service to Jeju in Korea and resumed flights to Xi'an and Guilin."

He said the airline has started new services to Clark in the Philippines on May 29, Chiang Mai in Thailand in July, and Kolkata, India, this winter.

Before the launch of this new service, the carrier had operated a charter service to Taichung between 2007 and 2009. The airline now operates 77 passenger services out of Taiwan every week to the three major cities of Taipei, Kaohsiung and Taichung.

Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News

Logi-Sys Helps TVS Dynamic to streamline its Freight Forwarding Operations and Enhanced Customer Service capabilities

Chennai, June XX, 2012 – Softlink today announced that TVS Dynamic Global Freight Services a part of the highly respected TVS Logistics & TVS group has successfully implemented its Logi-Sys. TVS Dynamic Global Freight Services decided to implement the feature rich software Logi-sys in keeping with its policy of making technology the backbone of strategy, planning and execution.

TVS Dynamic Global Freight Services is one of India's largest freight forwarder with offices in all major ports & airport cities in India. The company specializes in International Freight Forwarding, Customs Clearance & Just-in-time Delivery of Cargo across the Globe with warehousing and distribution in solutions.

“We have confidence in Softlink and Logi-Sys as it has passed our evaluation process. Both our teams worked closely to ensure timelines were met and successful implementation by Softlink and TVS Dynamic.” Says Mr. Siddharth Jairaj, Director, TVS Dynamic.

TVS Dynamic selected Logi-Sys from among the number of software available in the market, after subjecting them to stringent evaluation process. The highlight of the software deployment was the implementation of Logi-Sys with record time which was completed within 30(50) days.

Mr. Amit Maheshwari  CEO & MD, Softlink said that  “Logi-Sys will not only help TVS Dynamic to achieve rapid efficiency and revenue gains, but also help them to make more informed strategic decisions exploiting future market opportunity. One of the biggest advantages of Logi-Sys is its quick DEPLOYMENT and GO LIVE added Mr. Maheshwari.

The company deployed the logistics management software to support its on-going investments in integration of operations and enhancing customer service.  TVS Dynamic intends to leverage the functionalities of Logi-Sys for strategic planning and resource management as cost effectively as possible across its branches. With the Logi-sys solution branch managers can now know, the complete operational information of the enterprise. With this insight, they can make more informed decisions in order to deliver the high-level of service their customers expect and deserve.

About TVS Dynamic

TVS Dynamic Global Freight Services is a joint venture between TVS Logistics Services Limited and Dynamic Freight Forwarders, both companies started operations in 1995. Incorporated as a combined entity in September 2007, the company has over 20 years of experience in supply chain logistics handling substantial volume of Ocean & Air freight business and has consistently recorded high customer satisfaction levels at lowest costs. With TVS’s own offices across the globe as well as its extensive global footprint and strong expertise in supply chain logistics, the company offers widest range of freight forwarding business to any part of the globe at the lowest time The company has a policy of leveraging technology to further the interests of their customers, since it recognises the lowest logistics cost benefits its customers as well s end consumers alike.

TVS Dynamic designs innovative solutions in the Automotive, Engineering, Pharmaceutical products for their business partners, which fall in line with their processes. This has made them the path breakers to new business practices in the industry.
http://www.tvsdynamic.com/

About Softlink Global

Softlink Global was established in the year 2005, with the sole aim of simplifying operations of organizations in the logistics industry worldwide through highly specialized software products and solutions. Softlink is a leading product company which exclusively provides software solutions across the logistics sector to Freight Forwarders, Custom Brokers and 3PL companies along with Exporters and Importers. Softlink has a presence in every major city in India, including Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Delhi and Mumbai. Softlink's products are used by more than 60,000 users in over 3,000 organizations. Softlink’s clientele include organizations like DH Express, TNT India, FedEx, Videocon, Times of India, The Future Group, ABG Shipyard, Onida, Parle Products, Moser Baer India, AFL Dachser, Nippon Express, DB Schenker, Kuehne + Nagel, Agility etc. Key PSUs and Government Departments like Air India, Indian Oil Corporation, Dredging Corporation of India, and Embarkation HQ benefit from Softlink’s products.

Source softlinkglobal

Kazakhstan signed an agreement with Turkmenistan on the opening of a new international railway crossing, Minister of Transport and Communications of Kazakhstan Askar Zhumagaliev wrote in his my microblog on Twitter.

"We have signed an agreement with Turkmenistan on the opening of a new international railway border crossing point called "Bolashak - Serhetyaka"," the Minister shared.

He said that the checkpoint will be situated on the Kazakh-Turkmen border.

