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 | Global Logistics Company BDP Establishes New Company in Vietnam |
Vietnamese importers and exporters to benefit from BDP's revolutionary technology and expanded service offerings
June 17, 2010 - HO CHI MINH CITY - With its industry leading technology and global customer base, BDP International (BDP) is set to become a major player in Vietnam's logistics sector, following the establishment of a new subsidiary company headquartered in Ho Chi Minh City.
US-based BDP is one of the world's leading privately owned transport and logistics companies, with revenues in excess of US$1.6 billion and a presence in more than 120 countries. BDP has built its reputation working for some of the world's largest corporations including DOW, DuPont, Johnson & Johnson, Honeywell, McDonalds, Panasonic and ExxonMobil.
The new subsidiary company - BDP International (Vietnam) - will be a fully integrated unit providing the same class-leading technology and exceptional customer service that BDP's global customer base has come to expect.
While the headquarters will be in Ho Chi Minh City, BDP will also have representation in the other commercial centres of Danang and Hanoi.
And as it has done in each of its other markets, BDP will provide a real alternative to the one size fits all approach of its larger competitors by offering its revolutionary technology and exceptional customer service.
Mr Mike Andaloro, Managing Director of BDP Asia Pacific said, "We are seeing a growing demand for Vietnamese produced goods in North America, Europe as well as in other parts of Asia.
"We expect our customers will source more of their goods from Vietnam, and this new company will allow us to continually support our customers as they expand their supply chains."
"With the changes to foreign ownership laws in 2014, we anticipate there will be an even larger increase in demand as more manufacturers establish themselves in the exciting, vibrant market."
"As the global leader in chemical logistics, we see great potential for this sector to grow during the next few years. Many chemical companies are looking to establish themselves in Vietnam, with some considering building manufacturing plants."
"In addition to chemical logistics, BDP will target the healthcare, retail, telecom, electronics and other manufacturing industries. Vietnam will be a key element of BDP's strategy in Asia over the next decade as the nation emerges as a true economic powerhouse."
"As a privately held company, BDP has a unique culture that focuses on providing customized solutions for each customer, in contrast to the one size fits all business models of its larger competitors in freight consolidation and freight forwarding. It is our ability to be large enough to handle any logistical need, while keeping the relationship personal that differentiates BDP from the competition," Mr Andaloro said.
BDP SmartVu Launched in Vietnam
BDP also announced the Vietnam launch of its revolutionary new technology - BDPSmart Vu - a vendor management tool that provides logistics managers with unparalleled visibility of each stage of an international purchase order.
With BDPSmart Vu, importers can globally manage their upstream vendors and suppliers from one central site. The technology provides information on the status of purchase orders, including the critical initial stages.
An early warning system ensures inaccurate data on handling, shipment contents, classification or inefficient transport decisions is brought to the customer's attention. This means the customer can fix the issue before it becomes a problem, so deadlines are kept and no revenue is lost.
BDPSmart Vu complements BDP's downstream technology tool, BDPSmart. BDPSmart represents the next generation in supply chain management systems - a real-time track, trace and alert tool that provides global visibility and reporting metrics for all supply chain operators through an easy-access and user-customizable portal.
BDP International
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Air cargo rates on the rise
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June 7, 2010 - Global - Air cargo freight rates have increased 30-50% this year and may continue rising because freight carriers are not ramping up capacity to meet rising demand.
Changi Airport Group believed freight volumes could return to pre-crisis levels in a few years. Industry players said it is getting more expensive to transport cargo by air, and airlines should increase capacity to stabilise the freight rates.
Steven Lee, chairman of Singpore Aircargo Agents Association said, "In my opinion, I think it's because of the reduction in capacity. Some airlines are still parking their aircraft in the desert. And then of course the ocean carriers are going slow in selling so these factors are what aggravated demand."
According to an IATA report, air freight demand expanded by 26%, and Asia saw a 33% increase in air freight traffic in April.
By Kristie Thong Procurement Asia
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Shipping industry in a whirl
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June 8, 2010 - Thailand - Exporters are trying to negotiate with shipping firms to reduce the high time charter rates caused by reduced shipping capacity during the downturn.
