Your full truckloadsin ONE handThe European <strong>Transport</strong> Organisation
exports.Photo: thinkstockdream of.www.asmap.ruPhoto: thinkstockInternational <strong>Transport</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> 35-36 2013 Contents3Turkish boom and Greek bust both loose momentumJoy and sorrow on the BosphorusSo far the boom that Turkey experienced in 2012 has not continued into 2013, as demand in the Near and Middle East declined bynearly 10%, strongly affecting fecting Turkey. Exports to European markets on the other hand picked up strongly. The recession in Greece,on the other hand, has seemed to bo tom out, and the country is benefiting from the growing support of it shipping companies.Last year the sky seemed to be the limit had previously stood at 10%, but in 2012 low, and a reduction in the national budg-for growthinthelogisticsectorinTurkey,itself growth only came in at 2.1%, accordingto the Turkish statistical o fice. GDP) wa simultaneously achieved.tries – booming, impre sive infrastruc-The transport and communications sec-In the past year the Greek economy altureplans – such as the Marmaray rail tors were not una fected, with the temsoproved to be be ter than its reputationtunnel under the Bosphorus – nearing pestuous growth of 10.5% in 2011 shrink-in th export sector. With 8.8% annualcompletion and American investment ing to 3.2% in the fo lowing year. growth, results proved very respectable,and consulting firms – such as Co liers In the first half of 2013 heavy vehi-and a degree of market di ferentiationand Jones Lang Lasa le – celebrating the cles, machinery and plant equipment re-was achieved. This was evidenced by thecountry as the up and coming logistics mained th engines of growth for Turk-fact that the decline in exports to EUmarket in Europe.ish exports. Demand for iron and steelcountries was more than compensatedas we l as jewe lery sank, with exports infor by improved sales to the USA, Ru sia,these sectors declining by 37%. Deliver-Turkey and the Middle East.ies to the EU in these sectors, on the otherhand, rose by 3.8%, to 41% of a l TurkishGreece is also counting on liberalisationof its transport sector. The newly-i suedroad freight conce sions came into operationon 30 June, the first round of theet deficit by EUR 1.9 bi lion (or 1% ofwith exports – especia ly to Arab coun-tender for the sale of the Greek railwaysTrainose is running ti l 16 September,and the proce s of privatising two of thecountry’s large port operators, in The saloniki(THPA) and Piraeus (PPA), is aboutto begin. One of the companies interestedEuphoria in Turkey has slowly givenin an acquisition is the Chinese shippingway to a more realistic a se sment of thecompany Cosco, which already operatesnational economy. At the end of JuneGreece has grown strongly to th end a container terminal in Piraeus.the government in Ankara presented itsof the first half of 2013. Observers consideredthe contraction of GDP by just 4.6%www.tuik.gov.trChristian Doepgengrowth projection of 5.5% per annum to2018. Annual growth projections to 2013vis-à-vis the previous year to be positivelywww.statistics.grDuring the same period the futureof Greece was considered bleak, andthe privileged position of the Greekmerchant navy was strongly criticisedby international partners. Now primeminister Antonis Samaras has come toTurkish logistics companies, such asan agreement with the Union of Greek Ekol Logistics, traditiona ly focused onShipowners, which represents 441 shippingcompanies, under which their ter high turnover figures in their busi-special tax status was maintained in exnes with Germany, for example. Thechange for voluntary increases in duestakeover of Mars Logistics, an Istanbul-(see page 48).based transporter with a fleet of around1,000 vehicles, by the Japanese multinationalHitachi in July proves that theTurkish logistics sector continues to bethe European market, continue to regis-interesting.Projections and growth areasTURKEY &GREECEJoy and sorrow on the BosphorusForeign trade may be weak, but long-term prospects are intactSome stumbling blocksWas this mere sabre-ra tling in the summer lu l? In any event, the validity of the TIR carnetfor HGV cro s-border traffic has been provisiona ly extended by the Russian customs.However, the giant country must take care no to play a l of its logistical trump cards.MAN Truck & Bus’ so-ca led consistentlye ficien tour 2013 has now a rived always run smoothly with the Ru siancow. O to complained that «things don’tin Ru sia, having covered more than post o fice.» Sometimes shipments took90,000 km in Western Europe in 2011 several weeks, he said. «But of course theand South Africa in 2012. The commercialvehicle manufacturer is