CIIL Weekly Logistics Newsletter CII Institute of Logistics – 2nd July ...

CIIL Weekly Logistics & Freight Newsletter
investigation. The US justice department said yesterday that four groups
had agreed to plead guilty: Air France-KLM, the world's largest airline
measured by turnover; Cathay Pacific, the de facto Hong Kong flag
carrier; SAS Scandinavian Airlines; and Martinair, a 50/50 joint venture
owned by KLM and Maersk, the Danish shipping concern.
HK may award CT10 contract to lines
Hong Kong favours shipping companies over port operators when
awarding the rights for a planned container terminal to help secure traffic
as competition from cheaper mainland harbours mounts. This idea allows
us to tie up with shipping lines, which will bring in more containers,
Permanent Secretary for Transport and Housing Francis Ho Suen-wai
said. The government might seek traffic guarantees for Container
Terminal 10 rather than just auctioning off the concession to the highest
bidder. China Shipping Container Lines might consider bidding for the
project, said spokesman Ye Yumang.
Trans-Balkan oil pipeline cost rises to 1.5 bln euros
The cost of the trans-Balkan oil pipeline being built by Russia, Bulgaria,
and Greece has increased to 1.5 billion euros ($2.3 billion) from 1 billion
euros ($1.55 billion), according to RIA Novosti. Russia, Bulgaria, and
Greece signed a memorandum on the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline
in April 2005. Once completed, the pipeline will pump 35 million metric
tons of oil a year (257.25 million bbl), a volume that could eventually be
increased to 50 million metric tons (367.5 million bbl). Nikolai Seryogin, a
member of the supervisory board of the Trans-Balkan Oil Pipeline project
company, said the price increase was due to growth in the prices of metal
and pipe products, adding that a final costing would be made after an
adjusted feasibility study for the project has been conducted. Construction
of the pipeline, expected to take from eight to twelve months, would begin
in 2009. Under an inter-governmental agreement signed in 2007, Russia
holds 51% in the project company, while Greece and Bulgaria hold 24.5%
each.
FEFC carriers see 11.4% westbound growth in May
Member lines in the Far Eastern Freight Conference (FEFC) in May
achieved 11.4 per cent year on year container growth in the westbound
Asia to Europe/Mediterranean trade. The FEFC said its members'
westbound box volume for May was 865,339 TEUs, up from 777,146
TEUs in the same month last year. Broken down by region, the monthly
Far East-to-North Europe volume was up 11.6 percent to 535,126 TEUs,
while the westbound trade to Mediterranean ports improved 11 percent to
330,213 TEUs. After five months of 2008, the FEFC members' westbound
volume was up 10.4 percent to 4.05 million TEUs. Eastbound figures for
May are not available yet, but the FEFC did report April's backhaul volume
CII Institute of Logistics – 2 nd July 2008 16