ASIA-Europe spot rates rose for the first time in just under three months last week by 22.4 per cent to US$1,315 per TEU, according to the Shanghai Containerised Freight Index.

The increase in the average spot rate on the trade for the week was $241, making it the largest increase in a single week on the trade since June 29, when rates rose by over $300.



Rates were also up on the Asia-Mediterranean trade by 18.3 per cent to $1,273 per TEU.



It was a different story on the US-bound trades from Asia, however, as Asia-US west coast rates edged down a further 1.4 per cent to $2,476 per FEU and east coast rates remained essentially flat, dipping 0.8 per cent to $3,428 per FEU.



Across all trades covered by the index the SCFI rose 4.7 per cent to 1,230.40 points.

FEARS of overcapacity and slowing demand in the second half of 2012 has led Europe's major container lines to increasing rates to break-even against rising bunker fuel prices on Asia-Europe routes and a slowing European economy.

Danish giant Maersk and Germany's Hapag-Lloyd have announced US$500 per TEU rate increases from November 1 with Hong Kong's Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) bringing in a $525 per TEU hike as Geneva-based Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) increases its rates $500 per TEU.



Laying up 30,000 TEU aggregate tonnage by Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd and Hanjin Shipping will go some way to improving utilisation and support higher rates, RS Platou Markets analyst Frode Moerdedal told Bloomberg from Oslo.



However, the increases which make up 65 per cent of the global cellular fleet may be too little too late, said BIMCO analyst Peter Sand. Demand has evaporated faster than anticipated during the summer and the carriers have now been "caught a little bit behind" he said.



Capacity cuts across Asia-Europe lanes during 2012 include Maersk's 19 vessels at 21 per cent reduction and a complete closure of its G6 alliance Loop 3 service it shares with OOCL and Hapag-Lloyd until further notice.



Hanjin Shipping and Evergreen Line will cut 23 per cent capacity in the final quarter. CKYH alliance, which includes Cosco and Yang Ming will cut 7.7 per cent, or 30,300 TEU in the same period.



Despite the 20 per cent reduction in capacity, rates continue to slide to an average of $1,074 per TEU from Shanghai to northwest Europe and $1,076 per TEU for cargo shipped to the Mediterranean.



According to London-based ship broker ICAP rates should stand at $1,200 per TEU to $1,300 per TEU and to cash break-even higher still at $1,250 and $1,350 per TEU.



To break-even or to restore profitability, it requires a capacity slash of 33,400 TEU to bring an average freight rate and utilisation of $1,400/TEU achieved in first nine months of the year, said RS Platou analyst Herman Hildan, who saw a $250 per TEU, or 50 per cent of the rate increase to be retained.



Maersk Line hopes that by raising rates it will post a "modest" full-year profit after its substantial losses in first half of $372 million, which is further supported by a stronger second quarter up by $227 million profit due to rate increases.



Bunker prices will continue to hurt carriers such as Hapag-Lloyd, which suffered a first half loss of EUR139.7 million (US$181 million).

SINGAPORE's NOL Group, which owns APL container shipping line, has posted a third quarter profit of US$50 million after suffering a $91 million net loss in the corresponding period last year - its first quarterly profit since the fourth quarter of 2010.

The company attributed the improvement to increased efficiencies, stable rates and volume growth. APL Logistics, NOL's supply chain unit, APL Logistics, reported a 10 per cent year-on -year increase in third quarter revenue to $365 million, up 19 per cent to provide an operating profit of $19 million.



"Our efforts to improve the group's competitive position are paying off," said NOL chief executive Ng Yat Chung. "Maintaining focus on the fundamentals of our business - service quality, operational efficiency and cost discipline - will be key to improving performance."



The company's cost-efficiency drive gained $360 million in the first three quarters and managements expects it will achieve the full-year goal of $500 million, the NOL statement said.



APL reported an operating profit of $55 million in the third quarter, compared to a loss of $88 million in the same period a year ago, drawn on a two per cent increase in revenue and a three per cent rise in volume.



"We were able to move more with a smaller fleet capacity, and reduced bunker fuel consumption," said APL president Kenneth Glenn. "These efficiency gains, coupled with our fleet modernisation, are the reasons unit costs improved. "



Contract logistics achieved a 16 per cent year-to-date revenue increase to $740 million, due mainly to strong demand for rail and land-based logistics services.



International logistics services revenue improved one per cent in a soft retail and apparel market. APL Logistics posted a year-on-year 19 per cent increase in third quarter operating profit to $19 million.



