GST: E-way bills from April 1, India to export more sugar, Maersk’s OBL switching in India for cross-trade shipments, Europe to electrify shipping fleets & more insights.

India Market Watch

• Jawaharlal Nehru Custom House (JNCH) introduced a facility to upload digitally signed supporting documents concerning bills of entry on a pilot basis through e-SANCHIT. All the importers at Jawaharlal Nehru Custom House, Nhava Sheva under Mumbai Zone-II were encouraged to use this facility for all their import clearances on voluntary basis.
  Tip: For further details please read Public Notice No/28/2018 of JNCH.
• As per JNP customs, Exporters and their agents are requested to check the website of JNCH i.e. www.jawaharcustoms.gov.in, where the list of IECs , the shipping bills where invoice mismatch exists is being made available. The concerned exporters are requested to e-mail the prescribed concordance table, indicating mapping between GST invoices and corresponding shipping bill invoices, in support of the refund claim to the designated officer. i.e.Deputy Commissioner of Customs, Drawback, NS-II, JNCH to igstrefundjnch@gmail.com.
  Tip:With this successful trial run, there will be a change towards moving domestic cargo by sea from various inland destinations . Many domestic rail handling facilities will start handling coastal cargo.
• There will be a rush to complete the export consignments before 31st March due to various infrastructure developments at JNPT, Roads leading to terminals are blocked and diverted at many places. Dedicated road connecting to fourth terminal will be ready only by end of 2018.Therefore, it is expected that a traffic jam leading to terminals will create a major issue in coming days.
  Tip: Shipwaves would like to advise its customers to start planning their export shipments well before last week of March to avoid any issue arising due to traffic jam at JNPT port

Container Freight Pulse

• India may export more sugar than previously forecast as higher yields boost supply in the world’s top consumer.
  Shipments may total 1.5 million metric tons in the next six to eight months, said Abinash Verma, director general of the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA). Last month, he said millers were asking the government to abolish a 20% export duty so they could attempt to ship about 1 million tons in the year started 1 October. India exported 1.66 million tons of sugar in 2015 16 and about 46,000 tons in 2016–17, according to the association.
• Maersk Line to offer OBL switching facility in India for cross trade
  shipments.
  Maersk Line has informed in a client advisory that it will begin offering
  OBL switching facility in India for cross trade shipments from March 1,
  2018 It highlighted the salient features in a release:
  * We will only accept switch requests from Indian parties and the requesting party needs to be on the OBL.
  * If the consignee section on the OBL is marked “To Order” or “To Order of Bank”, you need to have the necessary endorsements and NOC(s) in place from the shipper and bank for us to proceed.
  * We will not be catering to POR/POL/Vessel-related amendments.
  * The Switch BL fee is $150/BL, payable in India by the requestor.

Container Shipping Sailing

• GST: E-Way Bills To Be Implemented Starting April 1.
  Starting April 1, inter-state movement of goods worth Rs 50,000 will need generation of e-way bills, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi said at a media briefing on Saturday. The briefing followed a meeting of the Group of Ministers held to monitor the launch of e-way bill system and decide on a new return filing framework for the Goods and ServicesTax. Generation of e-way bills for movement of goods within a state will be adopted in a phased manner, starting with 4–5 states initially, said
  Modi who heads the GoM tasked with overseeing the GST information technology framework. This proposal on intra-state e-way bills will be tabled in the GST Council’s meeting on March 10 for final approval.
• Biratnagar-bound containers to be transported by rail route.
  Nepali traders can import goods through rail route from the eastern customs point of Biratnagar from next week. Container Corporation of India Ltd (CONCOR) has decided to bring Nepal’s third-country imports via train up to Bathanaha Station which is near Nepal’;s customs point in Biratnagar. The decision means goods that have arrived at Kolkata, Haldia and Vishakhapatnam ports can be imported to eastern Nepal via Bathanaha Railway Station. CONCOR, an Indian government undertaking, has completed all necessary preparation to implement the decision.

Shipping Infrastructure Roundup

• MoU signed for Vizhinjam port rail line.
  The Vizhinjam International Seaport Ltd today singed an MoU with the Konkan Railway Corporation for the construction of a Rs 555 crore 12 km long rail line linking the port with the main railway line.The memorandum of understanding to link the port with the nearby Balaramapurn railway station was singed in the presence of state Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Out of the 12 km long stretch, eight km of railway line would pass through tunnel. The Rs. 7,525 crore Vizhinjam International Transhipment Deepwater Multipurpose Seaport, an ambitious project taken up by the state government, would primarily cater to container transhipment besides multi-purpose and break bulk cargo.
• First 2 intermodal stations to come up in Nagpur, Varanasi
  India’s first two intermodal stations will come up in Nagpur and Varanasi at an estimated cost of Rs 200 crore. Intermodal stations (IMS) are terminal infrastructure which integrate various transportation modes such as rail, road, mass rapid transit system, bus rapid transit, inland waterways, autorickshaws, taxis and private vehicles so that people can move from one mode to another seamlessly, with minimum use of automobiles.

Global Market Buzz

• BIMCO’s Container Shipping Market Outlook 2018.
  BIMCO’s Market Outlook for container shipping has shown strong fleet growth forecasts supported by equal demand in 2018, according to recent trends.The report by BIMCO, the world’s largest international shipping association, shows that demand has seen an uptick for most liner companies.
• Europe takes first steps in electrifying world’s shipping fleets.
  Several Norwegian companies have teamed up to construct a coastal, all-electric container ship that could eliminate 40,000 diesel truck trips annually. Converting the world’s shipping industry to run on renewable energy remains a longer-term goal that experts say will require development of more

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