Pre-quarantine check of import wooden-packaged shipments
Qantas Freight has received notice from PACTL , our ground handling agent in Shanghai, reminding all shippers to ensure that inbound wooden crates have appropriate quarantine approval.
The Chinese Customs, Immigration and Quarantine Authorities started carrying out pre-quarantine checks at Shanghai Airport from 1 March 2014. A large proportion of wooden packages have since been found to breach regulations.
All wooden crates destined for China must have an IPPC (International Plant Protection Convention) stamp on them. This is required to prevent the invasion of foreign living creatures and the spread of disease.
All wooden crates without this approval stamp will be considered as infested and will be disinfected and/or destroyed.
Please make sure that any shipments bound for China comply with this regulation.
Maersk reduces its participation in the South Pacific
Maersk Line has further reduced its participation in the South Pacific trades, withdrawing its New Zealand-New Caledonia-Fiji Pacific Islands Express direct service next month.
From end-June the carrier will switch to slot-charter agreements to cover the two markets, following “an extensive review” of Pacific Islands operations.
Maersk will buy slots on Sofrana Unilines’ WestPac service to cover New Caledonia and with Neptune Pacific for Fiji.
As part of the latter arrangement Neptune Pacific will take over the current Maersk-chartered PIE vessel, the 1118-teu BC San Francisco, which will be renamed Capitaine Wallis and replace the existing, smaller ship of that name.
Neptune Pacific will maintain its fortnightly, fixed-day service between New Zealand, Suva and Lautoka and Maersk says the new vessel deployment will offer customers a three-day improvement on transit time to Suva.
Sofrana’s WestPac operates on a 10-day frequency.
Maersk has been scaling back its South Pacific involvement for several years.
It quit the Oceania Vessel Sharing Agreement (which has Pacific wayport calls) a year ago, and cancelled its dedicated Tahiti Express service at the same time, having earlier pulled out of the Wallis and Futuna market.
The last sailing for the Pacific Islands Express service will be:
BC San Francisco, voyage 1425, ETD Auckland June 15, ETA Noumea June 18, Lautoka June 21 and Suva June 22.
Maersk Line’s revised service offerings to Fiji and New Caledonia will thereafter be referred to as the Fiji Express and the NC Express, with details of first sailings as follows:
Capitaine Wallis, voyage 10, ETA Auckland June 29 (Fiji Express);
Sofrana Surville, voyage 202, ETA Auckland July 1 (NC Express).
Both services call at Auckland’s general wharves, rather than at the container terminal.
Container detention… another unavoidable import cost for Australian businesses
So what is the primary purpose of container detention fees … to ensure the timely return of shipping line equipment or a valuable revenue stream in a tough and competitive market?
We understand the rationale for container detention fees as explained by shipping lines.
Penalties apply for the late return of containers to their contracted empty parks as a discipline on importers and intermediary service providers to ensure that shipping lines have timely access to all equipment.
Most empty container parks do not open extended hours on weekdays let alone on week-ends. Why don’t their client shipping lines fund them to open longer?
A cynic may argue that this would cost them more and may jeopardise the quantum of their container detention revenue if it was too easy to return containers.
Empty container parks now collect additional fees via a transport booking system to supplement shipping line payments yet this seems to have done little to extend opening hours.
As a result, transport operators are increasingly faced with the predicament of “staging” container returns to empty container parks with double-handling costs and increased truck movements.
Now let’s throw public holidays into the mix.
What is your guess? Would shipping lines provide extended time periods
to return empty containers to allow for the fact that most empty container parks are closed on public holidays?
Major shipping lines like Maersk are to be applauded for excluding all 2014 public holidays from their container detention calculations.
Unfortunately many others are playing it tough.
Shipping lines generally offer between seven and 10 days free of container detention fees … and yes, you guessed it, many still include weekends and public holidays potentially collecting a nice windfall over the recent Easter and ANZAC Day period.
If a vessel arrived in port on Tuesday April 15, the first available day is Thursday 17th. Day 2 is Good Friday, day 3 is Easter Saturday, day 4 is Easter Sunday, day 5 is Easter Monday ...day 6 Tuesday 22nd, day 7 Wednesday 23rd , day 8 Thursday 24th … day 9 is ANZAC Day, day 10 Saturday…
Seven days detention free means you only have three working days to collect from wharf, unpack and return the container to the nominated park.
Ten days detention free provides four working days to complete the process.
I suppose the onus is back on importers and freight forwarders.
If they don’t like the service that they receive from a particular shipping line, they can take their business elsewhere.
Is this a reasonable conclusion or have I oversimplified the options available to the industry? Perhaps a container detention fee is just another cost of doing business in Australia?