Many shipping firms had failed during the global economic crunch, leading to low time charter rates last year. However, exports from Asia to Europe surged during the first quarter of this year, causing rates to skyrocket.
Paiboon Ponsuwanna, chairman of the Thai National Shippers' Council believed exports in the second and third quarter should be stable, but the situation is still hard to predict.
He said that demand is high, particularly in China where production costs are low, thus making it easier for them to pay higher rates to export their products.
Additionally, the strong baht is affecting Thailand's export competitiveness. Paiboon believed the government should intervene by preventing the baht from strengthening further, reported Bangkok Post.
By Kristie Thong
Procurement Asia
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EU agrees on new Iran sanctions | |
June 16, 2010 - European foreign ministers have agreed in Luxemburg to recommend a package of additional sanctions against Iran over the country's nuclear program, APA reports quoting presstv.ir website.
The move came Monday after EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton invited Iran's top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili to discuss the nuclear issue, reported the Associated Press.
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle was also quoted by the AP as saying the new set of sanctions go beyond those recently adopted by the UN Security Council.
Westerwelle said the new sanctions would focus on areas of trade, especially on so-called dual-use items which could be utilized as part of the nuclear program. They would include further restrictions on trade insurance and financial transactions, and would target Iran's transport sector, particularly its shipping and air cargo operators.
Some investments in the oil industry would also be affected, Westerwelle said without elaborating further.
"We have to contribute our own European measures in addition to the security council sanctions to press Iran back to the negotiation table", added the top German diplomat.
If EU heads of government meeting Thursday endorse the measures adopted in Luxembourg, these will be passed on to government experts to work out the specifics of which companies and products would be targeted and how.
Azeri Press
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Cathay freighters to fly round-the-world service | |
June 14, 2010 - HONG KONG's Cathay Pacific Airways plans to commence a round-the-world freighter service from July 9 involving new eastbound trans-Atlantic flights.
The new route will initially be operated twice weekly using a Boeing 747-400 freighter.
The service will depart from Hong Kong and fly to Anchorage, then to Chicago, and on to Amsterdam and Dubai before returning home.
"We are very excited about this new freighter service, which will strengthen our cargo network and also help the development of Hong Kong's air freight hub role," said Cathay cargo chief Rupert Hogg.
Meanwhile, in response to the recent global surge in air freight volumes, Cathay Pacific has stepped up the frequency of its freighter services to Houston and Miami.
From July 2, the airline will fly four times a week to Houston and five times a week to Miami.
Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
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Argentine grain workers suspend wide protest for now | |
Protest scheduled to start on Monday is called off
June 11, 2010 - Argentine grains workers demanding better pay and working conditions called off plans to strike and block port shipments next week, a union leader said on Friday.
Members of the URGARA union, which represents workers that check quality of grains before they are loaded onto ships, had threatened to down tools starting Monday if their demands were not met.
But after talks with exporters this week, they decided to suspend the protest and resume negotiations on Tuesday.
"The protest has been called off ... although we still haven't reached an agreement," Pablo Palacio, URGARA general secretary told Reuters.
Palacio said that if the parties fail to come to an agreement by Wednesday, the union could go on strike.
The union says large grain exporters have profited from a recent boom in grains prices as well as improved weather conditions after a drought hit output during the last two seasons, and workers should be paid more.
In May, URGARA union members halted operations at a grains plant in the port of Ramallo, near the agricultural port city of Rosario, where almost 80 percent of the South American country's grains and oilseeds exports are loaded.
They briefly blocked the entrance to a plant near the grains port of Bahia Blanca, in the south of the country, and protested outside a nearby factory owned by Bunge.
Strikes and labor protests are common in Argentina, one of the world's biggest exporters of soybeans, corn and wheat, and conflicts have surged this year, mainly due to high inflation, which is fueling pay demands.
Argentine farmers have nearly finished harvesting the 2009/10 soybean crop, which is expected to reach a record of up to 54.8 million tonnes..
Reuters
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| India-wide capacity crunch, congestion causes 'severe' Nhava Sheva delays | |
June 15, 2010 - LOGJAMS at Nhava Sheva port are causing containers to be "severely" delayed at India's largest port because of an April and May volume surge, reported UK's International Freighting Weekly.
