International ports

APM Terminals Pipavav, or Gujarat Pipavav Port, on Tuesday celebrated the arrival of its first double-stack freight train from Container Corporation of India’s newly-opened “multimodal logistics park” at Kathuwas in the northern state of Rajasthan.

Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust has extended a previously-announced scheme allowing concessions on handling charges for rail containers until further notice, as India’s busiest container handler tries to lure shippers away from trucks to ease congestion in the harbor.

China’s main ports registered a slight drop in container throughput in February when compared with the same month last year with year-over-year volumes falling 0.8 percent to just over 10.3 million 20-foot-equivalent units.

The Panama Canal Authority will set draft restrictions on shipping using the vital east-west waterway as the El Nino weather phenomenon causes water levels to fall well below average for this time of year.

India’s Ministry of Shipping is reviving its long-contemplated plan to build a new container terminal at Tuna Tekra, about 15 miles from Kandla Port, a major public cargo gateway on the country’s west coast.

Dutch ports, led by Rotterdam, are to appeal an EU ruling that they must pay corporation tax from next year.

Its economy, its currency and many of its commodity products may be tanking, but the decline has yet to ruffle the feathers of one of Brazil’s largest exports: chicken.

DP World-operated Nhava Sheva (India) Gateway Terminal on Friday received a call from the 11,000 twenty-foot-equivalent unit MSC Francesca, the largest container ship ever to dock at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, India’s biggest public container gateway.

Political corruption that has riveted Brazilians like a telenova and driven millions into the streets is slowing down the country’s bureaucracy and imperiling critical infrastructure projects.

Kakinada Port, India’s new alternative east coast gateway that began container-handling at the end of last year, got its first break from a mainline customer with Maersk Line introducing a direct port call at the minor privately-operated facility as part of what the container line said was "moving closer to shippers and seeking new growth areas."

DP World-operated International Container Transshipment Terminal, or Vallarpadam Terminal, at India’s Port of Cochin on Friday exceeded 400,000 twenty-foot-equivalent units in a single fiscal year for the first time ever, according to the newest port figures collected by JOC.com.

Construction work is set to commence on the second phase of the only deep-sea port in central Africa at Kribi, Cameroon after a second round of financing was arranged with the Export-Import Bank of China.

The small port here is no threat to the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex’s U.S. import business, but Ensenada’s reliability and ability to get high-tech goods and auto parts to Mexican factories fast — often on the same day of the ship call — has won it cargo from the Goliath just 200 miles to the north.

Chennai Port Trust in coordination with Container Corporation of India has announced a new trade incentive scheme for rail containers in an attempt to lure shippers away from trucks and in turn alleviate congestion in the harbor.

Kenya’s Port of Mombasa completed phase 1 of its Mombasa Port Development Project, increasing capacity at the large and often-congested East African port by 550,000 twenty-foot-equivalent units.

Truckers at DP World-operated International Container Transshipment Terminal, or Vallarpadam, called off a six-day strike that ground inland freight movements to a near-standstill and forced shippers to divert some cargo away from Cochin, India’s southeastern major public harbor.

The extent of the challenge facing Hong Kong in 2016 was underlined by new figures from the Census and Statistics Department of the Special Administrative Region that show a precipitous drop in the port’s total throughput during the final quarter of 2015.

Rail freight transport from Kattupalli Port is gaining speed as state-owned intermodal logistics operator Container Corporation of India introduced a new, regular train service from Kattupalli to Bangalore, a major southern inland point, via Concor’s Tondiarpet Inland Container Depot on the outskirts of Chennai, port operator Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone said in a trade announcement.

A strike by truckers at DP World-operated International Container Transshipment Terminal, or Vallarpadam, in India’s Port of Cochin entered its fifth day on Monday, forcing shippers to reroute some cargo via nearby ports, mostly Tuticorin.

In an effort to spur trade and economic growth, the government of India has lifted some of the current cabotage provisions that prevent foreign-flag ocean carriers from transporting containers between domestic gateway ports.

Japan’s government is now making final preparations to acquire a significant equity stake in the company operating the ports of Yokohama and Kawasaki in Kanagawa Prefecture to help buoy its international competitiveness.

Global Ports’ container traffic slumped 31 percent and revenue sank 28 percent in 2015 as Russia’s contracting economy and the ruble’s slide continued to take its toll on the nation’s largest port operator.

The majority of workers involved in drayage operations at International Container Transshipment Terminal, or Vallarpadam, in India’s Cochin Port walked off the job Thursday morning, disrupting freight movements to and from the DP World facility, local shipping sources told JOC.com.

The busiest container port in Australia, Melbourne, is now on the market after the Victoria state parliament passed legislation allowing its sale.

Rotterdam has unveiled a 275 million euro ($302 million) project to re-route 2.5 miles of rail freight track away from a bridge in the port so that shipping and rail traffic “will cease to get in each other’s way.”

The Rotterdam Port Authority’s profit declined last year even as traffic at Europe’s largest port hit an all-time high.

Shippers in the Brazilian market should prepare for unrest as labor unions in the Port of Santos, South America’s largest port for containers, protest employment changes throughout the harbor.

India’s state-owned major ports booked a 2.6 percent increase in container volumes in the first 11 fiscal months compared with the same period the prior fiscal year, the newest provisional port figures collected by JOC.com show.

Mundra, a privately-operated, minor cargo complex with modern infrastructure and ample hinterland connectivity, is emerging as an attractive port call for major container lines operating to and from India.

Despite slowing global trade and off-and-on labor disruptions as well as other infrastructure woes, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, India’s biggest public container handler, will most likely surpass its annual 2014-15 record throughput of 4.47 million 20-foot-equivalent units in the current fiscal year, which ends March 31, an analysis of the newest port figures collected by JOC.com show.

The frequent congestion and longshore labor flare-ups at the New York-New Jersey port are putting a renewed focus on Montreal as an alternative gateway for goods, particularly those from Europe destined for the U.S. interior.

Pursuit of supply chain visibility is a continuous process that is growing more difficult to do well in a world of increasingly complex and globalized supply chains.

The Mediterranean port of Marseille Fos is seeing stronger container growth compared to the industry average in Europe, a result the port attributes to shippers becoming more convinced that the port’s days of labor strife are in the past.

Russia’s ports of Vladivostok and St. Petersburg could see a 30 percent increase in container traffic this year, thanks to plans to construct special customs and logistics centers.

Mumbai-based J.M. Baxi has consolidated its cargo terminal business with a 30-year concession to upgrade, operate and maintain an existing container terminal at Kandla Port Trust, a major, state-owned port complex on India’s west coast.

Weak export growth is a serious impediment to economic growth and prosperity in the U.S. and is hampered more by inadequate infrastructure than by the strong U.S. dollar, delegates were told at the TPM 2016 conference here.

The British Columbia government appointed Duncan MacPhail container trucking commissioner at Port Metro Vancouver, replacing Andy Smith who left the post following criticism of potential conflicts of interest arising from his leadership of an association representing terminal operators.

The port of Ilyichevsk, one of Ukraine’s largest in terms of cargo turnover, may declare bankruptcy this year if Ilyichevsk Container Terminal, a former operator of its container cargo terminal, wins an appeal of a government ruling.

Chennai Port Trust, India’s second-busiest public container handler, is bracing for a big challenge to its market share, as Adani Group, looking to ramp up operations on the east coast, nears completion of its new container facility at nearby Ennore Port, now renamed Kamarajar Port Ltd.

Brazil’s Minister for Ports, Helder Barbalho, outlined his plans to bring billions of dollars of new investment into the port sector at a seminar in Sao Paulo this week.