DHL Global Forwarding launch LCL direct service Jakarta-Hamburg

DHL Global Forwarding, the air freight and sea freight company that belongs to Deutsche Post DHL, has announced the launch of Less than Container Load (LCL) between Jakarta (Indonesia) and Hamburg (Germany).

Delivery service, which was launched on Sept 13, at least has transit time for 25 days, or 10 days more efficient. Kelvin Leung, CEO, DHL Global Forwarding Asia Pacific said the new service ensure faster service for delivery of goods to Germany.

"According to recent business report, Southeast Asia is one of the areas experiencing the strongest economic growth in the world. Direct LCL service from Jakarta to Hamburg will help Indonesia to expand exports, and provides the advantage of being cost-effective," said Leung.

Meanwhile, Welani Widjaja, Managing Director of DHL Global Forwarding Indonesia added that the current condition of Indonesia's exports have exceeded the 2008 crisis. As a result, many exporters are looking for better and faster service.

Currently, the products are exported to Europe, dominated by palm oil and agricultural products, fuel, textiles and furnishings dominate Indonesia's exports to Europe. "We are ready to serve the export sector," said Welani.

The new service from DHL is part of the company's efforts to strengthen delivery networks all over the world. DHL is now sending nearly 2 million cubic meters of LCL goods annually. All LCL services are supported best DHL Information Technology facilities, such as DHL Track & Trace and other facilities, allowing full monitoring of the supply chain process.

For employers who do not want to lose, DHL provides insurance services to customers as a value-added service. Shippers Interest Insurance (SII) to protect the loss or damage of all cargo transported by DHL and transportation costs.

NYK liner trade slides 250pc to post annual loss of US$571 million

JAPAN's second biggest container line, NYK, has posted an annual loss of JPY44.7 billion (US$571 million)in the liner trade business, down 250 per cent against last year's profit of JPY30.2 billion for the fiscal year 2011, ending on March 31, 2012.

NYK, the world's 13th largest container carrier, attributed the loss to high bunker prices and a decline of freight rates for its core trade lanes, saying overcapacity was to blame.

Overall group revenues declined 6.7 per cent to JPY 1.80 trillion. Revenue for the liner business was JPY418.7 billion, resulting in an operating loss of JPY43 billion.

The poor performance in liner trade business was the main cause of NYK's deficit for fiscal 2011. The company said in its annual report that the supply-demand balance had deteriorated with the completion of numerous large containerships, mainly on European routes, which resulted in plummeting rates.

Sluggish cargo movements were also experienced, which were worsened by the "Great East Japan Earthquake and flooding in Thailand."

The company said it had taken actions to tackle the problems. One of the main cost reduction measures was the practice of slow steaming to reduce bunker oil consumption, resulting in cost savings of JPY30 billion.

This saving, said NYK, combined with reductions in selling, general and administrative expenses and variables expenses in the liner trade business, contributed to a total cost reduction of JPY34.5 billion.

However, its "measures were unable to fully absorb a larger-than-expected downturn in market prices," said NYK.

For fiscal 2012 ending March 31, 2013, NYK chief financial officer Kenji Mizushima said: "We plan to achieve profitability through further cost reductions and contributions to business results from businesses with stable freight rates, which we are focusing on expanding under the medium-term management plan."

Cathay Pacific to stop import of SHARK FIN to Hong Kong

Cathay Pacific has bowed to pressure from environmental groups and banned shark fin from its cargo flights as well as on its subsidiary carrier Dragonair. The move by the airline - believed by environmentalists to fly up to 50 per cent of all shark fin imported by air to Hong Kong - was hailed as a major victory for opponents of the trade, reported the South China Morning Post.

Cathay imposed the ban Dragonair weeks after receiving a letter signed by 40 groups ranging from Greenpeace Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Dolphin Conservation Society to the US-based Humane Society Internationaland Ric O'Barry's Dolphin Project.

The green groups estimate that Cathay Pacific flew up to 650 tonnes of shark fin into Hong Kong last year. The airline has declined to put a figure on how much it carried, but is understood to have told campaigners that it only carries a fraction of that amount.

The airline said: "Cathay Pacific has decided to stop shipping unsustainably sourced sharks and shark-related products. "The carrier expects the transition to this new policy will take approximately three months as it notifies shippers and puts the appropriate procedures in place. However, effective immediately, Cathay Pacific will not enter into any new contracts in this regard." Cathay Pacific said it had been researching the issue for "a very long time".

"Due to the vulnerable nature of sharks, their rapidly declining population, and the impact of overfishing for their parts and products, our carriage of these is inconsistent with our commitment to sustainable development," it said.

The letter from environmentalists was sent in late July and followed by talks between the petitioners and the airline.

The letter said: "Hong Kong government data indicates that over 10,200 [tonnes] of shark fin were imported into Hong Kong in 2011, of which 13 per cent was by air cargo. With an estimated 20 to 50 per cent flown on Cathay Pacific Cargo, up to 650 tonnes of shark fin were potentially imported by Cathay Pacific alone last year."

Hong Kong-based photographer Alex Hofford,co-author of the letter, said: "[The airline's move] sends a strong signal to the trade and to Hong Kong in general. For a big blue-chip company like Cathay Pacific to do the right thing is brilliant."

Hofford said the move would restrict the availability of shark fin in Hong Kong and on the mainland. Hong Kong handles about half the world's shark fin trade. "That was the whole idea behind this - to put a stranglehold on the trade," he said.

Asked how much shark fin Cathay Pacific carries on its cargo planes a year, a spokeswoman said: "It would take some research to determine the exact number. More important, however, is that we used to ship it and now we're going to stop."

The shark fin the airline transported came primarily from Southeast Asia for the Hong Kong and mainland markets, where shark's fin soup is popular at wedding banquets, she said. The airline stopped serving shark's fin soup to first and business class passengers some years ago.

Ali Bullock, the airline's digital marketing manager, said: "I'm really proud of Cathay Pacific for taking a bold and important environmental step to protect sharks."

Activists estimate that fins from up to 73 million sharks are traded worldwide every year. More than half of the shark species are at risk of extinction now or in the near future, they say. Last year, The Peninsula hotel in Hong Kong took shark's fin soup off its menu, followed by the Shangri-La chain. But campaigners said the hoped-for domino effect on other five-star hotels had not materialised.