International News : Asia

The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission said Tuesday that China Shipping Container Line and three intermediaries have agreed to pay a total of $625,000 in civil penalties for alleged violations of the Shipping Act of 1984. The FMC said under a compromise agreement the parties settled and paid penalties, but did not admit to violations of the act or FMC regulations. China Shipping agreed ...

Evergreen Line and China Shipping said Wednesday they will start a new intra-Asia service linking China with the Philippines and Thailand. It represents a continued partnership with Taiwan-based Evergreen and China’s two state-owned lines -- China Shipping and COSCO Container Lines -- since relations between Taipei and Beijing started improving in 2008. The new service, dubbed CPT, wi...

The European Union and Singapore have begun talks toward establishing a free trade agreement. Officials are meeting in Singapore this week. “The proposed free trade agreement will strengthen economic ties between Singapore and the EU, provide new opportunities for traders and consumers alike and contribute to generating growth in our economies," EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gutch sa...

India, Brazil and Indonesia have topped the table of Transport Intelligence’s new Emerging Market Logistics Index, which the U.K.-based consultant released this week. The index ranks 38 countries from the developing world in terms of the attractiveness of their logistics markets to foreign investors. It measures the scale of opportunities through three indices: market size and growth attr...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service said it’s proposing to allow, under certain conditions, imports of all varieties of Fuji apples from Japan into the United States. Based on recently completed research, the agency has determined that the measures in place for Fuji (Malus domestica) apples imported into the United States from Japan would be eff...

Swiss forwarder and logistics provider Panalpina had consolidated profit of 10 million Swiss francs ($9.3 million) in 2009 compared to 114 million francs in 2008. Revenue fell to 7.3 billion francs ($6.8 billion) in 2009 compared to 10.6 billion francs in 2008. Overall, Panalpina transported 731,000 tons of air freight, 19 percent less than in 2008, and 1.1 million TEUs of ocean freig...

Panalpina said this week it has added 42,000 square feet of warehouse space in Los Angeles, expanding its space in Los Angeles to more than 100,000 square feet. The Swiss logistics company’s leased facility in Los Angeles has 27 docks doors and high-rise racking. “As companies are increasingly outsourcing all but core functions, this latest expansion in the crucial Southern California...

OOCL said this week in a customer advisory that it will limit acceptance of online booking requests to a maximum of eight weeks out "due to the continued tight space availability in the North American export market." Under the new rule, which came into effect March 8, OOCL said it is limiting acceptance of online booking requests via oocl.com or cargosmart.com to eight weeks. Shippers...

Containership owner and charter Seaspan Corp. said Tuesday it received two new ships on March 5. Guayaquil Bridge, a 2,500-TEU vessel, was built by Jiangsu Yangzijiang Shipbuilding. It is on charter to “K” Line under a 10-year, fixed-rate time charter. The Guayaquil Bridge is the first of seven Seaspan vessels that will be chartered to K-Line. COSCO Japan, an 8,500-TEU ship constructe...

Cathay Pacific Airlines said Wednesday its core airline business had operating profit of $36 million in 2009, a huge reversal from the $185 million it lost in 2008. Including gains from fuel hedging and sales of shares in a Hong Kong aircraft maintenance and repair company, Cathay had net profit of $604 million, compared to a loss of $1.7 billion in 2008. Revenue in 2009 fell 22.6 percent...

Logistics network Descartes Systems Group, said it had net profit of $14.3 million in its fiscal year ending Jan. 31, compared to $20.2 the prior fiscal year. Revenue in the most recent fiscal year was $73.8 million versus $66 million in the prior year. Based in Waterloo, Ontario, the company reported its results in U.S. dollars. Geographically 59 percent of revenues were generate...

Kenco Logistics Services, through its subsidiary Kal-Serv, has formed a joint venture with Schnellecke of America, called Team 3 Logistics, to provide logistics services to support automotive production in the U.S. Southeast. Schnellecke, based in Wolfsburg, Germany, is an established logistics services provider to automakers in Europe, China, Russia, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa. The ...

Damco said Tuesday it has won a contract to handle logistics and customs compliance in Vietnam for tire manufacturer Michelin. The three-year contract will see Damco, the logistics and freight forwarding subsidiary of the A.P. Moller - Maersk Group, handle Michelin’s exports from Thailand into Vietnam, inland transportation, cross-docking and distribution to customers in Vietnam. Damc...

Kolding While the A.P. Moller - Maersk Group was detailing a historic operating loss, headlined by a $2.1 billion loss for its container division, a noticeable development was emerging. Maersk is increasingly focusing on its business in and out of Asia -- and not just exports to the traditional consumption regions in Europe and North America. Maersk is quite aware of the potential of A...

The Chilean ocean carrier CSAV said it had operating losses of $599.7 million in 2009, compared to a loss of $133.5 million in 2008. It’s the second staggering loss to be announced by a major container line in recent days, after Maersk Line last week said it lost $2.1 billion in 2009. CSAV’s revenue declined nearly 39 percent to $3 billion, while container volume fell nearly 18 percen...

For a company that likes to keep a low profile, the past week has been a rather public one for Geneva-based liner carrier Mediterranean Shipping Co. On Sunday, London’s Financial Times reported that MSC Chief Executive Gianluigi Aponte was pinning rate volatility in ocean freight rates on shippers. He also refuted claims that MSC had cut rates at the beginning of 2009 to chase market shar...

California Assemblyman Steve Bradford, D-Gardena, has introduced legislation that would create a state incentive program designed to encourage new investment in trade and environmental infrastructure at California ports and improve the use of current trade infrastructure. The bill, AB 2687, aims to create new construction jobs and encourage the development of longshore, trucking, warehous...

