Calcutta Freight Brokers Association held its 81st AGM

Chief Guest, Mr. Steve M. Felder, Managing Director - South Asia, Maersk India reaffirms his committment to  deliver best-in-class logistics solutions
KOLKATA: The Calcutta Freight Brokers Association (CFBA) recently held its 81st Annual General Meeting at Bengal Chamber of Commerce, Kolkata on July 12, 2019.
Shri VIVEK CHOUDHARY, Chairman of the Calcutta Freight Brokers, in his speech, welcomed Chief Guest, Mr. Steve M. Felder, Managing Director South Asia, Maersk India Pvt Ltd., and other distinguished guests from shipping lines and freight forwarding business. He also thanked the members of the Bombay Overseas Freight Broker's Association Shri Anup Deosthalee and Shri Jayesh Gandhi.
While giving a brief overview of the International Container trade and the shipping industry, the Chairman said, “Today's container market is confronting more than its fair share of headwinds. There have been concerns of a slowing global economy stoked by the ongoing US-China Trade War.”
While talking about the home port, he focussed on the performance of Kolkata Port Trust. “In 2018-2019, the TEUs handled by the port showed a growth of 4.18 %, from 7,96,211 TEUs to 8,29,482 TEUs.
Seeking the long pending demand from shipping lines, the CFBA Chairman said, “The focus of the Association continued towards building up healthier partnerships with the shipping companies in order to jointly address issues of mutual interest. Expansion of service portfolios for the clients and focus towards customer satisfaction would be primary importance going ahead. It was felt necessary that BOFBA and CFBA work hand in hand towards addressing the brokerage issues jointly with the shipping companies,” Mr Choudhary said.
“The committee  has been in regular contact with all major shipping lines in an effort to realign services in the changing scenario in order to ensure regular brokerage returns. The committee has been closely following up with the shipping lines and updating members on status of brokerage payments,” the CFBA Chairman said.
Praising Calcutta Freight Brokers' contribution towards logistics growth of East India, Chief Guest of the evening, Mr. Steve M. Felder, Managing Director - South Asia, Maersk India Pvt Ltd., pointed out that “ India is both exciting from a production and a consumption perspective, and on the latter, it is worth noting that it is now the World's 3rd largest consumer market, expecting to reach $6 trillion by 2030.”
Focussing on India's economic scenario, Maersk India Chief said, “The Government of India has progressed multiple initiatives aimed at improving the Ease of Doing Business, also buoyed by major GST reforms and a new insolvency act.”
Highlighting on the present scenario in India's maritime trade, Mr. Steve said, “The relaxation of longstanding cabotage restrictions has enabled shipping lines to more effectively address positioning of empty containers to deficit locations, thereby enabling Indian exporters to consistently connect to markets around the world; and for Indian ports to equitably compete with key transhipment hubs in the broader region.
Talking on India's port sector and shipping services by Maersk Line, the Maersk India Chief said, “The advent of additional port capacity on both coasts, as part of the Sagarmala initiative, has resulted in a near-eradication of congestion in most ports, enabling Maersk to achieve record schedule reliability, and position India with headroom to grow in the future. It is noteworthy that India now enjoys 45 mainline services a week – up from 35 in 2011, and the size of vessels has almost doubled from 3,700 TEU to 6,200 TEU. India has 14,500km's of navigable waterways, and Maersk has been privileged to be the first shipping line to partner with Government on piloting key routes, including from Varanasi to Kolkata, and from Kochi to Kattayam.”
Maersk looking forward to explore it's potential further
“We look forward to exploring this potential further, to the benefit of all stakeholders.” As outlined in the Draft National Logistics Policy, which we are delighted to have played a role in, there are still number of key challenges to be advanced for the benefit of Indian importers and exporters, including a reduction in logistics cost (from the current baseline of 14% of GDP), improved connectivity between hinterland and coastal markets, and further digitization. We at Maersk are committed to walking side by side with Government in realizing these lofty goals.
