Crisis hits Cyprus trade but the essentials keep moving


10


Cyprus’ banking crisis has hit trade to the country but traffic in pharmaceutical, food and other essentials is continuing, says one of the UK’s leading consolidator and NVOCC agents to the country. Simon Staples, of Manchester- based Staples International, said that he was budgeting for a 30- 40% reduction in business, mainly discretionary household items like fridges or furniture. “I’m not saying it will be that bad,


but that is what we’re planning for,” Staples explained. Cyprus is a long-standing market


for Staples International, and at one stage accounted for around 40% of its total business but now amounts to only around 5% as the operator has diversified into new markets such as the Middle East and other parts of the Mediterranean. Importers working on an


open account basis, particularly smaller firms, were especially hard-hit as UK exporters instead started demanding cash against documents,


he said. Many


exporters withdrew trade credit to Cypriot importers. “It’s a bit of a knee-jerk reaction, but under the


German truck toll faces legal challenge


Germany’s ‘Maut’ electronic truck tolls are facing a major legal challenge, reports European


forwarders’


organisation Clecat in its latest newsletter. On 25 October, the Higher


Administrative Court of Münster ruled that the Federal Republic of Germany has to refund a road haulier “due to the lack of a legal basis” for the tax. The amount involved -


€22.41 - is trivial but the case opened a legal floodgate. The judges concluded that the Maut was legally void because the underlying regulation imposes a system with too few vehicle categories and which did


not achieve proportionality between trucks and cars. Following the judgment,


thousands of road hauliers filed applications for reimbursement. According to Horst Roitsch, the speaker of the Federal Office for Cargo Transport (BAG), the authority has


already received 6,000


claims. The court decision may


jeopardise the Federal Republic’s chances to win €5.6bn compensation redress against Toll


Collect, the


consortium operating the electronic charging system, for the two-year delay in implementing the system.


Meeting of minds


Panalpina has signed a knowledge transfer agreement with Cardiff Business School to develop lean practices in complex supply chains. According to Mike Wilson,


Panalpina’s global head of logistics and himself a graduate of the university’s MBA programme in 1993, the forwarder’s focus is not on the storage of products but more on holding as little inventory as possible for its customers, and working with them to keep products moving – or asset velocity as it is known. Panalpina has set out to map


inventories across product life-cycles to better understand how inventory changes and estimate the maximum and minimum inventory holding The benefits for Cardiff Business


School are having practitioners lead workshops and lectures, helping students get to see how the theories they are learning are applied in the real world of logistics. Academics also get access to real business data, allowing so they can develop research that is relevant and focused on real business and industry needs. A possible outcome of the


partnership could be a new demand- driven inventory forecasting model to facilitate inventory reductions. The forwarder is also encouraging


students to propose new ideas is through the Panalpina Award. The company asks students to suggest new strategies that would enable it to excel in the logistics industry with a prize for the best new idea and an invitation to present the idea to senior management at its annual global logistics meeting. The student and management team then develop plans to implement it.


The Multi-award Winning Specialist Recruiter for Freight, Logistics & Supply Chain Personnel


www.logiskills.com


circumstances they probably had little choice,” Staples said. “However, it is early days and


I don’t think we will see a true picture emerge for another 2-3 months,” Staples added. “A lot depends on how importers engineer their liquidity over the next


few weeks.” In the longer


term, Cyprus’ economic woes could could hit the tourist trade, but again it was too early to predict. Operationally, the shipping


and transport industry continued as normal throughout the crisis, Staples said. “The operations of


our agent, Kazoulis Shipping,


certainly wasn’t affected and as far as I know the ports are still operating normally, nor did our container unstuffing operation grind to a halt.” Staples


and other freight


operators can at least take heart from the fact that the Greek market, which was in a similar plight only a few months previously, seems to have bounced back strongly. “We had a record week to Greece recently, and in fact we, together with our new agent Logika are seeing exponential growth.”


Safmarine’s safe haven


Shipping line Safmarine and fruit exporter Capespan recently handed over two classrrooms – converted from old shipping containers to provide a secure environment for pre-school children on the Agter-Witzenberg farm community in the Western Cape. Safmarine donated the two 40-foot reefer containers and the


conversion was done with the help of Cool Maintenance and award-winning industrial designer and architect, Y Tsai of Tsai Design Studio. At


a handover ceremony,


Safmarine Southern Africa Cluster Manager, Dirk Hoffmann said it was “an honour and our privilege” to help nurture young minds.


Issue 3 2013


///NEWS NEWS ROUNDUP FORWARDING & LOGISTICS AP Moller Group forwarder Damco has opened a second


warehouse in Cambodia. Following the successful launch of Damco CFS Warehouse 1 in August 2011, Warehouse 2 is located along National Road 4 and close to major manufacturers in the Phnom Penh area. Both facilities offer a total combined space of over 16,000sq m.


Hellmann Worldwide Logistics UK has opened a new distribution


depot in Colnbrook. It provides local distribution services to the European network for the west side of London and the Home Counties. The company’s commercial director, Matthew Marriott, said Hellmann was posting year on year improvements in Europe, adding: “This new depot is practical evidence of this growth and we are excited about being able to expand our UK network.”


Norbert Dentressangle’s ‘Red Europe’ pan-European pallet


service is now offering a daily service to Germany. The system aims to give customers the benefit of the logistic giant’s Continental network for smaller volumes, with over 100 international shuttles operating daily. Goods can oſten be distributed within 48 hours, and to some countries in 24 hours.


Kuehne + Nagel has been selected by Royal Caribbean Cruises


as a freight forwarder and supply chain provider. Its Miami branch will manage sea transport and provide customs-clearance overseas, including coordination of side-ship deliveries.


Kuehne + Nagel has taken over 70% of the shares of Universal


Freight Services from Oman’s Khimji Ramdas Group in the Sultanate of Oman. A new joint venture company will operate under the Kuehne + Nagel brand, headquartered in Muscat and currently employing 16 people. KN now plans to significantly expand its activities in the country. KN has also opened an office in Rangor, Myanmar.


Forwarder BDP International has taken a stake and signed a


joint venture deal with Cartagena, Colombia-based Interflex. BDP specialies in the chemical sector, serving nine of the world’s 10 largest producers, and is also increasing its share in healthcare, retail and consumer goods, project logistics and oil and gas.


Hull-based Koring Freight Forwarders (UK) is to be voluntarily


wound up, it was announced on 14 March. RSM Tenon Restructuring has been appointed liquidator - contact 01482 333 777 hull@ rsmtenon.com. Koring Freight Netherlands’ operations will continue as normal.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40