"Even as our logistics business continues to grow organically, we are also expanding our market footprint through strategic investments," said APL Logistics president Jim McAdam. "Our acquisition of the APLL-Zhiqin Group will significantly increase APL Logistics' domestic footprint in China. Our service network will expand to nearly 80 offices and hub facilities nation-wide. With an extensive network of trucking and distribution services, we are better able to serve international customers seeking to penetrate China's fast-growing consumption markets."

TRAFFIC was completely blocked and commerce halted in Panama's eastern city of Colon as riots resumed after a day's pause to bury a boy who died in the clashes with police.

Ports in the Colon area (Cristobal, Colon Container, Manzanillo Intl, Colon2000 Cruise, and Coassa tanker terminal) and the Colon Free Zone remain closed. Banks, government offices and commerce are also closed.



There have been street demonstrations in Panama City and Panama Pacifico protesting a controversial government-sanctioned land deal, but operations in Panama Canal are not affected.



Some GAC-Wilford & McKay personnel were able to reach the Cristobal office prior to street closures. Remaining staff are working from home. Boarding and husbandry matters in Cristobal are being attended, where possible. If not possible, they will be attended at Balboa.

SINGAPORE ranks just ahead of Hong Kong in the World Bank-IFC's 2013 Doing Business for business friendliness, followed by New Zealand and the US, with the greatest improvement coming from Poland, Sri Lanka and Greece in a ranking of 185 economies.

Local entrepreneurs have found doing business is easier than a decade ago due to a more streamlined business start-up process decreasing from 50 days to 30 days since 2005, supported by an increase in jobs and firm creations, said the report.



According to source of the report, the WB's Maritime Transport Council, online business registration has accelerated technological advances for business in the last eight years.



"We're seeing that friendlier business regulations - particularly simplifying them and streamlining business regulatory processes - have a positive impact on job creation," also evidenced by Mexico's early 2000s results in an increase of five per cent registrations and a 2.2 per cent employment increase.



"We see the association that on average, the countries with more efficient business regulations have higher growth rates," said the report.



The top ranking country to do business with remains Singapore for the seventh year in a row with the top 10 including Denmark and Norway at fifth and sixth respectively followed by United Kingdom (7) Korea (8), Georgia (9) and Australia (10).



Those economies registering the biggest improvements included Poland, Sri Lanka, Ukraine, Costa Rica, Greece and Serbia. Eastern Europe and Central Asia showed the most improvement in business climate after high-income Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries.

FUJIAN province coastal ports posted a 5.8 per cent year-on-year volume increase in foreign container movement to 955,700 TEU in September, setting a new monthly high, reports Xinhua.

Overall, the ports recorded a 12.5 per cent year-on-year increase in September cargo to 36.88 million tonnes. Domestic container movement was up 3.9 per cent to 366,900 TEU.



Xiamen port container volume increase 5.1 per cent to 648,500 TEU while Fuzhou throughput stood at 164,200 TEU, up 10.75 per cent.



Fujian province coastal ports posted a 9.6 per cent growth in container throughput to 7,703,700 TEU in the first nine months. Foreign trade container throughput amounted to 4,900,400 TEU, up 7.8 per cent and domestic container throughput came to 2,803,300 TEU, up 12.9 per cent.



In the first nine months, overall provincial coastal ports cargo grew 9.4 per cent growth to 302 million tonnes, topping 300 million tonnes one month earlier than last year. Foreign trade cargo throughput hit 122 million tonnes, growing 8.8 per cent and domestic trade cargo throughput was 181 million tonnes, 9.9 per cent.



Fujian coastal ports' ore and building materials throughput hit 67,508,300 tonnes, up 28.1 per cent in the first three quarters. Besides, throughput of cargo to and from Taiwan increased 3.1 per cent to 16,070,300 tonnes.

GUANGXI Autonomous Region's first shipping service to US has kicked off with the sailing of the maiden voyage from Fangchenggang to New Orleans, Xinhua reports.

The service is operated by Beibu Gulf Shipping, a joint venture carrier of Beibu Gulf Port Group with Hong Kong-based Pacific Bulk Chartering Ltd.



Beibu Gulf Shipping currently has a fleet of 40 bulk ships with total deadweight tonnage of over three million tonnes.

SHENZHEN is to start a pilot scheme of the new national value added tax in the transport and service industry sectors on November 1, Xinhua reports.