Source: Lloyds List
Value of Australian imports fell 2% in March
Australia imported $19.76bn worth of international trade goods in March 2014, a fall of $398m (2%) on the revised February 2014 merchandise imports of $20.15bn, according to recent data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)
In seasonally-adjusted terms, goods debits rose $16m between February and March 2014 to $22.43bn,” said the ABS.
“Intermediate and other merchandise goods rose $225m (2%) and consumption goods fell $48m (1%). “Capital goods fell $119m (2%).”
Meanwhile, a variety of trends in respect of Australia’s top 20 goods imports are worthy of note.
ABS’ current ‘International Merchandise Imports, Australia’ report states that March imports of household electrical equipment increased 12.2% to $211m from $188m, while telecom equipment and parts increased 35.3% to $717m from $530m.
Furniture (including bedding), which happens to be one of Australia’s important containerised finished goods imports, declined 25.4% to $198m from $234m in February.
The import value of pharmaceutical products (excluding medicaments) declined 11.9% to $206m from $234m, whereas the value of medicaments (including veterinary) increased 27.3% to $708m from $556m.
Imports of pumps (excluding pumps for liquids) declined in value by 1.6% to $189m from $192m in February.
And the import value of rubber tyres, treads and tubes increased 19.4% to $222m from $186m.
Measuring and analyzing instruments jumped in value by 25.1% to $259m in March from February’s result of $207m.
The ABS has made revisions to the previous six months to incorporate the latest administrative data relating to international merchandise trade.
Shipping line alliances ‘are start of collaboration trend’
Container shipping line alliances are the first stage of a wider trend that will see carriers work increasingly closely as they attempt to remove waste from the industry.
Speaking at Containerisation International’s Global Liner Shipping Middle East and Indian Subcontinent Conference, United Arab Shipping Co vice-president Middle East Mohamed al-Mazeedi said that shipping lines would look to increase collaboration as they sought more efficiencies and a return to sustainable profitability.
He suggested that shipping lines could cooperate on a range of procurement, such as the purchase of vessels, terminal services, bunkers, inland services and containers.
Shipping lines could also look at container pooling, where a shipping line with import cargo passes the container over to another carrier with export cargo requirements rather than transport it empty back to origin.
“There are ways we can cooperate where we reduce waste and it’s a win-win situation for everyone,” he said.
“It is comprehensive collaboration; we need to look at the bigger framework for collaboration beyond the simple joint schedule.
“The joint schedule is critical but it leaves a lot else on the table that can improve the bottom line for the shipping lines and also the industry.”
Dr al-Mazeedi said shipping lines could also create sustainable profitability by using the largest vessels possible on any given trade route for economies of scale and reducing fuel consumption.
Creating long-term strategic partnerships with suppliers would reduce chartering, inland, empty repositioning and other costs, he added.
A tremendous result for Australian trade
The introduction of a fourth stevedore on the east coast offers a viable alternative that will achieve greater efficiency, better service and lower prices.
In a move away from existing anti-competitive arrangements, this result dispels the previously promulgated myth that stevedoring services are essential in all ports on the east coast of Australia.
The market is now clearly mature and commercially scaled to sustain multiple ownerships in all ports whereas the main contrary argument for this approach a decade or more ago was the need for economies of scale within each terminal.
Shipping lines that I have engaged with share my vision and Freight & Trade Alliance’s (FTA) related advocacy to government for the need of serious change.
Nowhere else in the world are there examples of the same terminal company offering services across a series of ports.
More so, individual consortium members now often insist that their vessels go to different terminals so that a single service can support a range of alternative terminals in a single port.
In line with this view, the Victorian minister for ports David Hodgett announced on Friday May 2 that Victoria International Container.
Terminal Limited (VICTL) is the successful contract bidder to operate Melbourne’s third international container terminal at Webb Dock.
The consortium making up VICTL comprises Philippines-based International Container Terminal Services and Australia’s Anglo Ports.
Source: Paul Zalai FTA
Port Closure- Muscat, Oman
NYK Line Australia will cease its service to/from Muscat starting 1st Jun 2014 and as a result we will be shifting operations from Port Sultan Qaboos(PSQ), Muscat to Oman International Container Terminal(OICT), Sohar.
This follows the announcement by the Omani Government to convert Port Sultan Qaboos into a tourism port by January 2015. All commercial activities will be transferred to Sohar Industrial Port Complex and is part of the Sultanate's strategy to develop and improve the port and marine transport sector in Oman.
Melbourne rail link ready for freight sector recognition
DP World Melbourne has run five trains through its West Swanson Intermodal Terminal (WSIT) since the gates opened for its first country-Victoria train arriving with international exports.
At the moment, all locos bound for the seaport are running one-way trade – export only.
DP World Melbourne general manager Andrew Jena told Lloyd’s List Australia that the main challenge for two-way trade through WSIT is getting the message out to people that it is an available option.
