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NEW INTERNATIONAL AIR CARGO SERVICE TAKES OFF IN HALIFAX
Halifax, N.S. – Halifax International Airport Authority (HIAA) announced a new international air cargo service that began operation at Halifax Stanfield International Airport March 31, 2009.
Asiana Cargo, a division of Korean-based Asiana Airlines, started scheduled weekly service from Halifax to Brussels, Belgium and Seoul, South Korea using a Boeing 747-400F. The flights arrive from JFK-New York via Anchorage and then depart for Brussels.
The primary export will be lobster and other seafood bound for overseas markets. With a volume allotment of up to 50 tonnes, each flight could represent upwards of $500,000 of export value to the provincial economy. An Asiana Cargo source said “they are delighted to expand ‘around the world’ air cargo service into Halifax and take advantage of the newly updated Canada-South Korea open skies agreement”.
AMERICAN AIRLINES REDUCES FLIGHTS TO NORTH-EASTERN BRAZIL
American Airlines announced it will reduce flights to north-eastern Brazil from April 8th. The daily service to Recife and Salvador will be operated five times a week until 14 June, when daily flights will be resumed. Also, the seasonal flight to Rio de Janeiro will cease. For more information visit www.aa.com
ST. LAWRENCE SEAWAY CELEBRATES 50TH ANNIVERSARY
St. Lawrence Seaway Celebrates 50th Anniversary
The St. Lawrence Seaway celebrated March 31, 2009 its 50th anniversary at the St. Lambert Lock. Inaugurated in 1959 by Queen Elizabeth II and President Eisenhower and proclaimed as one of the ten most outstanding Canadian engineering achievements of the past 100 years, the Seaway stands as evidence of an enduring asset.
Since its inception, over 2.5 billion tonnes of cargo valued in excess of $375 billion has been transported via the Seaway.
The Seaway Marine Transport (SMT) vessel Canadian Transport will be welcomed into the Port of Hamilton as the first vessel for the 2009 navigation season, scheduled to arrive at Pier 20 on Thursday April 2, 2009
CMA CGM HIKES MED-TO-U.S. EAST COAST RATES
CMA CGM announced Thursday a general rate restoration on cargo moving between ports on the Mediterranean and the U.S. East Coast.
Effective May 1, CMA CGM said it would boost rates
$150 on 20-foot containers and
$250 on 40-foot containers.
The decision follows a rate hike by the carrier on many other routes that went into effect April 1. It also said last month it would "firmly follow the rate restoration quantum implemented by TSA members as from May 1 on the eastbound leg" of the transpacific.
JAPAN SHIPPERS' COUNCIL TO CALL IT A DAY
The Japan Shippers’ Council will be shuttered at the end of year as its board of directors sees the end of carrier conferences in Europe as negating its purpose, it was reported last week.
An official with JSC said that developments in the competitive landscape of ocean shipping between Japan and Europe (where the now-disbanded Far East Freight Conference once ruled), coupled with a crackdown by the Japanese government on air freight cartels, made the organization redundant.
The JSC had often been at odds with other shippers’ councils in Asia over whether carrier conferences should be permitted. Every other council in the region celebrated the EU’s decision to ban conferences for carriers operating in and out of European ports. But councils in Asia are fighting conferences that still exist on intra-Asia trade, as well as trade between Asia and South America.
KNOW IF YOU ARE SUBJECT TO EXPORT CONTROLS
Are your products subject to export controls? According to Lynne Sabatino of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada’s (DFAIT) Export Controls Division, this is an important question that a company should ask well before it is ready to export products.
Companies require permits if the goods or technologies exported are included on Canada’s Export Control List. Unfortunately, companies that are unprepared only learn about this requirement when their products get detained by Customs.
Goods that are subject to export controls include those that have a military application (including firearms and commercial “dual-use” goods), those used in the nuclear and chemical industries, space and aerospace technology, goods manufactured in the United States, and raw logs. Find out more at: http://www.international.gc.ca/canadexport/articles/81218c.aspx
CANADIAN MANUFACTURERS, EXPORTERS GAIN OPTIMISM
CT&L - Ottawa - The most recent Business Conditions Survey conducted by the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters indicates there’s growing optimism in the Canadian manufacturing community.
Respondents’ optimism about the next three months was higher than at any other time in 2009, according to the survey. Of the 717 companies that responded, 49% said they expect orders to decrease between March and June. In February, 56% of respondents felt orders would decline.
Another reason for hope was that 13% of companies that responded said they will increase their employment over the next three months, up from 11% in February. The number of companies planning layoffs declined from 45% to 42%. The survey found the credit crunch remains an important issue for manufacturers and exporters, with 59% of businesses reporting problems acquiring credit.
NEW RAILWAY MASTER PLAN FOR EAST AFRICA
ITJ - A new railway master plan was recently presented in Nairobi (Kenya). The scheme proposes a radical overhaul of networks and operations of East African railway systems in coming years.
A stakeholder meeting in Nairobi discussed the plan. It was noted that there is now broad agreement within the EAC member states that at present, the railways in Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda are underperforming and thereby contribute to road congestion and expensive transport tariffs for imports and exports.
Landlocked Rwanda is now set to link up with the Tanzanian railway system at the proposed dry port of Isaka, and will eventually connect Burundi and the eastern Congo to the railway line from Dar es Salaam (Tanzania). The Ugandan railways are equally set to extend a line into southern Sudan, and build a track to Mombasa (Kenya), the biggest port in East Africa.
EU PARLIAMENT WANTS MORE FLEXIBLE EUROPEAN RAIL FREIGHT NETWORK
The transport and tourism committee of the European Parliament voted in favour of establishing a European rail network for competitive freight.
Supporting the rapporteur's compromise amendments, it was decided to reduce the bureaucratic hurdles of the proposed regulation. The Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) appreciates that parliamentarians have recognised the need for a more flexible approach towards establishing rail freight corridors. It was also demanded that railway operators be included in the governance bodies, which is essential to ensure a market-orientated development of corridors.
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