Meeting concerns about higher taxes among logistics operators, the Shenzhen government will introduce supporting measures during the break-in period.



Shanghai has already started its trial run. Statistics show that tax burden of 90 per cent of the companies who take part in the scheme have been mitigated. There will be 60,000 companies participating in the scheme in Shenzhen. It is predicted that about CNY3 billion (US$479.5 million) to CNY5 billion tax will be reduced for these companies.



But the new tax scheme will have the reverse effect, said the logistics sector. If subsidies are not provided, then tens of thousands of the small and medium logistics companies will face hardship, even bankruptcy, according to the Shenzhen Logistics Association secretary Zheng Yanling.

THE Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) has posted a 20 per cent year-on-year third quarter net profit increase to C$224 million (US$225 million), drawn on revenues of C$1.5 billion, up eight per cent.

For the first nine months of the year, the railway operator's net income amounted to C$469 million, an increase of C$120 million, or 34 per cent year on year. Operating expenses were C$1.1 billion, up six per cent while operating profit grew 16 per cent to C$376 million.



"We have implemented new services, closed terminals and certain yard operations, and we've put a new leadership team in place. The team has made significant progress on operational improvements, controlling costs and on delivering results. And this is just the beginning," said CP president and CEO Hunter Harrison, who took over after a proxy fight, having been president and CEO of CP's main rival, the Canadian National Railway (CN).

SEVERE flooding in Argentina is affecting shore-based logistical support at a number of port terminals in San Lorenzo-San Martin Port. The terminals disrupted include Vincentin, Nidera, Toepfer and LD-Timbues-Noble, according to Inchcape Shipping Services.

Its local branch, ISS Argentina, is requesting that customers do not send trucks with commodities due to the flooding emergency at the Vicentin Terminal.



At the Toepfer Terminal, suspended trucks are being received after October 25 due to the flooding. At Nidera LDC-Timbues-Noble terminals truck haulage activities have been suspended until further notice owing to the flooding and blocked roads.



Gabriel Curtarelli, Operations manager, ISS Argentina commented: "The San Lorenzo area is badly affected with trees down, damage to property and slow restoration of services, including fresh water and telephone lines. We anticipate further disruption over the next five to seven days before all services are restored."



The company said it will continue to monitor conditions on behalf of ship owners and operators and will keep customers updated. Further updates will be posted on the website at: www.iss-shipping.com

THE Global Container Service Group (GCS) has added new feeder and short-sea links as more services have started calling at the NUTEP terminal in Novorossiysk. GCS and NUTEP are both members of the Delo Group.

Among the latest developments is X-Press Feeders launching the BSX service to Novorossiysk, Odessa and other Black Sea ports by adding a vessel to Evergreen's Black Sea feeder (BSF). Initially, the service was operated by Evergreen with the 1,578-TEU Calisto, on a port rotation of Piraeus, Odessa, Constanza, Varna, returning to Piraeus.



When X-Press teamed up with Evergreen in September it added a second ship, the 1,139-TEU CS Star, and the port rotation was expanded to include: Novorossiysk, Piraeus, Novorossiysk, Odessa, Constanza, Varna, Istanbul and back to Piraeus.



Shortsea company, Admiral Container Lines, is a good NUTEP customer with a regular service that has the following port rotation: Novorossisyk, Odessa, Evyap, Istanbul, Gemlik, Izmir, Alexandria, Ashdod, Haifa, Izmir, Istanbul, Gemlik, Evyap, Novorossisyk, and Odessa.



Admiral is starting a second service, an Istanbul (Marport)/Novorossiysk shuttle, using the 508-TEU Corsa in late October.



NUTEP has taken delivery of a fourth ship-to-shore (STS) gantry crane, which will be commissioned early in November. This Liebherr post-Panamax crane will take NUTEP's capacity up to 400,000 TEU per annum.



Each year NUTEP services linked closely to the citrus season call at the terminal. CMA CGM's Citrus Express, a seasonal service to transport citrus exports from Turkey and Egypt to Russia, is one of its customers.



The Citrus Express is a new fixed-day weekly service that will offer transit times of Mersin to Novorossiysk in five days and Damietta to Novorossiysk in seven days



Beginning November 2, CMA CGM will deploy three 1,100-TEU vessels on the following loop: Port Said, Mersin, Istanbul (Ambarli), Novorossiysk, Gemlik, returning to Port Said.



