Trade Update Review - February 8, 2022

Asia

Hyundai & PSA Cargo tie-up for logistics

• PSA Cargo Solutions will provide logistics solutions for Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Centre in Singapore which is due to start making electric vehicles at its smart factory and service centre in Jurong Innovation District in the city-state.
• PSA Cargo will offer inbound port-to-port transport, pre-assembly and warehousing solutions, including control tower management and regulatory compliance. ‍
• NYK & Uyeno Group form capital and business alliance.‍
• NYK and Uyeno Group Holdings have entered into an agreement for the former to acquire 10 percent stake in Uyeno Transtech, domestic tank operations company within the Uyeno Group.

Maersk expands its footprint in Bangladesh with a 2 lakh sq ft warehouse.

• A. P. Moller Maersk expanded its footprint in Bangladesh with a new 2 lakh sq ft custom bonded warehouse built in partnership with Ispahani Summit Alliance Terminals  Limited (ISATL), making it the largest of its kind in Chattogram.

Chinese port shutdowns to affect global commodities supply

• Global commodities supplies are feared to suffer shortages due to port closures in China, with Africa expected to be affected the most.

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America

Methanex & MOL close strategicpartnership

• Vancouver-based methanol producer and supplier Methanex and Mitsui O. S. K. Lines(MOL) announced the completion of their previously publicized strategic partnership involving waterfront Shipping (WFS), a subsidiary of Methanex.

Los Angeles & Shanghai ports to create green shipping corridor

• In partnership with C40 Cities Network, the ports of Los Angeles & Shanghai along with other maritime partners will develop a green shipping corridor implementation plan by the end of 2022.
• The plan envisages the phasing in of low and ultra-low carbon fuelled ships with the world’s first zero-carbon transpacific container ships to be introduced by 2030.

Europe

CMA CGM extends Le Havre & Puerto Angamos calls on EUROSAL service

• Compelled by the continuing heavy congestion and lack of productivity, French shipping major CMA CGM has extended its suspension of Le Havre and Puerto Angamos calls by another six months till September end, 2022 on EUROSAL service which connects North Europe to West Coast South America and the Caribbean.
• CMA CGM took this decision as the situation did not improve, stretching a previously announced suspension until March 2022.
• However, rotation remains as follows –Rotterdam, London Gateway, Hamburg, Antwerp, Caucedo, Cartagena, Manzanillo, Buenaventura, Posorja, Callao, San Antonio, Callao, Posorja, Manzanillo, Cartagena, Caucedo, Rotterdam.
• Coverage of Le Havre import/export will continue to be offered in transshipment in Antwerp. For Puerto Angamos import/export, CMA CGM has no alternative service/routing.

CMA CGM expands into last-mile logistics with a majority stake in Colis Prive

• Global shipping and logistics giant CMA CGM Group entered into a preliminary agreement to acquire a 51 percent stake from HOPPS Group in Colis Prive Group, which is a leading player in deliveries in France.
• As part of the agreement, CMA CGM also has the option to raise its stake in Colis Prive at a later date. This development will boost the presence of CEVA Logistics, CMA CGM’s logistics subsidiary in e-commerce and last-mile deliveries.
• Colis Prive is a specialist in home and relay deliveries with a network of 110 regional branches, including marking its presence in Belgium, Luxembourg, Morocco and plans to enter the Netherlands.

Long term contracted ocean freight rates decline marginally

• According to the latest Xeneta ShippingIndex (XSI) Public Indices, long term contracted ocean freight rates dropped marginally by 3.6 percent in January, 2022 to 238.34 points, which marks the second consecutive monthly decline after September 2020.
• Xeneta’s XSI is compiled by using the latest crowd-sourced freight data aggregated from across the world with participation in the benchmarking and market analytics platform from firms such as ABB, Electrolux, Continental, Unilever, Nestle, L'Oréal, Thyssenkrupp, Volvo Group and John Deere amongst others.  
• Despite the fall, the index compiled by Oslo-based Xeneta continues to be 98.1 percent higher when compared to the similar period of 2021.
• Drawing inferences from crowd-sourced data from leading global shippers, Xeneta’s analysis recognised that the second consecutive monthly rates drop came after 14 long months of consistent increases, still leaving carriers in a commanding position during shipping negotiations.

CMA CGM to levy overweight surcharge(OWS) to multiple destinations

• French shipping powerhouse CMA CGM will start levying OWS on dry cargo from North Europe, including the United Kingdom (UK) and Scandinavia to the Middle East Gulf, Red Sea, North-West India, South East India, Pakistan and Sri Lankan ports.
• Starting February 15th, the surcharge will also be applicable to inland points through the mentioned ports a quantum of $200 per 20’ dry (all types) over 15 tons including tare.  

