Sanjay Sethi led JNPT delegation visits Antwerp Port to further enhance co-operation between APEC & JNPT

ANTWERP: The Antwerp / Flanders Port Training Center (APEC) and Port of Antwerp welcomed a delegation from its partner JNPT led by Chairman Mr. Sanjay Sethi, IAS, recently to discuss its joint training centre in Mumbai, India. Senior officials from Port of Antwerp, APEC and JNPT discussed about the mutual co-operation in making JNPT - Antwerp Port Training Centre a world class Maritime Training Institute.

 

 “We look forward to further develop the training institution as a world class centre of excellence,” said a communiqué from APEC.  

 

The JNPT – Antwerp Port Training and Consultancy Foundation is a cooperation between JNPT (Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust), APEC the Antwerp/Flanders Port Training Centre and the Port of Antwerp. Registrations are open to participants from Major Port Trusts, Private Ports and Terminals in India and from ports and terminals abroad. Apart from the key aspects of port operations, the underlying focus is to enhance and develop skills for Business development Strategies and Marketing and also instilling behavioural changes to lead effectively in the fast-changing business environment.

 

Visakhapatnam Port aims to lower cargo clearance time August 20 , 2019

VISAKHAPATNAM: In a bid to facilitate the movement of imports and exports at Visakhapatnam Port and reduce the clearance time for commodities from an average of seven to three days, Visakhapatnam customs is set to initiate a mechanism under which document checks and physical inspections will be carried out only for goods of exporters and importers with a ‘dubious’ background.
All other goods and commodities will be cleared through an online submission process.
“Although World Customs Organisation recommends that the average clearance time for a port should be below three days, last year we maintained an average clearance time of seven days. This year we had improved our performance and maintained an average clearance time of four days. Hopefully, with this mechanism in place we would improve our average clearance timing to three days by the end of the fiscal year,” said DK Srinivas, Principal Commissioner, Visakhapatnam Customs.
Customs officials said that this mechanism will be introduced under the Turant Customs scheme introduced by the Union Government for speedy clearance of goods at air and sea ports.
“A critical component of the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) index rankings is the ‘trading across borders’ category in which India is ranked 80 (in 2019), compared with 146 in 2018. India is keen on entering the top 50 rankings and to realise the goal, the Turant Customs scheme has been introduced,” a Customs Official added. Officials are hopeful that if manual checks of documents and physical inspections of every imported or exported consignment is stopped, the clearance time can be significantly reduced. In fact, they claimed that Visakhapatnam customs might reach the WTO recommendation of below three days for average clearance timings by the end of the financial year.
“We would undertake the risk management solution on the basis of our trust and faith in the exporters and importers. However, agencies with a dubious background won’t be spared. Their consignments would undergo a rigid inspection and verification,” added Srinivas.
Visakhapatnam customs has earlier initiated reforms such as single window interface for facilitating trade, e-Sanchit and direct port delivery.

Shipping Minister Mansukh L. Mandaviya visits New Mangalore Port August 20 , 2019

MANGALORE: Shri Mansukh L Mandaviya, Minister of State (Independent Charge), Shipping & Minister of State for Chemicals & Fertilizers visited New Mangalore Port (NMPT) on 16 August 2019. The Minister was accompanied by Shri Nalin Kumar Kateel, MP.
The Minister reviewed the performance of the Port and was briefed by Shri A.V Ramana, Chairman, NMPT on the infrastructure projects and other proposals for enhancing the productivity of the Port and sustaining the status as Numero Uno in being the cleanest Port in the Country.
The Minster interacted with the key members of the major captive users of the Port, namely the MRPL, KIOCL, MCF, IOCl, UPCL and Chettinad Mangalore Coal Private Ltd.
While addressing the members of the Stevedoring agents, freight forwarders as well as the key associated Government bodies such as Customs, Immigration Departments, the Minster urged for smooth transactions to promote Ease of Doing Business by further streamlining procedures.  He also assured them all assistants to boost growth of business through the Port.
The Minister was particularly appreciative of the CSR activities of the Port towards uplifting the standards of hygiene in schools and also towards water table rejuvenation schemes, especially since they benefit the society directly and are also the key project of the Union Government.

OOCL’s total volume increased by 3.2% in first six months of 2019

HONG KONG: For the second quarter of 2019 (ended 30th June 2019), total volumes were 4.6% up from the same period last year. 

Total revenues increased by 7.1% to US Dollars 1,566.4 million. Loadable capacity increased by 6.4%. 

