MANZHOULI, China's biggest overland checkpoint bordering Russia, moved 6.67 million tonnes of import and export cargo in the first quarter, up 16.6 per cent year on year, reports Xinhua.
The import cargo grew 14 per cent to 4.19 million tonnes, while exports increased 17.4 per cent to 613,000 tonnes, and the re-exports went up 34.1 per cent to 1.87 million tonnes.
Import cargo was mainly mineral powder, chemical fertiliser, coal and lumber, while the export cargo focused on fruit and vegetable, light industrial products, minerals and building materials.
Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
MALAYSIA's Port Klang Authority (PKA) chairman Teh Kim Poo has resolved problems involving truckers and off-dock container depot operators after a three-day strike, reports the New Straits Times.
Truckers were protesting delays and the doubling of gate charges. Drivers claim earnings are being reduced because three and four hour waits limit them to one or two depot trips a day.
Said the PKA's Mr Teh Kim Poo: "After two days of negotiations, we are pleased to announce that a memorandum of understanding has been reached between the Association of Malaysian Hauliers (AMH) and the Container Depot Operators, which will resolve the grouses faced by the drivers.
"The terms and conditions of the MoU include the depot operators agree to give credit terms to hauliers and the details of the agreement will be dealt with individual hauliers and that they shall take all steps with AMH to achieve the target of maximum one hour to service each driver," he said.
Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
UK-BASED Ceva Logistics, 91.3 per cent owned by Apollo Global Management LLC, has filed with US Securities and Exchange Commission to raise US$400 million through an initial public offering of common stock, Reuters reports.
CEVA, the world's second biggest non-asset based supply chain management company, told regulators in a prospectus that it would list on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "CEVL."
The filing did not reveal how many shares the company or stockholders planned to sell or their expected price, said the report.
Reuters also noted that IPOs in the logistics industry were picking up after a long absence. Linc Logistics, which first filed for an IPO in June 2010, renewed its IPO bid earlier this month.
Apollo bought the logistics division of Netherlands-based TNT, the predecessor of Dutch global express company, TNT Express, in 2006 for $1.9 billion and renamed it Ceva. In 2007, Ceva bought Houston-based freight management group EGL Inc for $2 billion.
Ceva generated a net loss of $358 million drawn on revenue of $9.6 million. Ceva has been posting net losses due to debts, which came to $3.08 billion after a refinancing earlier this year.
Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
SUPPLY chain solutions provider SBS Worldwide team has appointed John Klausing as regional vice president of operations, US Midwest, as part of the company's senior management team to support the further development of the region's continued growth in key markets.
He will also support the further development of the company's ability to analyse, design, implement and operate end-to-end supply chain solutions that give customers an advantage over rivals.
Mr Klausing will work from the SBS Worldwide's Chicago office and will report directly to Christian Marz, director of US operations.
Said US managing director Lars Kloch: "I welcome John to the SBS Worldwide team. He will play a key role in implementing our global business development plan and ensuring that we meet growth targets in our Midwest region.
"John has proven leadership abilities with a track record of developing and executing local and regional business plans as well as developing, monitoring and improving operational procedures that deliver customer satisfaction."
As part of his appointment, SBS Worldwide's US Midwest vice president of operations Andrew Poll, will become regional vice president business development. In his new role, he is tasked with identifying new business opportunities and expanding the level of service provided to existing customers.
The appointments are part of the restructuring of the company's American business to drive enhanced flexibility and bespoke services at a regional level.
The new structure is designed to ensure that SBS Worldwide is able to enhance the personal sales and operational service it is known for at a regional level, while also utilising the group's ability to offer the latest in supply chain software tailored to specific industry verticals.
To support the new structure, regional vice presidents for business development and also for operations are being appointed at a regional level.
Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
SEPHORA, the leading French retail beauty chain and member of the luxury products group LVMH, has extended its logistics partnership with Kuehne + Nagel for a further three years.
