Asia Shipping News Nov 30, 2000
ne...@schednet.com
Thursday, November 30, 2000
SchedNet http://www.schednet.com
* Hopes hang on heavy highway
* Canadian Railways ups rates
* SCI eyes expansion
* SSC breaks away from parent
* INTTRA to open doors in HK
* Beijing takes law in own hands
* Minister promotes ALPS
* Golmud link
* Shanghai noon for Vancouver
* China Cargo Airlines wins
* BA World Cargo on the rise
Hopes hang on heavy highway
===========================
CHINA'S heavy goods vehicles are set to roll on their first dedicated
expressway when it becomes fully operational next year.
The reinforced, compressed road will be 120 miles in length and will
aid the flow of cargo between Xuanhua (Hebei province) and Datong
(Shanxi province). The western section of the road opened for business
in September.
The route is considered to be a northern shortcut for heavy goods
vehicles conveying cargoes between eastern and western China.
Canadian Railways ups rates
===========================
CANADIAN Railways is to increase rail rates on its Joint Canadian
Inland Tariff for both importers and exporters.
>From December 11, a fuel surcharge of 6 per cent will apply on all the rail components of inland rates. And from January 1 next year, an increase of 4 per cent will apply on all the rail components of inland rates.
SCI eyes expansion
==================
STATE-OWNED Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) is to concentrate
fully on its box services in a bid to substantially increase its
annual turnover.
To this end, several of its regional and global services will be
revamped in the near future. SCI is currently in a consortium with CMA
CGM, Yang Ming and Zim on the India-UK link, deploying seven 1,860-TEU
containerships. These are to be exchanged for 3,000-TEU
containerships.
Similarly, SCI is in an India-US consortium where it deploys a
1,400-TEU containership. This will be replaced by a larger 2,000-TEU
vessel.
Together with HMM, the Indian line will also introduce changes to its
Jawaharlal Nehru Port-Singapore feeder service which deploys three
vessels each week. Currently, each of these ships are no larger than
830 TEU, and they are to be replaced by other vessels of about 1,200
TEU.
In addition, the service is to be extended to incorporate ports in the
Far East.
SSC breaks away from parent
===========================
A NEW shipping and logistics outfit, Singapore Shipping Corporation
(SSC), has been launched under the umbrella of the Hai Sun Hup Group.
The new Singapore-based company has been working well under its parent
company and is now ready to go solo on the Singapore stock exchange.
SSC will concentrate on the Group's shipping and logistics interests.
The shipping sector of SSC will cover ship owning, ship management and
ship operations, while the logistics sector will focus on terminal
operations, shipping agency and warehousing (third-party logistics).
These two sectors will then be integrated to form supply chain
solutions.
INTTRA to open doors in HK
==========================
INTTRA, a web-based entry point into international ocean
transportation, is to open an office in Hong Kong in January 2001.
The move comes after the company's recognition of Asia's significance
in terms of global trade, combined with the company's commitment to
both Asian customers and markets.
The office will include a customer service team to provide both
customers' and participating ocean carriers' responses to technical
and practical questions related to the web-portal.
"We envision that customer service will be one of our strategic edges
when we introduce INTTRA to the market," said Joe Chang, Asian
regional head.
Beijing takes law in own hands
==============================
BEIJING Xiqu Post Office has been given the go ahead by the Beijing
No. 1 Intermediate People's Court to set up an express mail service to
litigants for legal documents.
This is the first time such a service has been offered for this
activity an official announcement said.
The post office will be responsible for delivering copies of documents
such as complaints, verdicts, mediation papers and citations.
This service has been introduced as a way to improve efficiency and
reduce handling costs.
Minister promotes ALPS
======================
SINGAPORE'S Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Yeo
Cheow Tong, spoke at the launch of the Airport Logistics Park of
Singapore (ALPS) on November 24.
He was detailing the 26 hectare logistics park to be built at the
airport jointly by Singapore's ITC, CAAS, EDB and Customs, as well as
the need for such a facility in today's logistics world.
He said the twin forces of globalisation and technology have resulted
in an increasingly complex and challenging environment for global
manufacturing and logistics industries. The Internet has facilitated
the emergence of an even more competitive global marketplace. It has
led to the radical reconstruction of production and distribution
models and enabled companies to achieve significant savings from the
efficient management of their supply chain.
In today's world, manufacturers and businesses are looking for third
party logistics providers, the minister said, for supply chain
management, time critical deliveries and innovative fulfilment
solutions. Given this backdrop, the air cargo and logistics industry
is set to grow globally.
In particular, he said, Asia will see a substantial piece of the
action. With many of the world's leading multi-national companies
already having established manufacturing bases in the region to tap
growing markets and resources.
"Global aircargo is expected to grow at a long-term average rated of
more than 6 per cent per annum. Asian air cargo traffic will grow by
some 8 per cent per annum. By the year 2018, the volume of
Asian-related air cargo traffic is expected to constitute 50 per cent
of global air cargo," the minister said.
Golmud link
===========
QINGDAO-BASED Shandong Airlines has inaugurated a 1600-mile service to
Golmud in the western province of Qinghai.
The four hour flight will make stops at Zhengzhou (Henan province) and
Xining (Qinghai province) en route. Services will be on Tuesday,
Thursday and Saturday, with belly capacity for cargo.
Shanghai noon for Vancouver
===========================
A RECENTLY inaugurated non-stop service from Air Canada is set to
provide 14 flights a week between Vancouver and Shanghai on Airbus
A340 jets.
The daily flights will depart from Shanghai at 1815 hrs and Vancouver
at 1200 hrs.
China Cargo Airlines wins
=========================
CHINA Cargo Airlines has been awarded a certificate for standard
operations, the first to claim such an honour in the country's air
cargo sector.
This brings the Shanghai-based courier up to international standards
and thus better able to compete with foreign firms, according to
official sources.
BA World Cargo on the rise
==========================
BRITISH Airways World Cargo has seen revenues for the six months ended
September 30, 2000 of US$414 million, 8.6 per cent higher than a year
ago.
Scheduled cargo revenues for the second quarter rose nearly 5 per cent
to $217 million boosted by some year-on-year yield improvements,
increased freight volume, additional wet-leased freighter services and
exchange rate benefits.
During the three months ended September 30, the volume of cargo
carried by the airline across its international network rose over 6
per cent year-on-year to 235,000 tonnes.
For the first six months of the financial year, total freight, mail
and courier traffic was nearly 10 per cent higher at 467,000 tonnes.
Gareth Kirkwood, managing director of BA World Cargo, said: "In the
second quarter we have consistently outperformed the overall average
growth in the international market. We have seen particular
improvements over the North Atlantic and to Asia and Australasia.
"The strong performance of our new Heathrow cargo centre for intact
freight has clearly boosted volume. Our challenge in the second half
of the year is to successfully migrate loose freight into the new
building and start delivering the same high quality of service for
this higher-yield part of our business."
Buoyed by its financial performance, BA World Cargo also announced the
creation of a new commercial team to build closer business
relationships with the airline's major customers.
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