Schedule reliability drops to a record low in December 2021

• Sea-Intelligence, a leading provider of research and analysis, data services, and advisory services to the global supply chain industry observed in the 125th issue of its Global Liner Performance (GLP) report that carrier schedule reliability dropped again by 1.2 percentage points month-on-month to 32 percent in December, 2021.
• As per GLP, a comprehensive report which covers schedule reliability spanning 34 different trade lanes and more than 60 carriers, this was the lowest ever global schedule reliability since Sea-Intelligence began gauging it in 2011.
• Schedule reliability was 12.5 percentage points low on a year-on-year basis. However, there has not been much fluctuation despite the low schedule reliability as global scores hovered around 32 percent to 40 percent mostly.
• Incidentally, the average delay for late vessel arrivals rose to 7.33 days, leading to the fifth consecutive month with the delay figure above 7 days
• According to Sea-Intelligence’s GLP, Maersk was again the most bankable top-14 carrier in December 2021 with a schedule reliability score of 46.2 percent, followed by Hamburg Sub in the second place with a score of 41.4 percent.
• Barring MSC with schedule reliability between 30 percent and 40 percent, six other carriers – Hapag –Lloyd, HMM, CMA CGM, ZIM, PIL and ONE – logged a score between 20 percent and 30 percent.  
• The balance five carriers had a schedule reliability below 20 percent with Evergreen logging the least score of 14.3 percent.
• Though nine carriers registered a month-on-month improvement in schedule reliability, no carrier logged a year-on-year improvement while all carriers recorded double-digit year-on-year declines, except four.

Haropa handles 3 million TEU

• Haropa port, comprising the ports of Le Havre, Rouen and Paris handled 3 million TEU for the first time, in 2021, an increase of 28 percent compared to 2020.
• Traffic in the three ports rose by 12 percent year-on-year to log 84 million tonnes.

Hapag – Lloyd registers $12.8 billion EBITDA

• Based on preliminary figures, German shipping giant Hapag – Lloyd registered earnings before interest taxes depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of more than $12.8 billion in the 2021 financial year.
• Improved freight rates coming from excellent demand for goods exported from Asia has been a significant driver of revenues, propelled by global supply chain disruptions which skyrocketed shipping costs.

Global services trade rises 25 percent year-on-year in Q3, 2021

• The World Trade Organization (WTO) highlighted that Global trade services posted a growth of 25 percent in the third quarter of 2021, driven by digitally deliverable services such as computer, financial and business services which furthered trade growth and transport, including surging shipping rates.

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Middle East & Africa and Oceania

ZIM & 2M alliance to extend collaboration on select routes

• Israeli shipping giant ZIM and 2M alliance partners have entered into an agreement to extend their current operational collaborations on the two trades of Asia – US East Coast and Asia – US Gulf Coast.

CMA CGM to levy peak season surcharge(PSS) from Australia & New Zealand

• French shipping and logistics giant CMA CGM will apply PSS on all contract types at $1,500 per container originating from Australia and New Zealand to the destinations of North Europe, Mediterranean, Latin America and the United States East Coast and the United States Gulf.
• PSS will kick in from March 1st, 2022.

ZIM extends ZMI service to serve East Mediterranean – North Europe Trade

• ZIM extended its ZMI service which currently connects the Indian sub-continent (ISC) and the East Mediterranean to serve the East Mediterranean– North Europe trade.

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India

APL Raffles, the largest ever containership to call an Indian port

• APL Raffles emerged as the largest containership to call an Indian port ever when it docked at the Mundra Port on Friday, January 28th.
• Equipped to haul as many as 17,292 20-foot containers (TEU), APL Raffles happens to be one of the largest vessels in the fleet of French shipping giant CMA CGM.

India initiates anti-dumping probe on vinyl tiles from China, Taiwan & Vietnam

• Following a complaint from the domestic industry, the Indian Commerce Ministry’s investigation arm Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) initiated an anti-dumping probe on vinyl tile imports from China, Taiwan and Vietnam.
• DGTR is probing the alleged dumping of vinyl tiles rather than in roll or sheet form.
• The petition spearheaded by Welspun India Ltd, Welspun Flooring Ltd and Welspun Global Brands Ltd called for the imposition of anti-dumping duty.

JNPT logs highest-ever annual traffic

• Leading container port Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) has handled its highest ever annual container traffic, 5.6 million TEU, and total traffic of 76.1 million tonnes in 2021, even as the Coronavirus pandemic raged all over the country.
• Container traffic rose by 25.8 percent year-on-year when compared to 2020 which witnessed 4.47 million TEU.