The company said that Kuehne + Nagel in Italy has been the company's national distribution centre in Italy since 2005. With the newly signed agreement, Kuehne + Nagel will expand its services to supply the customer's outlets in various European countries including Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Poland and Turkey as well as in the Middle East and in Asia.
In total, more than 300 stores, 112 of them in Italy, will be served according to the new agreement. As a result, Kuehne + Nagel expects to handle up to 40 million pieces of fragrances, make-ups, skin care and other beauty care products per year for the customer.
The Sephora logistics operations will be provided from a new 12,900-square metre facility, compliant with the latest security and "green" standards and equipped with large photovoltaic solar power installations.
Located in the Logistics Park of Santa Cristina e Bissone in the Lombardy region - some 50 kilometres southeast of Milan - the new facility ideally complements the existing 90,000-square metre area Kuehne + Nagel already operates in the park.
Maurizio Stroppa, supply chain manager of Sephora, explained: "The new centre is a key element for our present and future growth in Eastern Europe, Far East and South East Asia."
Ruggero Poli, managing director of Kuehne + Nagel Italy said: "We are delighted that the customer has extended the contract and thus demonstrated its confidence in Kuehne + Nagel expertise, capabilities and staff. Even more so as it concerns the internationalisation of the logistics operation."
Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
THE Board of Los Angeles-headquartered OTS Logistics (OTS), the global provider of services to the logistics industry, and London-based private equity group, ManCapital LLP, have announced that COO Biju Kewalram is to succeed the current CEO Charlie Brennan, who has announced his intention to retire from the group.
The company also announced that Haydn O'Brien, currently head of East Asia, will become co-CEOs of the group. Mr Kewalram will continue to be based in Carson, Los Angeles, and Mr O'Brien will continue to be based in Hong Kong.
Loutfy Mansour, CEO of ManCapital, which acquired OTS in January 2012, said: "Since joining the group in 1998, Charlie has played a leading role in developing OTS into a world-class logistics business. We would like to record our appreciation for his significant contribution to the business over the years and wish him well for the future.
"We are very excited about the appointments of Biju Kewalram and Haydn O'Brien. We believe that with their complementary experience they are ideally suited to succeed Charlie as co-CEOs and ensure that OTS continues to provide the high levels of service expected."
Mr Mansour also said that he was "delighted that 2012 has seen a strong start to the year with growing volumes and an improving rate trend and we are confident that under the team's direction OTS will continue to go from strength to strength."
Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
CALIFORNIA's Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) plans to launch a private space freighter May 19 from Cape Canaveral to carry payloads to the International Space Station.
Plans to launch Dragon rocket in February, then at the end of April, were delayed by modifications to software. The freighter will carry 521-kilogrammes of food, other consumables and non-critical equipment.
"This is a test flight, and we may not succeed in getting all the way to the space station. I think we've got a pretty good shot, but it's important to acknowledge that a lot can go wrong," said SpaceX CEO and chief designer Elon Musk.
Mr Musk told Agence France-Presse that the repeatedly delayed launch was "exciting" but "extremely difficult" yet expressed confidence in his team.
"It's just taking longer than expected to analyse the data," Mr Musk said. "We need to make sure that the software is going to make the right commands and not endanger the space station."
This time, the gumdrop-shaped Dragon capsule will carry cargo for the space lab and will also aim to return a 660-kilogramme load to Earth.
Seven companies now share US$10 million in federal seed money through the Commercial Reusable Suborbital Research Flight Opportunities Programme. Most advanced, other than SpaceX, are XCOR Aerospace and Virgin Galactic chosen by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) last August to receive two years of financing to develop cargo delivery to the edge of space, on reusable vehicles.
SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corp of Dulles, Virginia, has been contracted by NASA to haul 20 tonnes of cargo to the Space Station through 2016. SpaceX will make 12 flights with its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft, while Orbital's Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft will undertake eight flights, reports Atlanta area Air Cargo World.