In mid February, at the end of the citrus export campaign in Turkey and at its beginning in Egypt, one new Egyptian port will be included to call at Damietta, Istanbul, Novorossiysk, Gemlik, Port-Said and back to Damietta.



Stephane Courquin, vice-president CMA CGM Asia Mediterranean Lines said in a company release: "This new service will enable CMA CGM to consolidate its position as a reefer operator in this fast growing market. It underlines an important step of our deployment in this area."



Seago Line also plans to commence a seasonal feeder link. Seago is an independent unit within the AP Moller-Maersk Group and offers its own regional services plus acts as a feeder for Maersk Line.



The service will deploy two 600-TEU ships and the port rotation will be: Ashdod, Mersin, Novorossiysk, and back to Ashdod. In Novorossiysk, Seago vessels will be calling at the NUTEP terminal. The maiden call is scheduled for November 14.

EX-TNT chief executive Marie-Christine Lombard has been named the new CEO of Paris-based Geodis, the forwarding arm of the state-owned railway, Societe Nationale des Chemins de fer francais (SNCF).

Ms Lombard takes the top job at the transport and logistics division with Pierre Blayau, chairman and CEO since January 2001, becoming chairman.



Mr Blayau said he was "delighted that a recognised sector professional is joining Geodis to give employees a new sense of momentum in a difficult economic environment".



Said SNCF chairman Guillaume Pepy: "The arrival of Marie-Christine Lombard at the SNCF group will strengthen the teams and ready Geodis for a new phase of profitable growth."

DP World is to begin construction on its 1.3 million TEU capacity container terminal at Yarimca, near Istanbul, one of its 10 major projects in emerging and developing countries.

The Dubai-based port operator is to spend up to US$3.7 billion on projects until 2015 which include London Gateway adding four million TEU, Rotterdam Gateway and terminal 2 and 3 at Jebel Ali to complete by 2020.



DP World's senior vice-president Rashid Abdulla said expansion at these "mega projects" will take its total handling capacity to 102 million TEU within eight years up from last year's total of 69.4 million TEU. The first half 2012 recorded a total throughput of 27.5 million TEU, up 76 per cent year on year.

GLOBE Express Services (Overseas Group), a top 100 global logistics provider, has opened a new US$2 million terminal yard in Dammam, Saudi Arabia (KSA).

The 23,000-square-metre facility includes an open storage area, warehouses and office buildings that will house the Dammam branch management and the transportation division. The company spent $3 million to increase its fleet of trucks and trailers and to acquire new handling equipment.



While GES (OG) has had an office in Dammam since 1995, the new terminal yard located at the Dammam Sea Port Zone on the Arabian Gulf complements the company's existing facilities in Jeddah on the Red Sea and in Riyadh serving KSA's central region.



Over the past four years, GES (OG) has also expanded its staff strength from 75 to 205 to support the company's on-going expansion drive in the kingdom.



Key development projects such as the King Abdullah Economic City are driving the long-term expansion plans of GES (OG) in KSA. King Abdullah Economic City will serve as the future hub for 2,700 manufacturing companies and will also include a 13.8 square kilometre port.



Said GES (OG) chief executive Ziad Korban: "Aggressive investments in large-scale projects are being undertaken by the KSA Government to diversify its economy, a trend that has helped establish the Saudi market as a very important area for exports and imports. Moreover, the government has been actively cultivating the growth of the logistics sector by introducing new polices, incentives, regulations and infrastructure."



The company has also completed a development project, consisting of an industrial warehouse and accompanying office in Dubai's Jebel Ali Free Zone. The Jebel Ali warehouse offers warehousing and packing services as well as specialty handling and lifecycle management services.

KOREAN Air, South Korea's flagship airline, has posted net income of KRW340 billion (US$309.7 million) for the third quarter ending September 30, 2012.

Third quarter operating profit amounted to KRW313 billion, an increase of 30.5 per cent compared to the same period a year earlier.



International passenger and cargo businesses remained the major revenue contributors for the airline, accounting for 61.7 per cent and 22.6 per cent, respectively, of the total sales. Total sales for the two divisions amounted to KRW2.7 trillion.



The cargo division contributed KRW0.7 trillion to total sales, "but due to the global economic downturn cargo traffic has decreased by eight per cent compared to 2011", a statement from the carrier said.



