JUPITER SEA & AIR SERVICES PVT. LTD, EGMORE – CHENNAI, INDIA.

 

E-MAIL : Robert.sands@jupiterseaair.co.in   Mobile : +91 98407 85202

 

Corporate News Letter for  Monday -  January  20,  2025

Today’s Exchange Rates 

 

CURRENCY	PRICE	CHANGE	%CHANGE	OPEN	PREV.CLOSE	DAY's LOW-HIGH
USD/INR	86.61	0.050003	0.057767	86.57	86.56	86.5525- 86.63
EUR/USD	1.0293	-0.0008	-0.077664	1.0301	1.0301	1.0278- 1.031
GBP/INR	105.637	0.067604	0.064038	105.884	105.5694	105.3409- 105.9355
EUR/INR	89.18	0.148003	0.166235	89.1647	89.032	89.0061- 89.2617
USD/JPY	155.718	0.557999	0.359628	155.16	155.16	154.982- 155.85
GBP/USD	1.2184	-0.0055	-0.44938	1.2239	1.2239	1.2161- 1.2244
DXY Index	109.124	0.167	0.153271	108.925	108.957	108.895- 109.249
JPY/INR	0.5562	0.0014	0.252353	0.5578	0.5548	0.5559- 0.5584

 

///                   Sea Cargo News            ///

New EU emissions regulations ‘force’ Maersk to dispense with port call in Algeciras port

The Danish company Maersk, one of the world's leading merchant shipping companies, has decided to dispense with the call at the Port of Algeciras that its MECL service, which links India with the Atlantic coast of the United States, used to make. 

Instead, Maersk ships will call at the Moroccan port of Tangier Med, one of the most thriving ports in the Mediterranean, which has been ranked third in the world ranking of port performance in 2024, prepared by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, with 159.6 points. 

According to the shipping company's website, ‘to improve products from India to North America, the MECL service will add a call at Mundra, India, and at the same time, will stop calling at Algeciras on the westbound voyage’.  The change in the route will, according to Maersk, reduce by an average of five days the journey between India, Pakistan and the Middle East, and the East Coast of the United States.

China's export curbs: Hi-tech machinery supply faces major hit

Sectors with heavy reliance on China, like electronics, solar panels and electric vehicles (EVs), are facing severe challenges in getting capital equipment including hi-tech machinery, with India’s Far East neighbour almost halting supplies, say industry executives. 

Beijing’s move, experts said, is aimed at stalling the manufacturing expansion of the likes of Apple supplier Foxconn, EV maker BYD and laptop major Lenovo in India. It is difficult to scale up capacity without the high-tech machinery, which is not available readily in India. 

The government has been made aware of the situation by industry and mitigating measures are being considered. But for the near term, this would mean a setback to the large manufacturing operations that have been set up by companies such as Foxconn in the electronics sector and joint ventures in the auto sector, the executives said.

India has been trying to leverage the China Plus strategy of global manufacturers through various incentive programmes such as the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for smart phones and on IT hardware and Telcom equipment.

China is making it very difficult for India to compete with its skill set, hi tech industry, shipbuilding and other infrastructure projects.

107 incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships in Asia recorded in 2024

The ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre (ISC) recently published its 2024 annual report on Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia. From January to December 2024, there was a higher number of unsuccessful boarding attempts by perpetrators on ships in Asian waters.

 A total of 107 incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships from January to December 2024, were reported to ReCAAP ISC, six per cent higher than the 101 incidents reported in 2023. Of these 107 incidents, two were piracy incidents that occurred on the high seas, while 105 incidents were armed robbery against ships (in internal waters, territorial seas, and archipelagic waters under coastal states jurisdiction). 

Of these 107 incidents, 96 were actual while 11 were attempted incidents. In 2023, there were 100 actual incidents and one attempted incident. The higher number of unsuccessful boarding attempts in 2024 is due to the heightened vigilance of ship crew when transiting Bangladesh, Indonesia and the Straits of Malacca and Singapore.

There has also been a decrease in the number of incidents in ports and anchorages in India, the Philippines and Vietnam compared to 2023. Whereas higher number of incidents were reported in Bangladesh and Indonesia.

Illegal shipment of 825kg of lead batteries seized in Rotterdam

Customs officials in Rotterdam have intercepted a huge shipment of highly toxic batteries being smuggled from the Caribbean to India. Altogether 825 tonnes of disused lead-acid batteries were found in 33 containers originating in Jamaica and Puerto Rico. 

They were on their way to India for processing but labelled as harmless plastic and metal waste. Shipping companies need permits to transport hazardous substances by sea. The transport and environment inspectorate ILT said it would not allow the cargo to be sent to India “because of the risk of the batteries catching fire in transport if not handled properly”. 

“We have never seen illegal smuggling of hazardous waste on this scale,” the ILT said on its website. Lead acid was used in the earliest types of rechargable batteries, but is harmful to the environment, can cause brain and kidney damage and is prone to corrosion.

The ILT will discuss how to deal with batteries with the governments of Jamaica and Puerto Rico, as international law required illegal cargo to be returned to the country of origin.

///                   Air Cargo News            ///

DGCA warns Akasa Air to be more vigilant in handling dangerous goods

Aviation security watchdog DGCA has directed Akasa Air to carry out internal audits at all its cargo handling facilities and also warned the airline to be more vigilant in handling dangerous goods following instances of lapses. This is the latest in a string of regulatory red flags for the little over two-year-old airline, which has faced DGCA actions for various lapses in recent weeks. 