SpaceX completed its first flight in December 2010 and convinced NASA that it could combine its second and third that would include the Dragon berthing with the ISS.
The US government has decided that "routine" transport to low-Earth orbit - tasks such as supplying ISS and launching satellites - should be contracted out. This meant the costly space shuttle programme could be retired, and NASA could move on to exploration, perhaps mining, Mars and asteroids.
"This is currently a very under-served market with long lead times and no guarantee of payload recovery on conventional rockets," XCOR chief operations officer Andrew Nelson told Air Cargo World. "NASA is jump-starting a revolution in the commercial space industry."
Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
RUSSIA's Volga-Dnepr Group has flown 100 tonnes of food supplies to NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) personnel in Afghanistan using one of AirBridgeCargo Airlines' Boeing 747 freighters.
The flight from Riga to Bagram was the first flight by ABC to be operated within this project and was performed on behalf of American Supreme Food Supply via National Air Cargo, said the airlines press release.
The perishables cargo arrived in Riga from the United States in refrigerated sea containers and onboard scheduled airline flights, said the report.
UN-mandated NATO-led forces in Afghanistan include troops from the US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, France, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Croatia, Georgia, Denmark, Belgium, Czech Republic, Norway, Sweden, Bulgaria, South Korea, Slovakia, Albania, Azerbaijan, Slovenia, Singapore and El Salvdor, said the release.
Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
US COMPANIES, notably Boeing, are becoming the recipients of large orders from China because of an increasing Chinese reluctance to buy Europe's Airbus products because of the EU insistence on an aviation carbon tax, reports Forbes magazine.
"China is among 27 countries that have said they will consider retaliatory steps following the European Union's extension of its carbon market to aviation. The EU decided in 2008 that aviation should become part of its cap-and-trade carbon programme, said the report.
China Eastern Airlines recently announced that it is buying 20 Boeing 777 jets worth nearly US$6 billion, while selling five Airbus A340s to the US plane maker. China Eastern said it's selling the Airbus A340-600 aircraft worth $708 million to Boeing because they have high operating costs and "relatively weak route competitiveness."
The new Boeing jets will be delivered in stages from 2014 to 2018. The announcement represents a big win for Boeing, but a "huge loss of face for Airbus", said the Forbes report.
Boeing has announced that revenues rose 30 per cent in the first quarter and that it is raising production rates to meet increased demand.
In March, Airbus parent EADS chief executive Louis Gallois said Airbus is being subjected to "retaliation measures" by Beijing and warned that the European commercial plane maker will lose business if the EU fails to heed protests from airlines against the carbon tax.
"The Chinese government is putting on hold approval" for 35 wide-bodied Airbus aircraft ordered by Chinese airlines," Mr Gallois said. "We are worried that this conflict is becoming a commercial war and that there is a risk that Airbus will be taken hostage."
Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
2012-05-07
VR Group’s first quarter net turnover in 2012 was slightly down on the figure for the previous year. Net turnover in the quarter totalled M€ 331.7, compared to M€ 332.7 in 2011. The change in net turnover was -0.3 %. The operating result in the first quarter was a loss of M€ 18.7 (-10.5), and the net result was M€ -14.0 (-8.2).
“VR Group’s net result in the first part of the year was slightly weaker than had been expected. One point worth noting, however, is that the company succeeded in providing rail services early in the year better than in the past couple of winters, and there was a clear improvement in the punctuality of these services. We face the future with confidence, for there are positive signs in developments in infrastructure engineering and passenger services,” says Mikael Aro, President and CEO at VR Group.
The first quarter net result was depressed by the rise in personnel costs and in energy and rolling stock costs and by the smaller than anticipated growth in net turnover. One-time items that reduced the net result totalled M€ 6.7. VR Group’s operating result excluding one-time items was M€ -7.9.
Similar volumes for Passenger Services as last year
Altogether 23.9 million journeys were made in rail and road services during the first quarter, an increase of 1.7 % from the previous year. The number of rail journeys increased slightly from the previous year, rising by 0.4 %.
