CHINESE exporters at Asia's largest trade fair say they expect orders to increase this year, despite weakening demand from Europe and the increasing value of the renminbi, according to a Reuters survey.

Forty-six per cent of those polled were optimistic about their businesses, 41 per cent were uncertain and 13 per cent were pessimistic. One in 10 exporters polled expressed bankruptcy concerns.



Confidence has grown with a 9.9 per cent year-on-year increase in September year on year. Three-quarters of the 85 exporters polled at the Canton Fair in Guangzhou said they expect sales to increase by an average of four per cent in 2012 and 7.4 per cent in 2013.

MARSEILLE-based CMA CGM is increasing Mediterranean-Latin America peak season fee and plans to increase the peak season surcharge on shipments from the Mediterranean to Latin America from November.

The existing EUR125 (US$162.72) per TEU surcharge will increase to EUR150 from west Med ports (including Fos, Genoa, Livorno, Napoli, Algeciras, Barcelona, Valencia) to Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, Belize, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Peru, Chili, Jamaica, Haiti, Curacao, Aruba, Cuba and Mexico.



The increase applies to standard, reefer, open top, and flat containers and to shipments from Lisbon, Leixoes and Vigo to the same destination countries only on CMA CGM's Medcaribe service.

A LEIPZIG court has stopped the plans to dredge River Elbe that runs from Hamburg to the sea, which is considered a major blow to the port which needs deeper water to remain competitive.

The ruling is an assist for recently opened Wilhelmshaven terminal, which has no draught restrictions and is looking for customers, noted London's Containerisation International.



Having received planning approval, environmental groups went to court, and judges have ruled that work on the project must stop until the case is heard and the matter adjudicated, expected to be a lengthy process.



Under current plans, vessels with a draught of up to 14.5 metres would be able to leave Hamburg when riding the tide and 13.5 metres at low water.



Said environmental lobbyist Alexander Porschke of the Nabu group: "Port co-operation has to replace the race for subsidies among North Sea ports and the deepening of the river Elbe cannot be decided based solely on the interest of shipowners."

THE Toronto Dominion Bank (TD Bank) predicts more manufacturing may return to the United States and Canada in the coming years, because of rising costs in China.

Average Chinese manufacturing wages, he said, have increased from being 2.5 per cent of those in America to about 10 per cent today and will be 15 per cent by 2015, said TD Bank economist Michael Dolega.



"All-in wages in coastal areas of China specialising in computers and electronics and transportation equipment production may approach one-quarter of wages in southern US by 2015," wrote Mr Dolega.



"Onshoring is still in its infancy and largely limited to anecdotes. However, the scales are beginning to rebalance for some industries as global conditions evolve," he said.



Factors include rising Chinese labour costs, an appreciating Chinese currency, and other domestic advantages, including the boom in shale gas production, reports American Shipper.



"Additionally, an overarching theme of rising capital-intensity across the manufacturing sector continues to gradually erode the primary benefit of offshore-production," he said.



"After a decade of employment losses, the manufacturing sector has become a key driver of the recovery adding nearly half-million jobs since the January 2010 trough," Mr Dolega said.



"For some industries - such as computers and electronics and plastics and rubber - offshoring activity has slowed to a trickle, While labour-intensive early-offshored industries - including apparel and textiles - will stay or move further offshore. Furniture, while not very capital-intensive, has nonetheless made some onshoring inroads recently," he said.



Products such as petroleum, chemicals, primary metals, and food and beverage never really moved offshore in first place, but may "contribute to a manufacturing revival through improved competitiveness resulting in organic domestic- and export-led growth," Mr Dolega said.



Automation is also a factor. "Capital intensive industries may attempt to add capital to increase productivity. Already, some firms have announced plans to replace part of their Chinese workforce by robots over the next several years as wage hikes make automation increasingly affordable. But, this trend will only serve to make these industries less labour-intensive and thus diminish the benefits of producing offshore in the first place."



Land prices in parts of China are higher than what is available in the southern US. These factors together with currency shifts are "escalating made-in-China costs" and that "most estimates based on purchasing power parity peg the renminbi as undervalued. This should put pressure on China to allow continued appreciation of its currency against the greenback."



"The consensus is shipping rates are not going to stay at the levels they are at right now and that is one of the reasons potentially manufacturers will have to gauge how costs will increase in the future," he told American Shipper in an interview.