“At the end of the day it is the owner of the goods who decides how he wants to move containers,” Mr Jena said.
“But hopefully we can find solution where we could actually send some imports back on the train so it can be occupied both ways. “The opening of the rail is a good opportunity and we are actively engaging with the shipping lines, rail operators, shippers and everyone to see what can be done.
“We are trying to get our message out to people that terminals and the shipping industry work 24/7.
“The facility is open and available to work in that manner, so it would be good to have the whole industry or supply chain further away from our gate also adopting that sort of model and keep things going seven days a week,” he said.
In 2011, DP World Melbourne took over the adjoining West Swanson intermodal terminal site. This had an existing rail siding which has been incorporated into the new facility to improve rail access directly into and out of the terminal. The rail line links to Melbourne’s outer regions as well as to Adelaide and Perth.
The first consignment to pass through the WSIT gates was 45 containers of grain and hay – from Victoria’s Wimmera region. It was destined for Egypt and Japan.
The boxes were offloaded by a top-lift forklift.
SCT Logistics port logistics manager Robert Comley told Lloyd’s List Australia that it was very easy for the transport company to organise West Swanson Intermodal Terminal’s first inbound country-Victoria train.
“To be honest, as far as operations and the logistics side are concerned it was probably organised within 48 to 72 hours. It was very quick,” Mr Comley said.
“A window of opportunity presented itself on a Saturday afternoon.
“A phone call was made by our operational staff in Melbourne – because we had been trying to run a trial for a couple of months – and Sean Bradley [DP World Melbourne’s landside superintendent] and his team at West Swanston made it all happen fairly seamlessly.
“Plus that, the guys at DP World operations turned the train around very quickly.”
Mr Comley believes if there was an opportunity at WSIT to backload imports then anybody who could be involved would look at it favourably.
Cargo moving in-and-out of intermodal terminals is the preferred method of operation. But like everything else at the end of the day, port users and customers will make an assessment on viability based on their own internal mechanisms.
“Now, whether that’s priced against road or whether it’s windows of opportunity to receive and deliver their own cargo for consolidation onto a train.
“I think those considerations have to be at least looked at from the customer’s standpoint, not just ours. “We are all about providing the solution that best meets customer needs. ” Mr Comley said.
“We’d love to be able to do that. But right now there are opportunities we’re exploring to see where we can find that nice mix, such as expanding our rail service - not only through the Melbourne Port but also through Outer Harbour in South Australia.”
In March 2014, SCT Logistics opened an intermodal facility at Penfield in SA. The warehouse is handling global exports for a major wine producer – and SCT are running port shuttles to Flinders Adelaide Container Terminal.
SCT Logistics is ramping up operations at the Penfield intermodal facility and are expecting it to be fully operational by June 30, 2014
Source: Lloyds List
West Coast Ports Contingency Planning
The labor contract between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), and the group that represents the Ocean Carriers, the PMA, expires on June 30th. The parties began negotiations on May 12th, and are currently at the bargaining table negotiating a new six-year contract. Many industry analysts speculate that there will be a new agreement approved before the contract expires, or at least an extension of the contract for 30 or 60 days. However, there are others who believe there is a very real possibility of a labor dispute, which may indeed disrupt USA west coast port operations.
Enclosed you will find an interesting article from the Journal of Commerce, which summarizes a recent survey of ocean cargo shippers.
JOC Survey Suggests Widespread Diversions Due to ILWU Talks
Review of Cost Recovery Arrangements - Update
Further to previous AFIF Bulletins on this subject, the following industry notice has been published on the Department of Agriculture website:
48-2014 - Review of Cost Recovery Arrangements
Also referenced within the document are the two following factsheets which outline the specific areas where increases apply.
The Department of Agriculture will also need to update references such as the Cost Recovery Impact Statement (CRIS) on the website which will be done soon.
As advised before, the Department of Agriculture (DoA) is proposing a number of increased fees, rates and charges for biosecurity services related to import permits, import declarations and container clearances. There is also an equivalent program for the Seaports Program shipping operators industry.
Once approved, these will take effect from July 1, 2014. The new fees will be effective for one year in order to adjust the cost under-recovery for the services performed. The last fee review and adjustment occurred in 2009.
During the next 12 months a more comprehensive review will take place and new fees, to be effective from July 2015, will be undertaken.
The DoA has consulted with industry through the Import Industry Finance Consultative (IIFCC), a non-decision making body, where AFIF, CBFCA, CAPEC, SAL (as members of the Australian Industry Working Group Biosecurity -(AIWGB) have been able to explore, identify and provide opportunity to improve the efficient and effective administration, provision and consumption of cost recoverable services. The requirement for full cost recovery is Government policy and not subject to the IIFCC's review.
Source: Brian Lovell
Australian Federation of International Forwarders Ltd (AFIF)