The number of passengers on services to and from Russia increased 12.3 % and between Helsinki and St. Petersburg 17.5 %. In the first quarter of last year two Allegro train units were in service, and there were two daily departures from Helsinki and St. Petersburg. Now there are four daily departures, and all four train units are in service.
Only slight increase in carryings by Logistics
Freight carryings totalled 10.1 million tonnes in the first quarter of the year, an increase of just 0.5 % on the previous year. The volume of carryings has declined in virtually all product categories carried, in domestic and international services. Transit carryings, in contrast, have recorded a sharp increase thanks to the transport of wood pellets.
Normal start to year for Infrastructure Engineering
First quarter net turnover for Infrastructure Engineering fell 14.4 % from the previous year. It is quite normal for the start of the year to be a quiet period for infrastructure engineering, since construction work cannot be carried out in the winter. VR Track has been successful in competitive tendering, however, and the order book for 2012 looks promising.
Source VR Group
2012-05-07
MAN will be playing a significant role in CO2 reduction: it intends to reduce its own CO2 emissions at MAN sites by 25 percent worldwide by 2020 (baseline: 2008).
This mandatory target is set out in the Climate Strategy, which is part of MAN’s Corporate Responsibility Strategy. It is presented in detail in the new 2011 MAN Corporate Responsibility Report, which meets the highest reporting level (A+) of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) for the first time.
By concentrating on the two fields of transportation and energy, MAN is focusing on precisely those products and services that significantly influence climate change. The new MAN Climate Strategy has now been adopted to contribute to the reduction of global CO2 emissions. “We can only meet our responsibility and seize business opportunities at the same time if we have clear and binding targets. After all, climate protection and cost effectiveness belong together: efficient, low-emission production and products minimize emissions and cut costs,” explains Dr. Georg Pachta-Reyhofen, Chief Executive Officer of MAN SE.
In order to define and translate the climate targets, an MAN Climate Expert Team has developed five core initiatives. To cut CO2 emissions at the sites, renewable energy sources will be used, among other things, and comprehensive energy management will be introduced. At the MAN Truck & Bus plant in Steyr, the waste heat from engine test beds is already used to heat production halls, for example. In addition to cutting CO2 emissions at its sites, positioning efficient products with low emission values is also important to MAN.
MAN has defined key performance indicators to monitor and manage implementation of the entire Climate Strategy. The information will be collected and reported on a regular basis. “MAN wants to be recognized as one of the industry players to have dealt with the challenges of climate change the best by 2020,” says Yvonne Benkert, Head of Corporate Responsibility for MAN SE.
MAN’s 2011 Corporate Responsibility Report was fully checked by a firm of auditors for the first time.
Source MAN SE
2012-05-07
MAN recorded its highest ever market share in the Danish truck market in fiscal year 2011 at 23.3 percent. This enabled MAN to confirm its top position in Denmark, where it was already at a leading level the previous year with 20.8 percent.
Denmark is a key production and development site for MAN. MAN is the global leader in the market for two-stroke large-bore diesel engines. The know-how for this primarily originated from the development center in Copenhagen. Total revenue in Denmark amounted to around €134 million in 2011.
With more than 2,000 employees and almost 80 vocational trainees, MAN is a large employer in Denmark. In addition to the workforce at MAN Truck & Bus, a large majority of the employees are based at MAN Diesel & Turbo’s three sites in Copenhagen, Frederikshavn, and Holeby. “Our Danish employees are an important part of the MAN family. Their dedication and their high level of expertise form the very foundation of our leading technology and market success,” explains Jörg Schwitalla, Chief Human Resources Officer of MAN SE.
