FedEx sees peak season bounce

US parcels giant FedEx saw third quarter revenues up four per cent to $11.7bn.
“We had a very successful peak season as volumes grew across all transportation segments, and our profit improvement programs are moving ahead as scheduled,” said Fred Smith, FedEx Corp chairman, president and chief executive officer.
Operating results for the third quarter ended February 28 improved due to volume and base yield growth in all three transportation segments of ground, freight and express.
There was also a “significant net benefit” from fuel, benefits from profit improvement program initiatives, a lower year-over-year weather impact and reduced pension expense.
These improvements were partially offset by higher variable incentive compensation accruals.

Source : http://www.aircargonews.net/news/single-view/news/fedex-sees-peak-season-bounce.html

Continue

Kale breaks into Iraq Market

Iraqi ground-handler Azmar Air has gone live with Kale’s Galaxy International air cargo management system.

Azmar, based at Sulaymaniyah International Airport in the Kurdish-controlled region of northern Iraq will use the system for e-freight compliance, warehouse management and vehicle management, and it will be able to offer real-time updates to customers’ trade partners and EDI messaging, says Indian-based Kale.

It added that Galaxy is already in use by handlers including Bahrain Airport Services, Mumbai International Airport and leading international airports in India, plus Lusaka and Ndola in Zambia amongst others.

Indrajit Marath, Azmar’s general manager- cargo village said: “We are now able to automatically capture all data, do better flight planning and plan the operations in advance.

“Our customers including airlines, forwarders, GSAs are happy to see online updates and track shipments. More importantly, we attained this without having to increase our staff count.” 

Source : http://www.aircargonews.net/news/single-view/news/kale-breaks-into-iraq-market.html

Continue

DHL refines risk management system

DHL's Resilience360 risk management tool can now be integrated with customer's transport management systems, allowing them to view shipments affected by disruptive incidents.
Customers can then scan the latest position and status of all their shipments worldwide and identify corrective actions.
Recent incidents monitored by Resilience 360 included the ash cloud from the Bardarbunga Volcano, the economic fall-out from Russian sanctions and the Ebola crisis.
In the case of the volcano, Resilience360’s near real-time information and global mapping device made it possible for customers to anticipate and avert knock-on disruptions elsewhere in the supply chain, such as flight disruptions in other regions, says DHL.
Resilience360's new country-specific risk page also gives with an overview of supply chain risk scores and incident trends, together with a free weekly supply chain risk intelligence bulletin.
Resilience360 is described by DHL as an end-to-end supply chain risk management platform that alerts customers about global incidents and risks to their global supply chain in almost real time, allowing customers to respond immediately to incidents and pre-empt or minimise business interruption.
Since its launch, Resilience360 has been used by customers across Asia, Europe and the Americas, particularly by the automotive, chemicals, life sciences and technology sectors.

Source : http://www.aircargonews.net/news/single-view/news/dhl-refines-risk-management-system.html

Continue

December's dollar yields dip

Air freight volumes continued to rise in December but exchange rate and fuel surcharge fluctuations saw a 2014 end of year fall in dollar-based yields, according to research house WorldACD.
December’s healthy year-over-year (YoY) volume growth continued 2014's trend, as chargeable weight increased 6.7 per cent, said the Netherlands-based analyst which uses primary data from global airlines.
December yields (in US dollars) dropped by 5.6 per cent, “a very worrisome figure at first sight,” said WorldACD, but citing two reasons for the fall.
The worsening Euro–US dollar exchange rate contributed to an 8.5 per cent dollar-yield decrease in December for cargo originating in one of air cargo’s largest markets, Europe. Measured in Euros, yields increased slightly.
Added WorldACD: “Overall yields were seriously influenced by a further drop in fuel surcharges. Although the yield drop was significant in Asia Pacific as well (-5.9 per cent), it was rather limited in MESA (Middle East & South Asia, -1.1 per cent) and North America (-1.6 per cent).
“The origins North America and Africa were the best monthly performers in terms of revenue growth, with YoY gains of 7.1 per cent and 6.9 per cent respectively.”
WorldACD said that 2014 was “a good year for air cargo”, with a volume growth of 6.4 per cent over 2013, and a much smaller change in dollar-yield (-1.45 per cent). Worldwide revenue increased five per cent after two years of declining revenues.
The Asia Pacific origin was above average (+ 6.2 per cent dollar-revenue increase), whilst MESA was well below (-0.4 per cent).
“North America distinguished itself as the fastest growing destination with a revenue increase of 10.9 per cent. Monthly yields decreased YoY in nine out of 12 months; they went up in June, July and August.”
Continuing the trend from previous years, revenues from pharmaceuticals and perishables outpaced the market, at 16.2 per cent and 7.2 per cent respectively.
Pharmaceuticals grew in yields by two per cent, more than the 1.2 per cent increase in 2013. But perishable cargo yields dropped by about three per cent, double the average of all cargo taken together.
The leading origins in both product markets strengthened their position: Africa and Latin America in perishables, Europe and MESA in pharmaceuticals.