Figures recently released by the Indian Ports Association reveal that container volumes at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), which operates much of Nhava Sheva port, increased 17 per cent year on year during the April-May period, to hit 751,000 TEU.
Conditions are also worsening India-wide as exporters and western apparel retailers are facing a congestion at ports all over the country and containerships avoiding the subcontinent on their way from the Far East to Europe.
"It's like China in November, when it was difficult to get space on vessels to Europe and air freight was also suffering massive congestion," said Grant Liddell, key account director at leading UK logistics provider Uniserve.
Rates between India and Europe are understood to have increased sharply too, from US$1,000 to $3,000 per TEU, said IFW.
At Nhava Sheva, Maersk is warning shippers of "severe congestion" which it expects will persist because of the greater volumes overwhelming its three terminals, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPCT), Nhava Sheva International Container Terminal (NSICT) and Gateways Terminals India (GTI).
There are also problems moving boxes from common rail heads to the right terminal for on-time loading, causing containers to miss their boats. A pilot shortage has also delayed arrivals and departures of vessels.
"Congestion is causing delays and we are concerned that, with the monsoon and peak seasons approaching, it will be some time before the situation normalises," said a Maersk spokesman.
Maersk has diverted traffic to and from northern Indian inland container depots through Pipavav, north west across the Gulf of Khambat, to help ease and avoid the logjam.
India-wide, the mood is pessimistic with Western India Shippers' Association vice-president K Venkatesh saying conditions would worsen before improving.
"At a conservative estimate, there are between 20,000 and 35,000 boxes lying around India at the moment, especially in the arc between Nhava Sheva and Tuticorin, and the lines have not so far been able to clear this backlog," he said.
A Panalpina man said: "Following the financial troubles, a lot of ocean carriers are reluctant to increase capacity on the one hand, and, of course, they also want to keep up or increase the rate level on the other."
Weekly capacity out of India is between 10,000 TEU and 12,000 TEU of container slots. "On that basis, it will take at least three weeks to clear the backlog," Mr Venkatesh said.
Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
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| China Breaks Box Traffic Record |
June 8, 2010 - Monthly high of 12.4 million TEUs in May comes as trade surges 49 percent.
Container traffic through Chinese ports hit an all-time monthly high of 12.44 million 20-foot equivalent units in May as the nation's foreign trade surged by nearly 50 percent from a year ago.
The record volume was up 21.9 percent from May 2009 and 16.6 percent higher than the same month in 2008, according to Alphaliner, the Paris-based container shipping consultancy.
Six of the top 10 ports booked record volumes, led by Ningbo which reported a 52 percent increase to 1.23 million TEUs. Shanghai, Guangzhou, Tianjin, Xiamen and Dalian also recorded all time high monthly traffic.
China's exports rose 48.5 percent in May from a year ago and imports were up 48.3 percent, according to Chinese customs.
The slide in the value of the euro and Europe's debt crisis did not impact Chinese exports to the 27-nation European Union, which soared 49.7 percent from May 2009.
But the Chinese Ministry of Commerce cautioned that the eurozone crisis likely will impact future exports to Europe as it typically takes Chinese firms around two months to fulfill orders.
May's shipments reflected orders booked before Europe's debt crisis deepened, Alphaliner said. While June figures likely will remain robust, export growth is set to slow from July onward.
Given these uncertainties, Alphaliner said it estimates global container demand growth for 2010 at 11.5 percent, with slower second half growth offsetting the strong performance in the first six months of the year.
By Bruce Barnard
The Journal of Commerce Online
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| Users bemoan Panama Canal tolls | |
June 15, 2010 - Ocean shipping companies complained at a public hearing in Panama City on June 1 about the Panama Canal Authority's proposal to hike tolls again next January.
In April, the canal authority announced its intention to change the way tolls are calculated and raise tolls 13 percent for containerships beginning on Jan. 1. Equivalent toll increases were offered for bulk shipping. Canal officials held off toll increases in 2010 at the insistence of users.
The increase comes on top of a 71 percent increase in container vessel tolls during the last five years. In 2009, toll rates increased from $63 to $72 per TEU for laden containers and from $50.40 to $57.60 for empty boxes.
