Tag: Asia

Rising ATF prices: Good news for postal department, bad for private couriers

Posted by | Jul 14, 2008 | |

The over 50 per cent increase in the price of aviation turbine fuel in the past six months could bring good news for the Indian Postal Department.

As all airlines have raised carriage charges, private couriers have increased their tariffs 8-20 per cent. India Post, on the other hand, has not tinkered with its tariffs at all.

As a result, India Post’s tariff is 70 per cent cheaper for domestic destinations and 30 per cent cheaper for international destinations.

Department of Posts officials said this would help them raise volumes, more so since any tariff hike will not happen till the next Union Budget in 2009. When asked if this will burn a hole in the department’s pocket, the officials said India Post was still making money on its courier service.

Some private courier service operators said they do not see any huge swing of business in favour of India Post.

Meanwhile, India Post is gearing itself for a makeover to provide stiff competition to the private courier services.

Admitting that a lot of companies were not aware of the service offering provided by the department of post, the official said, “We are now looking at strengthening our marketing and sales by making the potential customers aware of the services we provide.”

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FedEx to open Asia-Pacific Hub in Guangzhou

Posted by | Jul 11, 2008 | |

FedEx Corporation says its Asia-Pacific transport center is to complete construction in the Guangzhou Baiyun Airport at the end of July 2008, citing a report.

Covering a land area of about 1.634 million square meters east aside of the airports eastern runway, the hub is FedEx’s biggest one in Asia-Pacific, composed of a service zone and a flight zone. And the service zone has passed regulatory review to start business on July 9.

It is equipped with an emergency electricity generating system, capable of resuming power supply eight to 14 seconds after power cut. Its distribution center is designed with first-class lightning protection, and is able to resist eight to whole gale as well as strong earthquake.

The transport base is expected to have a daily throughput of 1,823 tons, including 179,000 express parcels. And local officials hope that it would lure more investors into Guangdong Province.

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TNT adjusting to realities of on-line B2C deliveries

Posted by | Jul 11, 2008 | |

TNT’s operation research systems are concentrated on five hubs in India- Nagpur, Kolkata, Mahipalpur (near Delhi), Neelmangala (near Bangalore) and Sinnar (near Nashik).

Though it has ten depots in the USA for trans-Atlantic consignments, TNT has stuck to a policy of not competing with established players like UPS and FedEx in the American market. Instead, it in concentrating on growth in the emerging markets. “In select emerging markets, we aim to be number one,” says TNT’s group managing director Marie-Christine Lombard.

The Dutch company has been expanding its operations in emerging markets through a strategy of mergers and acquisitions. In Brazil, it has acquired Mercurio, in Kenya, it has bought Aircare and in China, it has taken a 100 pct stake in Hoau, the country’s largest road transport company. In India, TNT bought over the Hyderabad based Speedage Express Cargo two years ago, thereby acquiring 514 depots, 26 transit hubs and 730 vehicles.

“In countries the size of India and China, starting a greenfield operation is very difficult,” says Lombard. “At the same time, there was no overlap between the operations of TNT and acquired companies like Speedage and Hoau. We provided international connectivity to their domestic operations.”

Lombard also sees new opportunities for the company in Europe’s booming e-markets, where logistics is intrinsic. The UK and Germany logged 22 billion euros worth of on-line sales each last year, with books, movies, clothing being the main products. The French have been slower to get on-line , but they’re gradually catching up.

Traditionally a B2B player, TNT is adjusting to the realities of on-line B2C deliveries.

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DHL introduces GoGreen service to China

Posted by | Jul 10, 2008 | |

DHL will introduce its GoGreen Express service in 17 countries across the Asia-Pacific region this year. The service is created for customers who are looking for an eco-friendly shipping option. In China, the carbon-neutral service will begin in July.

The GoGreen Express service was first launched in January 2007 in Europe at the World Economic Forum in Davos to help the forum achieve its carbon neutral commitment. Participants at the meeting were provided with the opportunity to ship event materials via the carbon-neutral package delivery service.

In addition to that, DHL is also stepping up its use of low emission and energy efficient vehicles for its pick-up and delivery services in China.

DHL-Sinotrans, a 50-50 joint venture between DHL and China National Foreign Trade Transportation (Group) Corp, has bought 43 delivery vans that meet the stringent Europe IV emission standard.

Over the past two decades, DHL-Sinotrans has developed the largest network of international express delivery firms in China by covering more than 400 cities. It operates over 1,800 vehicles.

China is one of DHL’s fastest growing markets by contributing 25 percent of its revenues in Asia Pacific and 10 percent of the global sales. DHL maintained annual growth rate of 35-45 percent in China in the past years.

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Indian carriers get ready to launch cargo flights abroad

Posted by | Jul 7, 2008 | |

With competition hotting up from big-time players such as FedEx and UPS as well as the established international cargo airlines, two of India’s top express players have chalked out plans to go overseas.

Over the past few years, the number of cargo carriers has gone up significantly. From the lone Blue Dart, the only Indian cargo carrier, there are today at least half a dozen more players.

Blue Dart Aviation, a subsidiary of express cargo carrier Blue Dart Express, has drafted a plan to start flying abroad. The plan, said Tulsi Mirchandaney, formerly senior vice-president, marketing and projects, and now managing director of Blue Dart Aviation, is in
the initial stage.

Mirchandaney should know because she was not only instrumental in marketing air cargo products but also involved in route planning and space allocation.

The decision to fly abroad has been prompted by the under-utilisation of Blue Dart’s fleet. Blue Dart has seven planes – four Boeing 737s and three Boeing 757s – that fly around the country for only eight hours at night.

In 2005, DHL Express completed the acquisition of 81.03 per cent of the equity capital of Blue Dart Express. Under the deal, Blue Dart continues to operate as an independent brand and provides a complete spectrum of domestic services through synergies with DHL.

The company is currently in talks with its parent DHL to find out ways in which the two could work together and ensure that Blue Dart planes can be used for international operations.

While Blue Dart firms up its plan, GATI, an express cargo delivery major with experience in distribution and supply chain management solutions, has started its foreign air cargo operations with Air India.

GATI’s managing director and chief executive officer Mahendra Agarwal said that his company had an agreement with Air India to take cargo overseas. This would be a follow-up to GATI’s tie-up late last year with the national carrier.

According to that tie-up, three of AI’s Boeing 727-200 freighters operate with the GATI logo within the country.

Keen to establish its presence globally, GATI has set up offices in China, Japan, Dubai, Hong Kong Thailand, Nepal and Sri Lanka and has plans to foray into other markets. The express major’s revenues have grown from USD 1 46 million to USD 7.04 million over the past three years.

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