Central Asian News Service, en.ca-news.org

The Public-Private Smart Move High Level Group held its kick-off meeting and started its work with the ambition to submit recommendations and a Smart Move Action Plan on doubling the number of bus and coach users in the EU in the next 10 years, and contribute to the EU Growth Agenda 2020.

Brussels - The International Road Transport Union (IRU), in cooperation with the European Commission, launched the Public-Private Smart Move High Level Group (HLG) yesterday, with the objective to elaborate, concrete policy and business recommendations on how to double the number of users of passenger transport by bus, coach and taxis in the EU within the next 10 years by attracting users out of private cars, as advocated by the Smart Move campaign<http://www.busandcoach.travel/>.

The Smart Move HLG is composed of representatives from EU institutions, including the European Commission, Members of the European Parliament, and private businesses, representative associations and other sectoral stakeholders from civil society.

The Smart Move High Level Group will focus its work on three main issues: intercity long distance regular lines, group tourism by coach, and urban transport and commuting, including scheduled bus services and taxis. Each issue will be analysed from its legal, fiscal, social and customer aspects, with a focus on safety and sustainability, and in particular users needs.

Yves Mannaerts, IRU Vice President and Member of the HLG, said: "We are extremely satisfied that this industry proposal is now supported by the European Commission, leading MEPs, and partners from civil society. Our objective is to propose to European citizens, politicians and businesses an ambitious and pragmatic road map on how to make collective passenger transport by road the preferred choice of European citizens, and to reach the Smart Move objective to double the number of bus and coach users in the next 10 years. This will be a concrete contribution to the follow up of the EU Transport White Paper and the implementation of the EU 2020 Growth Agenda priorities, at the lowest costs to society."

The HLG is expected to produce:

a)    Policy and business recommendations on doubling the number of users of collective passenger transport by bus, coach and taxis;

b)    An Action Plan with recommended deadlines for the period 2013/2015-2030;

c)    An Internet-based, publicly available and renewable compilation of policy and business best practices.

A dedicated Internet page will be opened on the Smart Move website<http://www.busandcoach.travel> to allow all interested European citizens and stakeholders to follow the work of the Smart Move High Level Group and provide additional input to the debate.

Source IRU Communications

Geneva - The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced global traffic results for April showing that total passenger demand rose 6.1% while freight demand was 4.2% down on April 2011.

Despite continuing economic weakness in some parts of the world, demand for air travel continues to grow. The 6.1% overall growth recorded for April is above the 20-year trend. Strong demand for air travel with limited capacity expansion pushed load factors to 79.3% which is a record high for an April load factor.

The 4.2% contraction in air freight markets compared to April 2011 is somewhat misleading. Air freight markets slumped sharply in the first half of 2011 and bottomed out towards the end of the year. Various distortions and month-to-month volatility have marked the industry performance since the beginning of 2012. However, April cargo levels stood at about 2% higher than in November 2011. About 80% of this improvement has been captured by Middle Eastern airlines. Air freight for the Asia-Pacific, European and North American carriers has continued to show weakness.

“It’s a volatile and risky world. Airlines are being cautious managing through the uncertainty. Overall passenger demand was up 6.1% in April and capacity increases were held back to 3.8%. There are signs that cargo has bottomed out. Amid the many distortions that have marked the first four months of the year, it is possible to identify the start of a growth trend in cargo for some parts of the world. But economic uncertainty in Europe makes it very difficult to be optimistic in the near to medium-term,” said Tony Tyler, IATA’s Director General and CEO.

Apr 2012 vs. Apr 2011     RPK Growth      ASK Growth     PLF     FTK Growth     AFTK Growth
International                         7.4%                         4.3%        79.1               -4.5%      0.2%
Domestic                              3.9%                         2.8%        79.7               -2.7%     -2.0%
Total Market                        6.1%                          3.8%       79.3                -4.2%     -0.3%

YTD 2012 vs. YTD 2011     RPK Growth      ASK Growth     PLF     FTK Growth     AFTK Growth
International                         8.1%                          5.2%           77.1             -2.5%        1.8%
Domestic                             5.5%                          4.4%           78.1              -0.9%      -1.4%
Total Market                        7.1%                          4.9%           77.5              -2.3%       1.1%

International Passenger Markets

International air travel rose 7.4% in April compared to the year-ago period, outstripping a capacity expansion of 4.3%. April load factors stood at 79.1%, up 2.3 percentage points from April 2011.