Source : http://www.aircargonews.net/news/single-view/news/decembers-dollar-yields-dip.html

Continue

Hellmann gains AEO status in the UK

Hellmann Worldwide Logistics UK has been awarded authorised economic operator (AEO) status by HM Revenue & Customs.



The supply chain quality standard highlights businesses involved in the international supply chain.
The two-year process began in December 2012 and involved Hellmann training over 500 staff to complete the process and achieve its goal of becoming AEO certified.
HMRC inspected all areas of the business, offering recommendations for improvements, and making Hellmann UK the third country in the company’s global network to receive the accreditation.
Ian Dallow, security manager at Hellmann Worldwide Logistics UK, said: “Gaining the AEO status has been a lengthy process but something that has been extremely worthwhile. New procedures have been implemented and a more stringent security culture has been adopted to ensure the best service to our customers.
“AEO also provides us with additional business opportunities with major clients and a framework based on quality to help to drive the business forward.”

Source :http://www.aircargonews.net/news/single-view/news/hellmann-gains-aeo-status-in-the-uk.html

Continue

Thumbs up for Emirates' all-in freight rates

Shippers and forwarders have welcomed Emirates SkyCargo’s move to introduce an all-inclusive freight rate that does away with separate pricing components based on weight/volume plus fuel and security surcharges.
“It is the best start to 2015 that I could imagine,” said Joost van Doesburg, airfreight policy manager with the European Shippers’ Council, adding: “We can only be happy that the biggest air cargo carrier in the world has decided to make the system much simpler.”
Lucas Kuehner, global head of air freight at forwarder Panalpina said: “We welcome any simplification of the pricing structure and have long since asked airlines to rid themselves of surcharges.
“This is about going back to basics and what our customers want since they look at all-in cost when making freight decisions. So we appreciate Emirates’ step and encourage other carriers to do the same.”
Robert Keen, director general of The British International Freight Association (BIFA) welcomed the Dubai-based carrier’s move as "a step in the right direction, provided it leads to the transparency that freight forwarders require".
He added that he felt that the move should: "provide simpler and more transparent cost structures, something that freight forwarders have been calling for, having faced various surcharges with questionable names and purposes from shipping lines and airlines.
"Perhaps Emirates Skycargo is responding to previous comments that freight forwarders stop accepting at face value opaque and unjustified surcharges."
The new structure will be implemented in Europe from February, and for the rest of the Emirates worldwide network from March.
An Emirates SkyCargo spokesperson said: “For some time now, many of our customers have asked for the introduction of an all-inclusive rate structure.
“We have therefore decided to introduce a new rate structure which will be a combination of a weight related rate and the current fuel and security surcharge. We believe that this new structure will be simpler, and is a positive development in the way tariffs are applied”.
Van Doesburg warned: “If only one airline will push all-in rates in the market then it is not a success, so we need more airlines to follow the Emirates example.”
He added that the ending of surcharges was important because “it probably makes the air cargo market much more stable, with fewer fluctuations.”
Van Doesburg continued: “For the shippers it will make cost more predictable because, at the moment, they cannot tell their financial people what they need for the transport of a certain amount of goods. It will also bring comparability.
“The security and fuel surcharges are from the past and removing them is the way to go.  Why do you need to have a special surcharge for security, when that issue has been dominant for more than a decade?
"And as for fuel, the airlines should be able to determine their rates for a longer period of time with a fixed rate. That is what shippers want and what they already get from the integrators.”

Source :  http://www.aircargonews.net/news/single-view/news/thumbs-up-for-emirates-all-in-freight-rates.html

Continue

Air freight volumes rise for Panalpina

Panalpina saw improved group level profitability in the first half of 2014 as air freight volumes grew four per cent over prior year.

However, the Switzerland-based global logistics operator said that unit profitability in both the air and ocean freight segments was affected by a “challenging market”.

While air freight rates “remained under strong pressure,” Panalpina put the focus on trade lane optimisation and expects the air freight market to grow by between 3-4 per cent in 2014.

Panalpina’s half year air freight volume growth to 417,000 tons was in line with the market. Earlier this month, Swiss logistics rival Kuehne + Nagel reported a similar half year rise in air freight volumes, up 3.9 per cent to 580,000 tons.

Second quarter air freight volumes at Panalpina were up by 1.8 per cent to 213,000 tons, compared with a 6.3 per cent surge in the first three months of 2014.

The Panalpina group’s total gross profit and earnings before interest and tax were “significantly impacted” by currency movements although both financials increased two per cent, reaching SFr777.9 million and SFr60.1 million respectively.

Panalpina chief executive Peter Ulber said that there “is still a lot of work to be done in terms of profitability”, especially in ocean freight.

Added Mr Ulber: “The fact that low margins have absorbed much of the growth in the first half of 2014, particularly in ocean freight, goes to show just how important it is that we stay absolutely on course with our strategic execution.

“Turning around loss-making operations continues to be our firm focus. In the mid- and long-term better IT systems and processes will help us improve productivity and profitability as we keep restructuring and rolling out our new operational system SAP TM.”

Source: http://www.aircargonews.net/news/single-view/news/air-freight-volumes-rise-for-panalpina.html

Continue