MAN Truck & Bus has had a strong, constant market share of around 20 percent in the truck market for years. MAN primarily has a leading position among hauliers operating in international trade. According to Christian Barsøe, Head of MAN Truck & Bus in Denmark: “Our strong market position shows that customers trust MAN. These enduring relationships with customers are important to us.” MAN Truck & Bus’s main office is in Greve/Copenhagen and it has another five branches throughout the country’s regions. Two private dealers and ten service partners also ensure that MAN is present in the sales and servicing business.
Around half of the world’s entire trade is moved by MAN; the lion’s share is transported by ship. When it comes to two-stroke engines that drive large container ships, freights, and tankers, MAN’s market share is particularly high. To make these engines more efficient and low-emission still, engineers at the R&D center in Copenhagen intensively research innovative technologies. In 2011, MAN Diesel & Turbo chalked up another significant achievement in the large-bore diesel engine segment in relation to the Tier III emission limits set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). An MAN licensee built the world’s first two-stroke engine that already meets the emission standard applicable from 2016. The engine features second-generation EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) technology and is being tested as a prototype on a Maersk Line freight ship. “Our engineers have achieved a great deal by quickly developing this engine. The fact that we already meet the 2016 standard shows just how innovative MAN is,” says Thomas Knudsen, Head of the Low Speed business unit at MAN Diesel & Turbo.
Both of MAN’s business areas have a long tradition in Denmark. MAN Truck & Bus was represented as far back as the 1930s by an importer that was then taken over in 1979. Our marine diesel engine business has ties with Denmark that go back even further. More than a century ago, it cooperated on diesel engines with shipbuilder Burmeister & Wain. Together with MAN, Rudolf Diesel spent the period from 1892 to 1897 designing an engine at the Augsburg site, which was later named after him, and readying it for production. One of the first licenses back then went to Denmark. Burmeister & Wain then went on to deliver the first diesel-powered ocean-going ship, the MS Selandia, in 1912 – a milestone for the international shipping industry. Following many years of cooperation with Burmeister & Wain, MAN eventually took over the shipmaker’s engine business in 1981.
Cource MAN SE
Thanks to the modular product system, Scania's Euro 6 engines can be specified for virtually any application on the market. What’s more, the Euro 6 installation does not take up any extra space on the chassis. The vehicle is a fully equipped sewer cleaner. Also on display is a light all-wheel-drive truck chassis for fire and municipal purposes.
The four-axle Euro 6 sewer cleaner is a masterpiece of packaging. The bodywork occupies most of the empty space between the axles. Thanks to Scania's space-efficient Euro 6 solution, with a silencer unit of the same size as for Euro 5, the work is straightforward for the bodybuilder – i.e. the installation is unchanged.
Despite its compactness, the silencer unit contains all the elements necessary for the complex Euro 6 aftertreatment process. The exhaust gases first pass through and oxidising catalyst that condition the exhaust gases for the next step in the process, through a particulate filter to remove particulate matter, via twin SCR catalysts to remove NOx and then out through twin ammonia slip catalysts that remove any ammonium remaining in the gases. All this is contained inside the silencer.
“Installing such complex bodywork on the Scania Euro 6 chassis was quite straightforward,” says Brian Stage, MD of Danish bodybuilder J Hvidtved Larsen A/S in Silkeborg. “The bodywork is identical to that fitted to a Euro 5 vehicle, which is a great advantage from a cost and lead-time perspective.”
The sewer cleaner is a Scania G 480 8x2 with two steered front axles and a hydraulically steered tag axle behind the driven axle. The 13-litre Euro 6 engine produces 480 hp and a generous 2,500 Nm of torque, which is ample for powering the vehicle as well as the power take-offs for the auxiliaries. The Scania P 310 4x4 has a 9-litre Euro 5 engine and is around 700 kg lighter than a corresponding 13-litre vehicle.
Scania introduced its first Euro 6 engines one year ago to enable foresighted operators to take the first step to the next emission level. Scania Euro 6 vehicles have since been in operation with customers and tested by the press with excellent results.