Container lines, and other sectors of the maritime industry, lost billions of dollars during 2009 because as trade plummeted during the recession they absorbed huge costs for a glut of unutilized assets. Large ships that transit the canal must pay tolls that total hundreds of thousands of dollars per trip.
The canal authority needs to raise more revenue to help pay for the $5.25 billion construction of a new set of locks and dredging of ocean entranceways to handle the next generation of mega-size vessels.
Canal officials note that carriers and their customers have benefited from investments that have helped shave transit times through canal waters and that increased usage of larger vessels will create even more efficiency for the maritime industry.
Ships headed to and from the United States are the largest beneficiaries of the maritime shortcut between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. In recent years, more and more cargo owners have elected to move products through the canal from Asia rather than unload them at West coast ports for cross-country truck or intermodal transport. The reliance of East Coast ports on the canal is expected to increase -- although experts debate to what extent -- once expansion is completed in late 2014.
Transcontinental intermodal costs significantly increased during the past three years, but the increase in tolls could lead some shippers to reevaluate the price differential between intermodal rail and all-water transport, and which mode provides a better value.
The maritime industry paid $1.4 billion in tolls to transit the Panama Canal in 2009. The container vessel segment paid the lion's share of the tolls, or $793 million, up from $646 million in 2007.
The canal authority also accepted formal written comments on the toll proposal through May 27..
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| Box shortage squeezes exporters | |
June 15, 2010 - Sharply reduced production of shipping containers has contributed to the difficulty U.S. exporters are having in obtaining equipment to move their goods.
"Most of the container manufacturing plants in China pretty much shut down and closed all their production lines, and the carriers are having a real problem in getting these people to ratchet those production lines back up again," said Brian Conrad, executive administrator of the Westbound Transpacific Stabilization Agreement.
In remarks to the annual conference of the Agriculture Transportation Coalition (AgTC) in San Francisco last week, Conrad said, "there is almost no new equipment available."
Geoffrey Giovanetti, managing director of the Wine and Spirits Shippers Association, cited figures from the magazine Containerisation International showing only 350,000 TEUs produced in 2009 compared to 3.25 million TEUs in 2008 and 4.25 million in 2007. Carriers added ships with about 1.4 million TEUs capacity last year, according to the information service AXS-Alphaliner.
Conrad said that in addition to a worldwide equipment shortage, shippers of U.S. agricultural products are also being affected by high demand for equipment in the transpacific eastbound, Asia-to-Europe and intra-Asia trades, as well as the high cost of repositioning containers within the United States to rural areas where agricultural exports originate.
The 10 container shipping companies that are members of the WTSA "have pretty much decided ... there will be no GRIs (general rate increases), no further increases in rates until at least September or October," Conrad said.
"Shippers have said they can't keep taking these monthly GRIs. Many shippers have said we sell our product on a quarterly basis, we need a little bit more lead time for you to tell us about increases, so we can plan our costing accordingly," he said.
Conrad also said carriers have decided to take "a more traditional commodity-based approach in looking at these increases" where the differences between commodities such as wastepaper, cotton and chemicals would be recognized.
A WTSA revenue index set at 100 in January 2008 climbed to a high of 117.7 in October 2008 before falling to a recent low 92.01 in June of 2009 and climbing to 111.65 in March.
"The rates have gone up somewhat over the last six months, but they are not back to the levels that they were in 2008," Conrad said.
William Rooney, president of Hanjin Shipping America, told the group that transpacific export rates are "stable" and should remain that way in the third quarter, but may go up later in the year.
He told members of the AgTC that transpacific revenue per load inbound are about 50 percent higher than outbound revenue per load.
"To be very frank, that drives a lot of decisions and a lot of those decisions impact people in this room and will continue to impact people in this room," Rooney said.
WTSA announced plans to form a "shipper-carrier advisory board" where about 15 shippers, including some agriculture shippers, will meet to discuss general industry issues.
"It is not going to be a board that will talk about what is the rate for wastepaper and is it acceptable to raise rates out of Houston for resin -- it will talk about some of the broader issues," Conrad said.
WTSA is also working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture on a pilot project related to the equipment shortages and participating in the Federal Maritime Commission's investigation of capacity issues.
FMC Commissioner Rebecca Dye attended the AgTC meeting, and met with shipper representatives there.
