Shift in India’s Export Subsidy, No Duty for imported solar equipment, JNPT’s streamlined DPD solution for imports & more weekly insights.

A major Shift in Indian Export subsidy policy is expected soon. With USA dragging India to the WTO’s dispute settlement body last month, Indian government has started working on various alternatives to continue on export promotion schemes like merchandise export from India scheme (MEIS) and the export promotion capital goods scheme etc.

Tip: One of the alternative is to provide production based incentives to do away with export based incentives which is accepted by WTO . However, domestic and export production segregation will be a challenge. Shipwaves will keep you informed on the further development.

Air cargo movement is expected to grow 60 per cent over next five years. The infrastructure and cargo handling capacity at Major Airports will be a challenge to meet the requirement. However, development of smaller airports will support the projected demand in coming year.

Tip: Shipwaves can provide better solutions for air cargo connectivity and competitive price for the Air cargo movement. Please contact Shipwaves for your air cargo shipments

Container Freight Pulse

India signs deals to export 200,000 bales of cotton to China
India has signed contracts to export 200,000 bales of cotton to China in the past one week, the head of a trade body said, after Beijing last week sought to impose tariffs on cotton supplies from the United States. India is looking to sell 2.5 million to 3 million bales to China in the next season beginning October, up from around 800,000 bales of expected exports in the 2017/18 marketing year.

Imported solar equipment won’t attract customs duty
Much to the relief of solar project developers, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBITC) has clarified that the bulk of imported solar panels and modules will not attract customs duty, putting to rest a controversy raging for more than six months. Around 90% of panels used in Indian solar projects are imported.

Container Shipping Sailing

JNPT’S DPD transport solution to kick off from May
Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) has been trying to streamline the cargo movement process by adopting Direct Port Delivery (DPD),, after technical bids and presentations and financial bids, four of the 12 logistics companies that had bid emerged as successful bidders for 5 transport routes. The companies are: JWC Logistics Park Pvt. Ltd (for 2 routes), Vora Transfreight Services, Royal Translines Pvt. Ltd and Ekta Enterprises. The transport routes are: Route 1 — towards Gujarat; route 2 — towards Goa and Bengaluru; route 3 — towards Nashik, Aurangabad, Nagpur, Indore and Hyderabad; Route 4 — towards Ahmednagar, and route 5 — local region near Mumbai.

Maersk Line initiates first of its kind import service at Kakinada
Maersk Line offers Export and Import service to and from Kakinada port which will allow customers global reach as well as access to the Indian hinterland. Maersk Line services at Kakinada will include:
A. Cargo stuffing and de-stuffing at the port location
B. Weekly Rail connectivity between Hyderabad and Kakinada
With this first time offering in Kakinada, Maersk Line will be able to containerize cargo at its origin, cut out wastage and complexities of dealing with multiple vendors and help move it to port in a cost-effective manner.

Shipping Infrastructure Roundup

Adani Ports inaugurates Dhamra Port 2nd phase expansion
Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ), India’s largest port developer and a part of the $12-billion Adani Group, on Saturday(6 th April) inaugurated the Phase II expansion of Dhamra Port in Odisha. The Phase II expansion will not only make Dhamra the country’s largest port but also serve as India’s major gateway for trade with the South East Asian nations, Adani said, while addressing the gathering. The port is located at 215 km from Bhubaneswar and is situated between Haldia in West Bengal and Paradip in Odisha. It serves as a gateway to Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar and the entire geopolitical region, including the ASEAN region.

New multimodal logistics park in Goa to facilitate faster cargo movement to JN Port
A multimodal logistics park at Balli Station near Madgaon in Goa on the Konkan Railway route was inaugurated by the CMD Konkan Railway, Mr Sanjay Gupta, and Mr PK Agarwal, Director, Container Corporation of India (CONCOR), The park has been set up with an investment of INR 43 crore as per the MoU entered between Konkan Railway and CONCOR.The distance between JNPT and Goa is around 650 km. Presently, containers from Goa reach JNPT via road in 30–40 hours. As a result of the Balli facility, containers can reach JNPT within 16 to 18 hours, which will not only save time but also the cost of transportation, relieving congestion on the road and reducing fuel consumption which, in turn, would bring down pollution.

Global Market Buzz

AlixPartners warns of mixed outlook for container market in 2018
Container industry players need to be alert as challenges remain ahead, consultants AlixPartners said in their latest 2018 global container shipping outlook. “The 2018 outlook for global container carriers is decidedly mixed. Although the industry enjoyed modest improvement in 2017, it still needs to address the dual challenges of rising costs and oversupply — driven mostly by fleet expansion — to keep the momentum going,” “Rates will continue to be squeezed as long as supply continues to outpace demand for containerized services.” It pointed out that “consequently, total demand — at the very least — will have to meet expectations of a 4% to 5% increase to provide any real opportunity for margin growth”. AlixPartners said.

Sonoco ThermoSafe and Cathay Pacific cargo launch global partnership to lease PharmaPort 360 temperature controlled bulk shippers
Sonoco ThermoSafe, a unit of Sonoco (NYSE:SON) and Cathay Pacific Cargo, announced a global partnership agreement for the leasing of the PharmaPort 360 temperature controlled bulk shipping container. The agreement enables pharmaceutical shippers to lease PharmaPort 360 containers directly from Cathay Pacific Cargo.The PharmaPort 360 utilizes proprietary hybrid technology to provide extremely precise, long duration +5C temperature control for transporting high value cargo for
the world’s leading biopharmaceutical companies. Once charged, the PharmaPort functions like an active temperature controlled container without the energy consumption, heat discharge or temperature variability of other compressor-based technologies.

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