On Tuesday, sources told PTI that the DGCA has issued a warning letter to Akasa Air after lapses were detected in handling of lithium batteries during an inspection conducted on December 12 in Ahmedabad. 

During the surveillance inspection, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) came across "significant non-compliances" by the airline, including accepting electronic devices containing lithium batteries without checking or verification of battery power, they said.

Among other lapses, the sources said the airlines was found to be accepting shipments of Lithium batteries having weight more than the permissible limits for carriage in passenger aircraft. The sources said the airline took corrective steps after the regulator flagged the lapses by issuing circulars to cargo agents and staff as well as by issuing caution letters to the cargo acceptance staff.

Freightos warns of e-commerce air to ocean shift

There are signs that some e-commerce volumes to the US are shifting from air cargo to seafreight and the potential introduction of stricter de minimis rules could speed up the rate of change. 

This was the verdict of Freightos’ ‘Global Freight Outlook’ webinar last week, which looked at how action by the incoming Trump presidency may affect e-commerce airfreight, including de minimis exemptions that currently mean shipments worth less than $800 are excluded from customs tariffs and reporting and filing customs requirements. 

During the recent webinar, Judah Levine, Freightos’ head of research, said that there are already signs that some Chinese exporters and US e-commerce importers or sellers are starting to build up inventories via ocean freight in anticipation of stricter rules. And if there are sudden changes to rules there could be a dramatic impact on air cargo.

Some stakeholders in the industry are of the view that e-commerce has become a saturates market, while various government regulations may restrict it regardless. According to analyst, Xeneta, the market faces an overreliance on e-commerce. Levine earlier told that the new Trump government will likely act to close a deminimis exemption for imports into the US, impacting the cost and speed of shipments threatening the viability of sending e-commerce goods by air.

Heathrow’s cargo throughput grew 10% YoY in CY2024

Heathrow reported that it handled 138,000 tonnes of cargo in December 2024 during the season of gift-giving, a 3.5 percent YoY growth. In total, Heathrow handled over 1.5 million tonnes of cargo in the calendar year 2024. 

“This represents more than a 10 percent growth compared with 2023, with traders and forwarders taking advantage of the airport’s growing long-haul network to fly their high value and time critical goods around the world,” reads the release. 

Zooming into the market level, Africa’s contribution to the airport’s cargo  throughput increased 22 percent YoY to 96,253 tonnes for CY2024 while North America and Asia Pacific reported 14 percent increase each. Meanwhile, cargo handled for UK and EU markets fell 11 percent YoY.

Airfreight sector left 'exposed' after ecommerce traffic 'falls off a cliff

The unexpected drop in ecommerce traffic has exposed the airfreight market’s “dependency ” on this single vertical. Forwarders said that since the pandemic, the sector had been “geared around ecommerce, with other shippers’ volumes having been down massively for ages; so when ecommerce drops, it has a huge impact”. 

One said “ecommerce volumes had fallen off a cliff” since the start of the year, after previously supporting rates out of China. They added: “This has led to rates plummeting some 40% since last month, with an average of $2.50 per kg being quoted, compared with the $5 quotes we were being offered in December.” 

The forwarder explained that, against expectations, there had been “a massive reduction in activity – it’s nowhere near as busy as people expected”.

 Qatar Cargo to digitalise ULDs with Unilode

Qatar Airways Cargo and Unilode Aviation Solutions have partnered to digitalise the carrier’s entire fleet of over 42,000 ULDs (unit load devices). The partnership represents the largest ULD digitalisation programme undertaken by an airline, said Unilode. 

Qatar Airways Cargo will use Unilode’s ULD digitalisation capabilities to gain data-driven insights and real-time visibility into ULD locations, sensory data, and asset utilisation rates. The digitalised ULDs are expected to help Qatar Airways Cargo streamline operations, optimise resources, increase revenue opportunities and boost performance. 

The partnership with Qatar Airways Cargo will make sure Unilode’s tag and reader network is further extended to cover the carriage of ULDs on the airline’s global passenger and cargo network. The tag and reader network will be supported by E-ULD, Unilode’s in-house developed mobile app and web portal that enables real-time visibility, and tracking, of ULDs.

The tag and reader network will be supported by E-ULD, Unilode’s in house developed mobile app and web portal that enables real time visibility and tracking of ULD’s.

Unilode’s Enterprise Data Warehouse and customer portal also provides the airline with enhanced data analytics to improve ULD utilisation and further reduce costs.

I hope you have enjoyed reading the above news letter.                                                    

Robert Sands

Joint Managing Director

 

Jupiter Sea & Air Services Pvt Ltd

Casa Blanca, 3rd Floor

11, Casa Major Road, Egmore

Chennai – 600 008. India.

GST Number : 33AAACJ2686E1ZS.

Tel : + 91 44 2819 0171 / 3734 / 4041

Fax : + 91 44 2819 0735

Mobile : + 91 98407 85202

E-mail : robert.sands@jupiterseaair.co.in

Website : www.jupiterseaair.com 1Branches  : Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai, Coimbatore, Tirupur and Tuticorin.

Associate Offices : New Delhi, Kolkatta, Cochin & Hyderabad.

 

 

Thanks  to  :  Container  News,  Indian Seatrade  &  Air Cargo News.