Conrad and other carrier representatives were conciliatory during the AgTC meeting, where shippers complained about the inability to ship their products, rate increase and poor service.
But Conrad insisted that while the WTSA shares market information, and develops trade-wide standards, "we do not jointly set or enforce rates in the U.S/Asian market" nor "jointly restrict or otherwise manage capacity. It is illegal and we don't do it."
He said he was "shocked" by one presentation at the meeting about poor customer service.
"Customer service should be better than that, but to blame the agreement and to blame antitrust immunity for that sort of thing is really not the right way to go," he said. "That is an issue that you need to talk about with your individual carriers."
And reacting to e-mails from carriers saying that customers cargo might be considered "non-loadable" unless they agreed to "voluntary" rate increases, he said "one of the most important things that we discuss in WTSA and that we tell carriers at all times is 'honor your service contracts.''
At the meeting, the AgTC released its annual survey of agriculture shippers and forwarders that ranks container carrier performance, awarding top place to APL among the 19 liner companies it rates. Results of the survey can be found here.
The group said it initiated the survey in 2007 in order to address significant shortcomings on the part of some carriers in the area of documentation, specifically, timely and accurate bills of lading.
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| Carrier Official Pleads Caution on Ocean Regulation |
WSC chief says lines responding to markets, 'don't roll cargo for kicks'
June 11, 2010 - An ocean carrier representative, responding to a sharp broadside from a congressional leader, said legislators should be cautious about imposing new regulations on container ship lines because of problems in U.S. markets this year.
Carrier-shipper tensions have grown because of volatile market conditions since the economic downturn, said Christopher Koch, president of the World Shipping Council, the Washington-based association representing major ship lines, and new restrictions on business practices could bring unforeseen consequences.
"This needs to be done thoughtfully," Koch said at this weekıs freight policy forum hosted by the National Industrial Transportation League. "We need to think this through. "What is this possible legislation intended to produce? What is it trying to fix?"
Koch's response followed strong remarks Rep. James L. Oberstar, D-Minn., chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, delivered at the NITL forum calling for elimination of carrier antitrust immunity and sweeping new restrictions on business practices.
One large shipper of containerized chemicals, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Oberstarıs suggestions were a move in the right direction but would not have an impact on current exporter frustrations. He said he welcomed Oberstar's call for greater oversight from the Federal Maritime Commission, for instance. The FMC is investigating carrier practices and complaints from shippers, particularly exporters, about the lack of container availability.
"The FMC has always enforced the law and will enforce the law," FMC Chairman Richard A. Lidinsky said. He said the FMC has heard complaints cited by Oberstar that some container lines have denied boarding to containers not owned by the carriers. "Apparently lines are not taking third-party boxes," Lidinsky said. "If an exporter does make an effort to get a box, that box should be loaded. It is a practice that's out there, and we've heard from several shippers that have cited this."
But Koch suggested legislative and regulatory attempts to fix problems in shipping markets could be misguided. He noted, for instance, Europe has eliminated antitrust immunity for carriers, but shippers face similar and even deeper problems there.
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| Record for air freight at Frankfurt | |
May volumes up 40%
June 15, 2010 - Frankfurt Airport reported record throughput in May, as traffic climbed almost 40% year-on-year to 204,332 tonnes.
The May figures also revealed a new record in maximum take-off weights in absolute terms, with 2.49 million tonnes handled. Aircraft movements increased by 2.5% but there was an 8% increase in intercontinental flights.
Fraport Chairman Stefan Schulte said: "The high growth rates in air freight tonnage result especially from Asia's dynamic economic activity and from the sector's special forte of making available, at short notice, capacities required by industry."
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| La Union opens for business | |
June 16, 2010 - El Salvador's La Union port opened on May 31, after receiving the ship and port facility security code (ISPS code) approval required to begin operations, an official from maritime ports authority AMP has confirmed.
ISPS approval was the only pending requirement for the port to open for business.
The port, which cost over $180m to build, will start operating with second-hand gantry cranes that cost $5m. Authorities plan to invest $24m in additional equipment.
La Union will have capacity to handle 50,000 teu in what remains of 2010, and 300,000 teu each year after that.
Port Strategy
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