"Distant shipping routes increase the required size of a firm's inventories tying up valuable capital. This opportunity cost can be especially detrimental for firms that use credit to fund inventories and favours shorter supply chains," though he notes credit conditions have eased somewhat since the recession.

QATAR has approved a proposal by the Interior Ministry to allow ships with armed guards on board to enter into Middle East nation's territorial waters.

The government is expected to make an official announcement in the coming weeks, reports GAC's Port News.

THE European Union has announced more restrictive measures against Iran, making legitimate trade even more difficult, warns London law firm Holman Fenwick and Willan.

Under European Council Decision 2012/635/EC, a further 34 entities, mainly in the oil and gas sector, have been added to the list entities subject to the asset freeze, reported London's TankerOperator.



They now include National Iranian Oil Co (NIOC), National Iranian Drilling Co (NIDC), Iranian Oil Terminals Co (IOTC), Naftiran Intertrade Co (NICO), National Iranian Tanker Co (NITC), National Iranian Gas Co (NIGC), Petropars, the Iranian Ministry of Energy and the Iranian Ministry of Petroleum.



Companies, trading directly or indirectly with Iran where there is an EU connection, or involved in the oil and gas sector, tanker construction, naval equipment, technology, or which supplies graphite and related metals should immediately obtain legal advice, said the law firm, adding that the regulations also apply to banks and insurers.



An implementing regulation is still required to make these new measures binding and the timing remains unclear, but Regulation 945/2012 has immediate effect in expanding the EU asset freeze.



Once implemented, the new measures will prohibit the purchase, import or transport of natural gas from Iran as well as the sale, supply or transfer to Iran of graphite, and raw or semi-finished metals such as aluminium and steel, plus software for integrating industrial processes are relevant to industries either controlled by the Iranian government, or related to Iran's nuclear programme.



It will also prohibit the sale, supply or transfer to Iran and Iranian or Iranian owned enterprises of key naval equipment and technology for shipbuilding, maintenance or refit.



The regulation will also prohibit the provision of flagging and classification services to Iranian ships, prohibit the supply of vessels designed for the transport or storage of oil and petrochemical products to Iranian entities or others transporting or storing Iranian oil or petrochemicals.



It will also prohibit the construction of new oil tankers for Iran or for Iranian entities, ban transactions between EU banks and Iranian banks and financial institutions unless authorised in advance by the relevant member state.



The latest decree also amends the provisions concerning the freezing of funds and economic resources of the Central Bank of Iran.



Holman Fenwick and Willan said the provisions will apply to transactions by EU nationals, EU entities within the EU and to the use of vessels or aircraft under the jurisdiction of the EU.



The law firm said that "grandfather" clauses exist, allowing contracts to run for a short period, but companies, which are involved in the above activities, will nonetheless need to put in place robust compliance procedures.

EUROPEAN trucking growth is assured, but the sector also faces trouble from diesel costs, stringent environmental regulation and greater competition, according to the UK's Transport Intelligence's Road Freight Transport 2012.

At risk is the survival of companies in a sector dominated by smaller players, said the study that highlights the demands of the road freight sector and its ability to succeed in a competitive market.



The report also identifies areas of development within the next five years and the top 10 largest freight operators in Europe and in all major European countries.

GERMANY's JD Neuhaus' EH range of air operated hoists has included its recent emergency lowering device as a standard feature on their Profi Ti range from 25 to 60 tonnes lift capacity in the event of total air power failure.

They are suitable for working in hazardous areas or potentially explosive environments. They are insensitive to humidity and dust laden atmospheres and can operate at temperatures from -20C to +70C. Instant starting, minimum maintenance and low air consumption are their positive features, coupled with compact low-headroom design.



Other standard features include emergency shut-off valve together with both anti-climb and anti-drop devices. Optional accessories include increased spark protection, overload protection, rack and pinion trolley drive with two speed travel control and filter silencers.



Hoists incorporating the emergency lowering device option are equipped with a separate air tank, with two additional buttons also incorporated into the hand controllers. This air reservoir is automatically maintained at the full working air pressure during normal hoist operations. This ensures the availability of a positive emergency braking system when required, and the air tank is also protected by a check valve.