International passenger traffic fared well in the third quarter with capacity, traffic, load factors, yield and revenue all up on the same period last year. Revenue increase on long-haul routes attributed to the deployment of new aircraft. The airline recorded its highest passenger load factor of 85 per cent in August 2012 as the RPK (revenue passenger kilometre) measured an all-time high in the third quarter.

NEW YORK-listed United Continental Holdings (UAL) has posted a third-quarter year-on-year 37 per cent decline in net profit to US$6 million drawn on revenues of $9.9 billion, down 2.6 per cent

The result includes special charges of $514 million, which also contains a $454 million charge for lump sum cash payments to its pilots in future as well as other labour and pension related expenses.



"We overcame tough operational challenges and remain focused on running a reliable airline," said CEO Jeff Smisek said in a company statement:



Quarterly cargo revenue decreased 2.3 per cent or $27 million to $1.1 billion and passenger sales fell 2.6 per cent to $8.8 billion year on year.



Consolidated revenue passenger miles (RPMs) dropped 1.5 per cent on a consolidated capacity (available seat miles) decrease of 1.4 per cent for the third quarter, resulting in a third-quarter consolidated load factor of 85.2 per cent.



Said revenue vice president Jim Compton: "In September, we entered the next phase of aircraft redeployment, as we continue to match the right aircraft to the right routes. Early results of our redeployment efforts are promising, and we are eager to optimise our global network and realise the full revenue potential of our merger [of United Airlines and Continental Airlines]."



UAL took delivery of this first Boeing 787 during the quarter, which is the first of five new Dreamliners the airline scheduled to be delivered this year from its total order for 50 of the aircraft.



Besides, the company announced an order to purchase 150 narrowbody Boeing 737 aircraft, including 100 Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft and 50 Boeing 737-900ER aircraft for delivery between 2013 and 2022.



Merger troubles led Jim Corridore, an analyst at S&P Capital IQ, to downgrade United Continental shares to hold, from buy. "While we think long term the merger will bring great benefits, we have less confidence in management's ability to manage the integration in the near term," he wrote.

DEUTSCHE POST and DHL have announced they will build the largest parcel centre in Germany as part of its EUR750 million (US$973.5 million) investment in enhancing and expanding its parcel network to strengthen the leadership in the German delivery and distribution market.

Partnering with logistics properties specialist Alpha Industrial, the new parcel centre is situated in the Hessen city of Obertshausen, occupying a site of 140,000 square metres near Frankfurt-Main Airport, reported UK's Transport Intelligence. The new centre incorporates two main bases for sorting and delivery, which will create 600 new jobs. On completion, its sorting base can handle 50,000 items per hour.



Deutsche Post DHL chief production office Uwe Brinks said: "This investment represents another important milestone for our new parcel concept and our network capacity.



"The result will be one of the largest and most modern parcel centres in Europe. We have already submitted the building application to the Obertshausen municipality and want to begin construction this year."



This multi-million euro construction project is scheduled to start operation in spring of 2014.

AIR Tanzania has come under fire for wet leasing an aged B737-200 aircraft from South African firm, Star Air Cargo, for US$200,000 a month on an initial three-month lease, as the carrier is committed to fly 150 hours a month at US$1,350 per hour.

A report by eTN Uganda claims that this is a waste of taxpayers' money for a 32-year-old aircraft. Additionally, ATCL must pay the upkeep for the crew, estimated to be $80-100 per day, per individual.



It said this amounts to a significant cost outlay at a time when the airline only flies between Dar es Salaam-Kilimanjaro-Mwanza, funded by the Tanzanian taxpayer. However, the airline is said to be scrambling to begin service to resume flights to Nairobi ahead of the expected launch by FastJet.



According to aviation experts the lease of aged aircraft should cost less than the agreed rate, although: "The fuel burn of this aircraft type is much greater than it would be for a modern jet, and, therefore, the operating cost is significantly higher for each flight," said a regular aviation source from Tanzania after the information was leaked.



"Airlines today say that fuel now constitutes as much as 40 per cent of their overall costs, but when one uses a very old aircraft, that cost shoots up. What happened to ATCL claiming they would use more modern jets?



"They talked about getting CRJ aircraft, smaller jets which fly more economically and are large enough for the restart of business. But as we can see, it is same old, same old again. First, the bungled lease with the Gulf company, which might cost the country a lot of money just like the Airbus saga which parliament unearthed. And now they bring in a very old aircraft."



Air Tanzania's last B737-200 crashed in Mwanza, resulting in damaged gear and hull, and the loss of one engine.