Japanese liner carriers MOL and “K” Line said Friday they would cooperate on two services linking Japan to the West Coast of North America, affecting a couple of existing loops operated by the two lines. Beginning April 7, MOL (a member of the New World Alliance) and “K” Line (a member of the CKYH Alliance) will partner on an express loop between four Japanese ports and Los Angeles and Oa...

CMA CGM said Friday it is raising rates from northern Europe to the Far East beginning April 1. The rate increases are $150 per 20-foot container and $300 per 40-foot container. CMA CGM said it will also quote the port of origin terminal handling charges (OTHC) separately from North Europe to the Far East sea freight for all cargos, including waste commodities, from April 1. ...

MOL said Friday it will start a new service linking Southeast Asia to the Indian port of Chennai beginning March 23. The new SMX service will have a rotation of Laem Chabang, Singapore, Port Klang, Chennai, Penang, Port Klang, Singapore and Laem Chabang. Information on the number and size of ships to be used on the service wasn’t immediately available. ...

NYK Holding (Europe) B.V., a wholly owed subsidiary of NYK, has acquired a 26 percent stake in TM International Logistics Ltd., a logistics and port operating subsidiary of Indian steel giant Tata. TMILL was founded in 2002 as a joint venture between Tata Steel Limited and IQ Martrade Holding and Management GmbH, a German company that offers logistics services to steel and related industr...

The Port of Seattle said Friday that Linda Styrk, director of seaport marketing, has been chosen to head its seaport division. Styrk came to the port in 2005, after serving as president of the office and warehouse operation for Universal Freight Forwarders in Seattle. Styrk also spent 12 years with APL. Tay Yoshitani, the port's chief executive officer, said Styrk "understands the com...

FreightScan, an automated dimensioning systems provider, and Swissport International Ltd., a provider of aviation ground services, said they have formed a strategic partnership that will enable Swissport to install automated dimensioning systems across its global network. FreightScan installed a dimensioning system at Swissport's Amsterdam (AMS) air cargo station last September and André ...

The U.S. Commerce Department released a report Thursday highlighting the differences between official trade statistics produced by the United States and China. “The findings will help to inform our understanding of trade data going forward and this effort lays the foundation for further statistical cooperation between both countries,” said Rebecca Blank, commerce undersecretary, in a stat...

A congressional watchdog agency has found numerous instances in U.S. trade statistics during the past several years reporting exports being made to Iran when in fact they were destined to other countries. The Government Accountability Office said the statistics captured in the Census Bureau’s Automated Export System indicated that U.S. exporters shipped 278 different types of goods to Ira...

The A.P. Moller - Maersk Group said it lost $1 billion in 2009 compared to a profit $3.5 billion in 2008 as it was negatively affected by the global economic crisis. Revenue was $48.5 billion in 2009 compared to $61.2 billion in 2008. “It’s a lot of money to lose,” said Nils S. Andersen, group chief executive officer, attributing the loss to an “extraordinary year with historically low...

Pacific International Lines will start its own China/U.S. West Coast service next month. The China-TransPacific (CTP) service will commence on April 6 with a sailing from Hong Kong and a port rotation of Hong Kong, Shekou, Ningbo, Shanghai, Long Beach and back to Hong Kong. The weekly service will have a round trip of 35 days deploying five ships of 1,3500-TEU capacities operated by P...

New World Alliance members said Thursday they will add a stop at Thailand's biggest port to their PSX transpacific service. The NWA will also add a ship to the loop to provide the direct service from Laem Chabang. The new rotation for the PSX is Laem Chabang, Cai Mep, Hong Kong, Yantian, Los Angeles, Oakland, Tokyo, Xiamen, Hong Kong, Da Chan Bay and Laem Chabang. According to America...

Agility has appointed Hans Hickler as chief executive officer of its Asia-Pacific region. Hickler Hickler joins Agility from DHL, where he was CEO for global customer solutions, based in the United States. He was responsible for leading the development and sale of customer services for all DHL business units including DHL supply chain, warehousing and distribution, forwarding and express p...

Eight companies have submitted bids to build a new 800,000-TEU container terminal at India’s largest port, the Jawaharlal Nehru-Nhava Sheva (JNPT) port complex near Mumbai. According to the Indian business newspaper Mint, the bidders include DP World, which already manages one of three existing terminals at the port, and Mundra Port and SEZ, which runs the country’s busiest private contai...

CMA CGM said it would hike U.S. export cargo rates to Asia, the Middle East and the Indian Subcontinent effective March 15, saying the increases were need to provide "high quality of services." The increases are: • From U.S. East, West and Gulf coasts ports to Asia, $150 for 20- foot containers and $200 for 40-foot containers. • From U.S. East and Gulf coasts ports to the Midd...

In the wake of Horizon Lines announcement last week that it would stop wholesaling space on its eastbound transpacific ships to Maersk Line in December, the Danish carrier said it is working on a plan to replace that lost capacity. "Maersk Line is carefully watching market developments and reviewing customer requirements. Once these are made clear we will release a plan designed to replac...

Evergreen Marine Corp. (Taiwan) Ltd. has announced the promotion of several senior executives: • President Jack Yen will become vice chairman. • Capt. C.J. Wang, chief executive vice president, has been appointed president. • Anchor Chang, executive vice president of the international business division, to chief executive vice president. Yen joined Evergreen in 1978, serving in...

DHL said Wednesday it will invest HK$360 million ($46 million) in a multiuser facility for DHL Supply Chain Hong Kong. DHL Supply Chain will occupy at least 25 percent of the "Interlink" facility being developed by the Goodman Group. The facility, to be completed in January 2012, is located in Tsing Yi, situated between the container ports and Hong Kong International Airport. DHL said...