 

The overall load factor was 1.4% lower than the same period in 2018. Overall average revenue per TEU increased by 2.4% compared to the second quarter of last year.

 

For the first six months of 2019 (ended 30th June 2019), total volumes increased by 3.2% over the same period last year and total revenues recorded a 6.5% growth. Loadable capacity increased by 4.3%. The overall load factor was 0.9% lower than the same period in 2018. Overall average revenue per TEU increased by 3.3% compared to the same period last year.

Cosco plans New Pier to expand Piraeus capacity to over 10 mn TEU

BEIJING: Cosco, the operator of Greece’s Piraeus Port Authority (PPA), plans to build a fourth container pier, expanding the port’s capacity to over 10 mn TEU and making it comparable to the biggest Northern European ports.
The port’s management has already communicated its plan to Greece’s recently elected Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and is a key component of a new master plan.
Mistotakis has made the more private investment in the country’s ports, a Government policy priority.
In the PPA’s new master plan, construction of a fourth pier will increase the port’s capacity by 2.8 mn TEU and expand total investment in the port by $224m to just short of $900 mn.
Piraeus is already the largest container handler in the Mediterranean and is the sixth largest in Europe, while the recently released UNCTAD ranking of the world’s best-connected ports reveals investments by Cosco has benefited Piraeus to make the best-connected port in the Mediterranean in 2019.
“A container port’s performance is a critical factor that can determine transport costs and, by extension, trade competitiveness,” said UNCTAD’s Director of Technology and Logistics, Shamika N. Sirimanne.
Container traffic at Piraeus port reached 4.9 mn TEU in 2018, 18.4% higher than the previous year, and over 700% higher than when the Chinese company was first awarded the operation of Pier II. Since then, it has built Pier III. In 2019, traffic is estimated to rise to 5.5-5.6 mn TEU. With the planned completion of the western part of Pier III, capacity will reach 7.5 mn TEU and the new pier IV will add another 2.8 mn TEU.

Bhavani Foundation helps rain affected people in Maharashtra August 20 , 2019

MUMBAI: Bhavani foundation has come forward to help the villagers in the areas of Western Maharashtra that got severely impacted by heavy rains. Life is slowly inching back to normalcy in flood-ravaged Kolhapur and Sangli as flood waters have receded in these districts of Maharashtra.
Bhavani foundation reached these districts to help the people with water bottles, food, clothes, medicines and other basic needs. The situations in Shirol & Karveer tehsil were severely affected by floods.
Bhavani Foundation came forward to the remote areas in Shirol & Karveer Tehsil like Ambewadi, Savlemal, Masubamal, Haringanmal, Chikli, etc, and started distributing water and food in the flood-affected area.
Bhavani Foundation never fails to contribute for various social activities for the welfare of the community.
Founder President - Bhavani Foundation & Managing Director - Bhavani Group, Mr. K. D. Shetty assured that the people from these districts can contact Bhavani foundation for any help as Bhavani Foundation has always stepped in for helping farmers, students & deprived people and will continue to help others every time.

Trade War can remove 0.5% Container demand in 2019 & 2020 : Maersk

COPENHAGEN: AP Moller-Maersk has warned that the ongoing US-China trade war is impacting growth, and it could “in isolation remove up to 0.5% of global container demand” in 2019 and 2020. While global container trade grew by around 2% in the second quarter of 2019 compared to the year-ago period, there has been a broad-based slowdown in all major economies with negative effects from escalating trade restrictions also weighing on trade growth.
In April, the US raised tariffs on Chinese imports from 10% to 25% on goods with value equivalent to 2-3% of globally traded goods. Later in early August, US tariffs of 10% on additional $300bn was announced to take effect by 1 September 2019.
 “So far, US importers have shifted imports away from China to other countries such as Vietnam, Korea, Thailand, India and Mexico,” Maersk stated in its latest second quarter results report.
“The impact of the newly imposed tariff hike is expected to be significant for the US-China bilateral trade and could in isolation remove up to 0.5% of global container demand in 2019 and 2020, and when US tariffs on additional $300bn is implemented later in the year, it could result in a reduction of up to 1% in 2020,” Maersk stated.
The Shipping Group’s CEO Soren Skou warned that the low growth scenario is not expected to end soon, and there is a possibility of a recession, though it is unlikely to happen in the US in 2019 or 2020.
For the full year 2019, global container trade is projected to increase by 1-3%. Uncertainties relating to the strength of container demand in 2019 pose a downside risk to freight rates in general, Maersk added.