now touring cha lenges,» he conceded. Bureaucracy isstate post o fice faces enormous logisticsthrough the European part of Ru sia. also an obstacle. «We’ve always been ableThe road show started in the southern to cope, however. In an initial phase customsclearance was incredibly tiresome,Ru sian town of Sochi, venue of the nextWinter Olympics, and proceeded to the as our heavy goods vehicles were alwayscapital Moscow via the Ural metropolis held up a the border.»of Yekaterinburg. A MAN TGS truckand a comparison model visited elevenstations between the Black Sea and the This could be repeated if the Ru sian customsauthorities were to suspend accept-Ural mountains, and were displayed tocustomers there. The 10,000 km journey ance of the TIR carnet. Ru sia’s federalalso enabled the German company to get custom service announced on its websitea picture of road conditions in Ru sia. early in July that it planned to changethe conditions for the application of theTIR proce s on 14 August. These conditionswere adopted in the Convention onFreight transportation is one of the biggestcha lenges facing Ru sia, as routes the International <strong>Transport</strong> of Goods inoften cover thousands of kilometres, MichaelO to told the German pre s agency TIR carnet, amongst other things. The1975. They also describe the use of thedpa in Moscow. The chairman of the customs authorities claimed that paymentdi ficulties on the part of the na-supervisory board of the O to Group, atrading and services company, reported tional a sociation of international roadon 20 August that it was set to invest ca riers (Asmap) were responsible for theEUR 50 mi lion in Ru sia, above a l in suspension of the proce s. The Ru siandoubling the size of its existing logistic body, which monitors the TIR systemcentre in Tver, 170 km northwest of Mos-in the country, denied these a legationsPrivatisation still on the agendaRoad congestion ..and bureaucratic backlogsPhoto: MAN<strong>Specials</strong> in this issueMAN was on the road in Ru sia in August,displaying its new tractors.vigorously. Meanwhile, the acceptance ofthe TIR carnet at the country’s borderswas extended until 14 September.Dormant potentialEASTERN EUROPE &CENTRAL ASIAHomemade circumstances may have leadto this situation, such as the fac that RussianGDP grew by just 1.8% in the firstfive months of this year, significantly le sthan in the preceding three years, whengrowth osci lated between 3.4 and 4.5%.Ro stat has predicted growth of 2.5% forthe whole year, however, a figure whichmany economies in Europe can onlyThe economy in Kazakhstan is setto be even stronger – the InternationalMonetary Fund predicts GDP growth of5.7% in the second largest country in theregion, which also did not experience arece sion in 2009 (GDP +1.2%).Andreas HaugEastern Europe & Central Asia 23Turkey and Greece 41Profits for terminals 13<strong>Transport</strong>ing containers is currently anything buta lucrative business for many shipping lines. Forcontainer terminals, in contrast, there probablyremains plenty of potential in the handling of thesteel boxes.Where to from here for TIR? 23The Russian customs authority has provisionallyextended the validity of the Carnet TIR tomid-September. If a suspension were really totake place, then Russia would lose an importantlogistics trump.Bosphorus ups and down 41The economic upswing in Turkey has lost a littlesteam and Greece is developing better thanexpected. The country is planning to open itstransport sector and has received some unexpectedsupport from its shipowners.5 Editorial7 People & Companies /Job Market13 Shipping & Ports13 The WCI is on the rise15 Cooperation agreement in New Zealand19 ILO sets a milestone21 Aviation21 Cutting emissions by cutting takeoff weight22 Shining a light on airfreight in Linz23 Eastern Europe and Central Asia Special24 ART Logistics delivers luxury25 Container throughput booming in Novorossiysk26 Good marks from AsstrA for Poland/Czechia27 New automotive location for Gefco30 Georgia wants to become a transit corridor31 Colossal opportunities in Kazakhstan32 Forwarding & Logistics35 New terminal for Swiss Post36 GLS expanding in Southeast Europe37 Austria Post in the pharma wholesale segment38 Agility is on course39 Rail/Inland Waterways /Road Haulage40 New Hannibal shuttle train41 Turkey and Greece Special43 Turkish logistics market in flux45 Turkish Cargo on course for growth48 Greek shipowners want to contribute more49 Japanese industrial giant active in Turkey50 Bulgaria and Turkey find a solution51 Regional Focus51 Central Europe52 Nordic Countries / Baltic States/Western Europe53 Miscellaneous /Masthead54 A Time for Reflection/Advertisers’ IndexCover: A truckPhoto: thinkstock