Considering the East Coast port's contribution in country's economic growth driver, Mr. Steve highlighted that, “Whereas India is growing overall, with 7-7.5% GDP growth forecasted for this year, it is also fair to say that the East Coast remains a key driver of this growth, considering the strategic location of East India which acts as a gateway for South-East Asian countries. Since China has overtaken the US as the largest trading partner of India, the East Indian Ports have become busier. Traditionally, ports in the West Coast had a significant share in container traffic, at least twice that of the ports in Eastern India.”
Kolkata : the oldest riverine port of India has a big role to play
Focussing on Eastern Ports, he said, “However, the trend has shown a reversal as India's merchandise trade with Asian nations is growing faster than the West. The Eastern Ports are closer to where the action in Asia is and are therefore growing. West Bengal also acts as a natural corridor to the North-Eastern States of India, Nepal and Bhutan. Needless to say, in all this, the oldest riverine port of India has a big role to play.”
Expressing his concern over high port tariffs and policy matters, Maersk India Chief said, “However, we as an industry are also facing some tough times with high costs. High port tariffs make Indian ports uncompetitive compared to global peers in their bid to attract more large-size direct calls, which was the primary reason for the abolition of restrictive cabotage rules. Indian terminals are also costlier compared with their foreign counterparts when it comes to cargo-related rates.”
He also expressed his concern on global warming and its impact on maritime sector. Mr Steve claims it as another challenge, climate, an important issue even globally. “The transport sector is responsible for 23% of global energy-related emission. Shipping alone is responsible for 2-3% of global emissions.”
“We at Maersk are committed to new sulphur regulation of IMO 2020 of reducing emission of sulphur particles from vessel to 0.5% in 2020 from baseline of 3.5%.  Maersk target for 2050 is aimed at carbon-neutral shipping.”
“Maersk is an active member of MACN (Maritime Anti-Corruption Network) driving elimination of corruption in the maritime industry, and I urge you all to participate in this effort.”
Briefing on a number of initiatives taken by Maersk Group, the Mr Steve said, “... over the past 2 years, in order to ensure our valued customers – are able to leverage this growth story, we have undertaken a number of initiatives.
Our Engagement with Brokers have increased, which has helped us understand more about the brokers' business and their customers' needs, to support their business growth.”
•             With our multiple products offerings in Logistics and Services along with our Ocean products, we are working to simplify and connecting brokers' customers' supply chain for further growth
•             Each broker has a dedicated customer service agent to look after their business All THE WAY
•             Keeping pace with the digital advancement, we recognize the importance of offering cutting edge digital solutions to our customers
•             We are proud to be the first in the industry to launch “fixed spot offers” as a digital channel for our customers exporting on most of the corridors across the globe.
•             We have also launched a range of locally inspired digital solutions, such as an enhanced importer interface, and an expansion of payment options including PayTM.
“Most notably, in line with our vision of becoming the global integrator of container logistics, we have integrated our shipping and supply chain businesses and most recently even the Inland services, and are now well positioned to offer you a full range of supply chain solutions.”
Maersk India Chief concluded his speech affirming that, “we are eager to partner with you to deliver best-in-class logistics solutions and are very enthused and excited about the prospects in India.”
The Association decided to extend the tenure of the committee for 2 years for better working environment.
Vivek Choudhary continue as Chairman, Shri Ajay Chhajer, Vice Chairman, Shri J.S Chopra, Shri Rajiv Agarwall, Shri Pawan Farmania, Shri Bharat Jain, and Mr Manoj Vyas will continue as Managing Committee Member for the term 2018-2020.