The Euro 6 legislation will come into force for new models on 31 December 2012 and for all new vehicles one year later. The legislation has now been adopted and enabled Scania vehicles to be registered as Euro 6 in several countries. Incentives to encourage operators to invest in cleaner technology are currently being adopted by authorities in some European countries.
Source Scania
Development of a feasibility study of the Tajikistani area of the project for the construction of China-Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan-Afghanistan-Iran railway is to be completed by September of this year, reported the Iranian media.
The question of construction of a railroad from Chinese Kashgar to Iranian Mashhad through the territory of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Afghanistan was discussed at a meeting of Minister of Road and Urbanization Ali Nikzad with visiting Tajik Minister of Transport Nizom Khakimov on Sunday.
The parties have reached agreement on the finalization of the feasibility study of the Tajikistan project within three months.
Nikzad urged the Tajik side to provide the Iranian company Metra, which is developing a feasibility study, with all the necessary data.
That road is to increase trade exchange between all the countries through which the railway line will be laid, as well as reduce the cost and time of transporting goods, said the Iranian Minister.
In turn, Minister of Transport of Tajikistan reported that the total length of the Tajikistan area of the road will be 392 km, of which 270 km are the most difficult to build, as it requires the construction of 16 km of tunnels and 47 bridges. According to Khakimov, the construction of each kilometer of the most difficult section requires $ 10 million.
Tajik Minister is in Iran to attend a two-day international conference "South Khorasan: Transit and Development of East axis," which opens in Iran's eastern city Birjand on Monday. The conference will bring together representatives of 18 countries.
Central Asian News Service, en.ca-news.org
Dry bulk and liquid cargo handling capacities will be increased to a combined 20 million tons per year; multi-purpose quay will be extended 1,200 meters as the “Salalah Hub” establishes itself in the region.
Oman’s Ministry of Transport and Communications has awarded a commercial bid representing investment of OMR 55 million ($143 million USD) to more than double the Port of Salalah’s general cargo handling capacity. The project will increase dry bulk cargo handling capacity to 20 million tons and liquid cargo to over six million tons annually. The current annual general cargo handling capacity is 5.5 million tons.
“The general cargo business has been growing rapidly here, and this new expansion will play a significant role in serving the continued development of businesses in Oman and the surrounding region” stated Port of Salalah’s CEO, Peter Ford.
The Port of Salalah, astride the major global shipping lane between Europe and Asia on the Gulf of Oman in the Arabian Sea, holds a strategic position for transit cargoes to the upper Arabian Gulf, Indian sub-continent, Red Sea and East African markets. Salalah was the 2rd-largest containerport in the Middle East Region in 2011 with volume of 3.2 million TEUs. In its 14th year of operation, the Port of Salalah will handle its 30 millionth TEU this month with the first eastbound call of the G6 Far East/Europe string.
“We are very grateful to the government of Oman and particularly the Ministry of Transport and Communication for their vision, insight and support in helping the Port of Salalah achieve this tremendous milestone of 30 million TEUs” said APM Terminals Africa-Middle East Regional CEO Peder Sondergaard.
The Port of Salalah is part of the APM Terminals Global Port, Terminal and Inland Services Network, with APM Terminals holding a 30% share in the Port, 20% held by the Government of Oman, and the remaining 50% held by institutional and private investors.
The planned expansion of the general cargo terminal includes the construction of an additional 1,200 meters of multi-purpose berth with 18 meter draft and liquid commodity loading facilities. The new liquids terminal will significantly expand Salalah’s role in handling such key industrial commodities as fuel, methanol, Monoethylene glycol, and caustic soda. Major dry bulk commodities handled at Salalah include limestone, gypsum and cement as well as plastics.
“We are committed to making the resources available to enable Salalah to assume a major role as a regional hub for liquid and general bulk cargoes, in addition to containers, as we meet the growing demands for increased economic activity in the Dhofar region and the growing international investment projects in Oman” said Mr. Ford.
· 30 millionth container
· An artist’s impression of the future expansion for the General Cargo Terminal
APM Terminals
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