European airlines recorded passenger demand growth of 5.9%. This is below the 7.4% global average and is significantly lower than the 8.7% growth recorded in March. Demand was, however, stronger than the 3.4% capacity expansion which pushed load factors to 80.7%. While this is a relatively strong performance compared to previous-year levels, since the beginning of the year, there has been a declining trend. April, for example, saw traffic contract by 0.3% compared to March—despite the Easter holiday period being in mid-April.

Asia-Pacific carriers also experienced strong growth of 9.3% against a capacity expansion of 4.6%. Load factors stood at 78.1%. The strong performance is exaggerated by the comparison to April 2011 when Asia-Pacific markets were particularly weak in the aftermath of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. Removing the impact of the event, the region’s growth is estimated to be about 6%.

North American airlines saw passenger demand expand by 1.6% in April compared to the previous year. This is the weakest demand growth among all regions and represents a weakening from the 5.3% year-on-year growth recorded in March. However, the trend in North American travel is still positive since the end of 2011, as US economic conditions and particularly consumer confidence has improved. North American carriers were also the only region to cut capacity (by an almost equal 1.5%). This allowed the region’s carriers to post the strongest load factors at 80.8%.

Middle East airlines’ traffic growth has started to pick up pace again, recording a 16.0% gain in passenger demand for April, after having softened in the second half of 2011. Although this is a fall from the 20.9% growth recorded in March, the March result was distorted by the impacts of the Arab Spring in 2011. Furthermore, demand did grow faster than the 12.7% capacity expansion in April and load factors remained high at 78.3%.

Latin American carriers experienced a 9.0% expansion in international demand in April compared to the same month in 2011. Despite some potential for economic slowdown, growth has been solid enough in the region’s economies to sustain strong demand for passenger travel. This outpaced the capacity expansion of 5.3% and bucked expectations of a slowdown in the region due to weakening economic conditions. Load factors stood at 78.6%.

African airlines reported a 7.0% increase in demand. It was the only region where capacity expansion (8.5%) outpaced demand growth. Load factors were the weakest at 65.9%.

Domestic Passenger Markets

Domestic markets grew at about half the rate of international markets, just 3.9%. Load factors of 79.7% were slightly higher than on international routes (79.1%).

Japan experienced the strongest traffic growth, up 27.8% year-on-year. This, however, reflects the devastating impact on year-ago traffic of the natural disasters of March 2011. While the market has significantly recovered, domestic traffic levels remain 8% below pre-earthquake and tsunami levels. Load factors of 57% are the lowest among major domestic markets.
China’s domestic demand reflected the slowdown seen more broadly across the Chinese economy. The 6.3% growth recorded in April was the lowest recorded since early 2011 and well behind the 10.1% growth reported in March. The result reflects the slowdown seen in the economy more widely. Load factors of 82.2%, nonetheless, were high.
US domestic markets grew by 1.0% in April while capacity contracted by 0.7%. Load factors were the highest at 83.6%.
Passenger demand in Brazil grew by just 2.0%, below the 4.5% capacity expansion. Load factors stood at 70.2%.
India traffic rose by 8.6% year-over-year, ahead of the 1.7% capacity expansion. Load factors stood at 75.3%.

Air Freight (Domestic and International)

Air freight markets, while weak, are now showing some signs of expansion after bottoming out toward the end of 2011.
Asia-Pacific carriers saw a 7.3% decline in demand in April, well ahead of capacity cuts of 4.1%. This reflects weakening exports from China. European airlines saw a 4.9% fall in cargo traffic compared to the year before, despite having cut capacity by 0.2%. North American carriers showed a 6.4% drop in demand with a 2.9% cut in capacity. Latin American carriers recorded a 3.6% fall in demand even though capacity expanded by 8.8% compared to April 2011.
Middle Eastern carriers were the bright spot in cargo with a 14.5% increase in demand. But this was behind a 15.1% increase in capacity. African carriers showed a 6.1% increase in demand, behind a 9.0% increase in capacity.

The Bottom Line

“The growth in passenger markets is encouraging. But it comes against an environment of continuing high oil prices and growing economic uncertainty. So translating the stronger demand into profits will be difficult,” said Tyler.

With the exception of Africa, all markets saw capacity expansion at levels below the expansion in demand. “In the face of economic uncertainty, many airline managements will be going back to first principles—careful capacity management, cost control and conserving cash. This will be the order of the day until some clarity comes to the global economic outlook. Of course the uncertainty impacts the whole value chain. We are all in this together. Airlines will be particularly looking to their industry partners to share the imperative on cost control,” said Tyler.

IATA will update its industry financial outlook on 11 June 2012 at the Association’s Annual General Meeting to be held in Beijing, China from 10-12 June 2012.

Source IATA
 

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