Cotton imports set to double amid shortage for 2018-19 seaso

NEW DELHI: India’s cotton imports are set to double amid crop shortfall for the 2018-19 season which ends in September.
While cotton industry estimates imports to cross 30 lakh bales (each of 170 kg) for the season, double from 15.8 lakh bales reported last year, trade sources believe that cotton import shipments will be restricted to around 25 lakh bales as against estimated imports of 31 lakh bales.
Delayed shipments
“Out of the total contracted imports of 27 lakh bales for the season, about 14 lakh bales have already arrived at Indian ports till July-end, while additional 10-11 lakh bales are estimated to arrive by September. There is some delay in several shipments, due to which about 2-3 lakh bales are likely to arrive in October,” said Atul Ganatra, President, CAI. CAI had estimated 31 lakh bales of cotton imports for the year.
On the other hand, cotton prices will rule higher even amid increased imports as the shortage of fibre is likely to cause supply crunch till the beginning of the next season after October 2019. Trade estimates prices to hover between Rs.44,000-46,000 a candy of ginned cotton (each of 356 kg).
The 2018-19 cotton crop is estimated at over a decade-low at 312 lakh bales. This prompted industry to look for cotton from global suppliers such as the US, Brazil and African Countries.
 

Rice exporters want Centre to obtain duty cuts at RCEP

NEW DELHI: India’s non-basmati rice exporters want the Government to bargain hard in the ongoing RCEP negotiations, seeking duty cuts from ASEAN nations, the second largest market for the cereal. Though India is the largest exporter of rice, it does not have any say in the South East Asian region, where four of the top five markets are located.
 “We would like the Government to press for duty cuts on rice exports in the RCEP talks,” said BV Krishna Rao, President of the Rice Exporters Association. In fact, India competes with major Asian rice producers such as Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar in markets such as Africa, but it is finding it difficult to get a foothold in the South East Asian market.
Africa is the biggest market for rice, estimated at around 15 million tonnes annually, where India has a share of over 50 per cent. South East Asia is the second largest market, with an estimated size of around 8-10 mt annually. “Lack of market access, non-tariff barriers and higher duty imposed by Asean members on Indian rice has forced exporters to concentrate on the African market,” Rao said.
The ASEAN Countries impose a duty of 50 per cent on the Indian rice. However the duty imposed on rice produced by member countries is 35 per cent. “There is a duty difference of 15 per cent on the Indian rice. If negotiated well at the RCEP, it could open new markets for us,” Rao said.
Besides, the Indian exporters also face non-tariff barriers from countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia, from whom we import bulk of the edible oils. Indonesia, for example, specifies a short delivery period of five days for tenders, which works in favour of neighbouring producers such as Thailand and Vietnam, but not for Indian exporters.

PSA’s Bharat Mumbai Container Terminals achieves new productivity record – VR 210 moves per hour on APL Korea

NAVI MUMBAI: Bharat Mumbai Container Terminals Private Limited (BMCT), a wholly-owned subsidiary of PSA International Pte Ltd, has achieved a new vessel productivity record rate of 210 moves per hour for the CMA CGM vessel “APL Korea” on 29th July 2019.
This surpasses its previous vessel productivity record rate of 196 moves per hour on the vessel “COSCO Thailand”, set just a week before.
BMCT completed operations on “APL Korea” in less than 7 hours, making 1,434 moves to handle 2099 TEUs. The productivity record was achieved under monsoon weather conditions, and included the discharge of some uncontainerised breakbulk cargoes.
Mr Sivakumar K, Managing Director, BMCT, said: “The back to back achievements of the BMCT team in raising our productivity benchmark first to 196 moves per hour, and then to 210 moves per hour shows our drive to deliver ever higher service levels to our customers. We would like to thank our staff and service providers for their dedication and efforts in making this possible, as well as our customers for their confidence and support in continuing to grow alongside BMCT.”
Mr Aniruddha Lele, Head India Operations & Cargo Flow, CMA CGM India, said: “It is extremely satisfying to know that BMCT has done it once again.” He congratulated the BMCT team and credited the well-coordinated teamwork in achieving the splendid performance on its CIMEX 2K2 service vessel.
He mentioned that with the new maritime regulations and cost management initiatives within the shipping industry, vessel turnaround time would be a key criteria in the selection of terminals to call at.
Mr Mike Formoso, Managing Director, PSA India, saluted the close working relationship between the CMA CGM and BMCT teams. He said: “May I congratulate BMCT on the latest in a series of achievements and thank CMA CGM for their teamwork, support and close coordination.
“This week has also seen another achievement in the signing of a new Inter Terminal Rail Handling Operation (ITRHO) Agreement which will provide a boost to rail volumes at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) and improve the Port’s overall competitiveness. I wish to express our thanks to JNPT and the Ministry of Shipping for their interventions to bring this agreement to fruition.”
BMCT is currently the largest standalone terminal in India. Supported by state-of-the-art marine and rail infrastructure, BMCT has added a further capacity of 2.4 million TEUs to the bustling Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Nhava Sheva.