Blackstone establishes an India-dedicated logistics platform

• Global investment giant Blackstone Group has established India dedicated platform Horizon Industrial Parks to house its logistics and warehousing assets of up to 24 million sq ft.
• Comprising 16 modern Grade A logistics and warehousing assets, including underdevelopment projects, the platform will propel Blackstone’s expanding logistics reach in the South Asian giant.
• The Blackstone Real Estate Funds owned and managed portfolio of logistics parks platform aims to offer best-in-class solutions for India’s industrial and warehousing demands.

IMF slashes India’s GDP growth rate for 2021 – 22

• The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has slashed India’s GDP growth rate to 9 percent on January 25th for fiscal 2021 -22 from an earlier estimate of 9.5 percent, fearing the impact of the new coronavirus variant.

All import invoices for MSC customers in India through ODeX

• All MSC customers in India are now required to process their import invoice payments through ODeX, an automated digital platform for the shipping industry.
• All invoice payments can be made through the portal www.odexglobal.com, which offers convenience to customers. ODeX facilitates the exchange of documents, payments, electronic invoices, delivery orders, HBL and shipping bills among others.

India’s marine exports rise by 35 percent

• India’s marine exports shot up by 35 percent to $6.1 billion from April to December 2021, in contrast to $4.5 billion logged during the comparable period in 2020.
• Marine exports rose by 28 percent to $720.5 million in December 2021. Top export destinations included the United States of America (USA), China, Japan, Vietnam and Thailand.

India’s wheat exports to touch a record high

• India’s wheat exports are expected to touch a record high of up to 7 million tonnes in the current fiscal, helped by excellent demand from South Asia and South-East Asia regions.

JNPT striving for Green Port Status

• Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), India’s premier container port has taken the initiative for acquiring the Green Port Status and prepared an action plan covering all its activities, which comprise cargo handling, storage, evacuation and others linked to protecting the environment.
• Under this plan, JNPT installed solar panels and inducted electric vehicles.
• The Maritime India Vision (MIV) 2030 laid down the goals for Indian ports to achieve green and sustainable infrastructure development and operations.

Freight trains shortage hurts Indian rice exports

A third of India’s rice exports for January got stuck due to freight train shortage, compelling traders to cease signing February export contracts to avoid demurrage charges.

This loss of export opportunity from the world's largest rice exporter worked in the gain of competing states like Thailand, Myanmar and Vietnam. As many as 5 lakh tonnes of non-basmati rice needed to be transported from Chhattisgarh to ports on India’s east coast have been stuck.

Merchandise exports rise to $34 billion in January

• India’s merchandise exports rose by 23 percent in January to $34.06 billion.
• April – January merchandise exports shot up by 46.5 percent to $335.4 billion.

National Rail Plan to raise railway freight share

• The Indian Railways devised a National Rail Plan to to raise the freight share of railways from the current 26 – 27 percent to 40 –45 percent, also aimed at sustainability and reducing emissions levels.

CONCOR flags off inaugural container rake to Kolkata Port

• Container Corporation of India (CONCOR) MMLP – MIHAN, Mumbai Cluster(Area – II) flagged off its first export-import (EXIM) container rake to Syama Prasad Mukherjee Port in Kolkata on February 3rd.
• Originating from ICD – MIHAN to SMP in Kolkata and onward to Mongla, Bangladesh on a Maersk barge, the new service benefits local traders who were suffering without efficient and speedy logistics to the neighbouring country.

India’s fleet strength rises to 1,463 vessels

• India’s fleet strength rose to 1,463 vessels with a gross tonnage (GT) of 1,30,11,000 as on December 31st, 2021, said the Economic Survey. This capacity was 1,429 vessels and 1,27,46,000 (GT) at the end of 2019.

APM Terminals Pipavav logs record limestone discharge

• APM Terminals Pipavav, a key port on the west coast of India recently achieved a productivity milestone by discharging limestone from the vessel ‘MV El Matador’ within 46 hours at a discharge rate of 31,263 MT per day. The port deployed state-of-the-art Gottwald Shore cranes and other port equipment for seamless operation.

Century Plyboards to modernize Khidderpore docks

• Century Plyboards (India) has won the contract to modernize Kolkata’s Khidderpore Docks’ six berths on a build-operate-own-transfer basis.

SEZs to be replaced with new legislation

• The Central government recently proposed to replace the current special economic zone (SEZ) with a new legislation aimed at roping in states to become partners in the ‘Development of Enterprise and Service Hubs’.

Containers shortage costs India $14.8 billion     

• Compelled by persistent containers shortage, India incurred an expenditure of $14.8 billion in importing transportation services during April – September, 2021, the Economic Survey revealed.
• Covid-19 resulted in a smaller flow of containers into active shipping which coupled with a slump in container manufacturing distorted the supply and demand, leading to 65 percent higher costs on transportation services imports.
• Shortage of containers translated into freight rates skyrocketing in the range of 300 percent to 350 percent, forcing import empty boxes, improving turnaround times and stretching containers duly free durations. ‍