Certification by Det Norske Veritas can also be provided on request, to comply with safety requirements involving applications for offshore cranes as well as power driven hoists.



JD Neuhaus is a privately-owned company, founded in 1745, which provides solutions to almost every material handling problem (hoists, winches and cranes) irrespective of the driving medium: from air, manual and hydraulic hoists up to complete crane installations with explosion proofness.

THE Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) recently organised a multi-agency joint oil spill exercise named "JOSE 2012" to examine the country's competence to handle oil spills at sea.

Besides MPA, 2,000 personnel from different government agencies and industry partners participated in this drill, as it was organised in conjunction with this year's Singapore International Bunkering Conference hosted by MPA.



The exercise involved a situation that a fully loaded very-large crude carrier (VLCC) collided with an oil tanker 1.5 nautical miles north east of Raffles Lighthouse, resulting in impairing two cargo tanks of the VLCC and spilling 8,000 tonnes of its Arabian Light Crude into the sea.



To deal with the situation that a large quantity of oil was spilled and spreading swiftly, MPA implemented its oil spill contingency plan and deployed dispersant spraying craft to solve the problem.



Also, the drill tested the effectiveness of the relevant equipment, such as oil containment booms around the stricken tanker to prevent further escape of the oil, as well as the efficiency of oil recovery by using a heavy duty oil recovery system.

BANGALORE's GMR Group, a firm specialising in public private partnerships, has joined state-owned Container Corporation of India (Concor) to bring air freight via a thrice weekly bonded trucking service between Kanpur (pop 2.7 million) and Delhi Airport 476 kilometres away.

All prior custom clearances and duty claims will now take place at the Kanpur inland container depot, reported Delhi's Business Standard, adding that transits between and Delhi is expected to be less than 12 hours.



"It will not just cut down on the cost and time in shipping but also reduce handling of the air cargo. Airlines will now be accepting the cargo at the ICD itself, thus, ensuring better protection and minimal transit risk of the cargo items," said spokesman Pradeep Panicker.



The first truck was dispatched carrying leather goods from Suri Shoes Pvt Ltd, Mirza International Limited and Arvind Footwear with a load of 1.6 tonnes and was flown out by Cathay Pacific and Emirates at Delhi Airport.



Kanpur (formerly Cawnpore) exports 500 tonnes of air cargo a month and imports 115 tonnes.



"This is the first time in the history of air cargo in India that the airport, airline, an inland container depot, customs and customers have joined to offer such a unique service at one location," said a Concor spokesman.

A BONDED trucking service from Tiruchirappalli (also called Tiruchi) Airport has moved its first cargo consignment from Chennai to Hanoi by Air Asia's Kuala Lumpur flight.

The 2.2-tonne cargo of finished leather goods cleared by Chennai customs and sent to Tiruchi airport in a sealed truck. After verification and scanning, it was lifted by the airline to Kuala Lumpur to Hanoi.



A consignment sent through bonded trucking service was being verified by officials at Tiruchi Airport on Friday. The cargo was later flown out by Air Asia.



"While today's consignment was the first outbound bonded truck, there is potential for inbound bonded trucking as the consignments could be sent to other airports from here after customs clearance," said airport director Tiruchi S Dharmaraj, reported the Hindu daily.



The service hopes to overcome single package weight restrictions on cargo and helps exporters send higher volumes to other airports.

OAG CARGO has announced that AFRA has become one of Air Canada Cargo's eRate publishing and distribution channels across its America network.

The introduction coincides with the beginning of the autumn and winter rate distribution which will now enable AFRA subscribers to have access to Air Canada Cargo's rates.



"AFRA is a complete software solution for airlines looking for an efficient way to distribute their rates and contribute to improved yield management. We are delighted that Air Canada has chosen us to take the next step towards utilising electronic business transactions with their business partners," said Air Canada's sales director Stephen Baggett.



"OAG Cargo supports IATA's eFreight initiative to drive business efficiencies and cost savings within the global cargo transport chain and AFRA is the leading tool to achieve this aim," said Mr Stephen Baggett.



The rate distribution application now benefits from a fresh new look, easy to use navigation and numerous usability improvements that will help airlines manage their rates and forwarders secure the best rates for their customers. Among other new features, AFRA can now capture spot prices and search for previous spot prices. It also supports both special handling codes and special commodity rates.