Sharda Prasad, Advisor Sagarmala, visits Allcargo Logistics Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra JNPT Centre

auds Allcargo Logistics’ efforts to build skill competencies of youth for logistics sector

Mr Sharda Prasad, Advisor Sagarmala Project, Ministry of Shipping, visited the Allcargo Logistics Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra (PMKK) at JNPT on July 30, 2019. He praised the efforts of Allcargo Logistics in conducting skill development programmes for underprivileged youth and boosting their employability opportunities in India’s rapidly expanding logistics sector.

Mr Prasad, during his visit to the Allcargo Multi Skill Development Centre at Bokadvira, Uran, also flagged off the new Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra  batch of Consignment Tracking executives, graced the convocation ceremony of two passed-out batches and felicitated working students. Among the other dignitaries present at the occasion were Ms Manisha Jadhav, Manager, Personnel and Industrial Relations, JNPT, Mr Brijmohan Raturi, Assistant Manager HR, JNPT, Mr Suhas Mangle, Assistant Engineer, CIDCO, Dronagiri, Dr Nilratan Shende, DGM CSR, Allcargo, and Mr Chandrakant Patil, Manager, Skill Development. The dignitaries also visited all the facilities at the centre, such as classroom, reception, counselling room, placement cell, training laboratories, smart labs, pantry, kitchen, etc., said a release.

“The logistics sector will play a key role in positioning India as a $ 3-trillion economy over the next 5 years. Trained personnel with sector-specific skills will play a key role in sustaining the exponential growth of Indian logistics.  Allcargo Logistics is playing a commendable role in raising the skill quotient of underprivileged youth by conducting structured training programmes and learning courses under the PMKK initiative. I would like to urge the students to pursue such courses and grab the employment opportunities available in this sector,” said Mr Sharda Prasad.

“Allcargo remains committed to making Indian logistics a skill-driven industry. We aim to bolster the job prospects of the youth by providing them industry-specific training and building skill proficiencies across key functional areas of the supply chain,” stated Dr Nilratan Shende, DGM CSR, Allcargo. 

JNPT and CIDCO signed a MoU with Allcargo Logistics in November 2018 for skilling youth in logistics and allied sectors. The Allcargo Multi Skill Development Centre imparts skill training in six logistics courses such as Heavy Vehicle Driver, Consignment Booking Assistant, Consignment Tracking Executive, Documentation Assistant, Inventory Clerk and Warehouse Picker, the release highlighted.

US Proposes retaliatory tariffs on another $4 bn of EU goods.

US Proposes retaliatory tariffs on another $4 bn of EU goods.

WASHINGTON July 8 .

The US Trade Representatives (USTR) office has published a list of $4 billion worth of EU goods the US could hit with duties as retaliation for European aircraft subsides. The product range from cherries to meat, cheese, olives and pasta, along with some types of whiskey and cast-iron tubes and pipes. It adds to a list of EU products valued at $21 billion that the USTR published in April.

The USTR estimates that EU subsides to Airbus cause approximately $11 billion in economic harm to the US annually, as per a report.

PSA s CHENNAI INTERNATIONAL TERMINALS WINS CONTAINER HANDLING TERMINAL OF THE YEAR AWARD AT SOUTH EAST CARGO & LOGISTICS AWARDS FOR THIRD CONSECUTIVE YEAR

               CHENNAI JULY 8 CHENNAI INTERNATIONAL TERMINAL PVT LTD (CITPL), OWNED AND MANAGED BY PSA INTERNATIONAL PTE LTD (PSA), RECEIVED THE COVETED "CONTAINER HANDLING TERMINAL OF THE YEAR" AWARD (BASED ON VOLUME) AT THE SOUTH EAST CARGO AND LOGISTICS AWARDS 2019 ORGANIZED IN CHENNAI on July 3. 2019. THIS WAS THE THIRD CONSECUTIVE YEAR THAT CITPL WON THE ACCOLADE, MAKING IT A TOTAL OF FOUR WINS OVERALL, HIGHLIGHTED RELEASE.