The service, operated by the airline’s newest Boeing 777 freighter, will fly Dubai – Singapore – Sydney – Hong Kong – Dubai weekly. The flight, EK9920, will depart Dubai every Sunday at 2035 and will touch down at Sydney International Airport at 1830 every Monday, from 12 September.

The Boeing 777 freighter has the capability to carry up to 103 tonnes of cargo and will boost Emirates SkyCargo’s import capacity to 1370 tonnes per week. Its unique features include a wide main deck cargo door for easier uplift of oversized shipments.

“2011 is proving to be a year of growth milestones for Emirates SkyCargo in New South Wales with the introduction of a dedicated weekly freighter service to Sydney, and the re-commencement of the airline’s third-daily Sydney flight in October,” said Greg Johnson, Emirates’ cargo manager in Australia.

With a long-range flying capacity and technologically advanced General Electric (GE) engines, the Boeing 777F is claimed to provide greater flexibility than any other freighter aircraft in operation today. It is said to have the lowest fuel burn of any comparable sized aircraft, consuming nearly 18 per cent less fuel than today’s freighters.

Emirates SkyCargo introduced its first Boeing 777F in March 2009. In December 2010, it operated its longest ever non-stop flight – 17.5 hours from Sydney to New York – on the Boeing 777F. Emirates is the largest operator of Boeing 777 aircraft in the world, currently with 91 in its fleet.

Emirates currently operates 63 flights per week to Dubai from Brisbane, Perth, Melbourne and Sydney, and 28 weekly trans-Tasman services. The airline’s fleet of 157 wide-bodied aircraft includes nine freighters

Source: T AND L News

Problems at China Cosco Holdings suggest trouble ahead.

Cosco, a giant state-owned shipping company, is locked into long-term contracts for chartering vessels that haul iron ore, coal and grain around the world.

Many of those contracts were signed in the commodities boom, when the price for chartering a giant Capesize vessel peaked at around $US200000.00 a day. The price is now $US10000.00 a day. The consequences of that collapse are showing up in Cosco’s bottom line; the firm posted a loss of $US420 million in the first half of the year.

The irony is that the painful collapse in shipping rates is partly of China’s own making.

From 2003 to 2008, growth in China’s import volumes for iron ore averaged 26 per cent a year. Jason Leung, an expert on shipping at Jefferies, says that a total of 550 Capesize ships, with around 50 added each year, was inadequate to cope with the demand.

As a result, charter rates rose sharply. The Baltic Dry Index, which tracks worldwide shipping costs, rose to a peak of 11600 in June 2008.

Shipping companies, assuming the upward trend would remain unbroken, placed orders for new vessels or signed long-term contracts to charter ships at high prices. They were wrong. China’s iron ore import volumes actually shrank last year, and this year’s growth is languishing at 8 per cent year to year.

The number of Capesize vessels, meanwhile, rose to 1150 by the end of last year, with 200 more coming online each year, according to Leung.

A huge increase in shipping capacity and a marked slowdown in demand growth have resulted in a collapse in prices.

The Baltic Dry Index is now around 1500. Shipping companies that assumed an unbroken upward trajectory for demand have a taste of what excess capacity looks like. Shipping isn’t the only sector that placed too aggressive bets on growth and has been caught out by overcapacity. Take Aluminium.

China’s production capacity runs at 23 million tonnes per year, compared with around 16 million tonnes of demand. Graeme Traine, a metals analyst, says 3-4 million tonnes in capacity are set to come on line this year. The biggest loser Chinalco, the state-owned giant that finds its own margins squeezed by excess supply pushing down prices.

The situation in China overall is more nuanced than some bears suggest. Overcapacity is a problem in some parts of the economy and not in others. And where there are problems, rapid growth in some cases can help solve them.

Concern about excess production in the car sector, for example; proved ill-founded as domestic as domestic demand accelerated. But in shipping, aluminium and renewable energy, the iceberg of overcapacity is already breaching the hull. Investors should prepare to man the life boats.

Source: The Weekend Australian, September 3-4, 2011.

Commencing 1 August 2011, QR National will be offering Seafreighter services six times a week from Brisbane to Cairns. The transit time to Cairns will now be two days.

Also the Superfreighter service departing from the Acacia Ridge terminal each Wednesday and Saturday, and arriving at Mackay and Cairns each Friday and Monday,will have additional capacity, providing up to an extra 12 TEU each week.

This complements our advice on 11 July relating to increased freight availability, which together with today’s announcement will result in an increase of 114 TEU per week on our Queensland services.

As you are aware, earlier this year the Parcel Direct Group (PDG) Board announced that it was undertaking a review of its investments with a potential outcome of divesting all or parts of the group.

I am now in a position to update you on the progress of this process.

Today we announce that Allied Overnight Express Pty Ltd has entered into an agreement to purchase the businesses of VicFast Parcel Direct and Hills Parcel Direct.

This includes the VicFast operation, the Hills operation in NSW and Queensland, and the Parcel Overnight Direct (POD) business in NSW, Queensland and Victoria.

This transaction is due to take effect on 18 July 2011.

Source: CEO Parcel Direct Group

The listing of TNT Express is part of the company’s de-merger from TNT NV, which received shareholder approval on 25 May at TNT NV’s Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders (EGM).

TNT was founded in Australia in 1946 as Thomas Nationwide Transport, with a fleet consisting of a single truck. It was acquired in a friendly takeover in 1996 by PTT Post (The Dutch Postal Service).

Managing director of TNT Express Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Islands Bob Black said TNT is one of Australia’s greatest business success stories.

“From such humble beginnings, TNT Express now moves 4.7 million consignments every week to more than 200 countries.

“Globally we employ 83,000 people and run a fleet of nearly 30,000 road vehicles and 50 aircraft.

“It’s astonishing to think of what has been accomplished during the company’s 65-year history,” said Mr Black.

Marie-Christine Lombard, CEO of TNT Express, said the listing was a great moment for TNT Express employees.

“TNT Express has extremely strong fundamentals and an exciting future ahead. We have a strong and experienced management team that is focused on realising value for shareholders and delivering on our targets.

“Our new independence will allow us to build a stronger, more focused TNT Express. We are aiming to consolidate our leading positions – particularly in the European express market and on Asia-Europe lanes – whilst also capturing domestic growth opportunities in selected emerging markets.

Source: T and L News

The stoppage by MUA workers will affect terminals in Brisbane, Port Botany in Sydney and East Swanson in Melbourne on Saturday 30 April 2011, while workers at the Fremantle terminal in Western Australia will strike on Monday 2 May 2011

Both parties agreed to return to the negotiating table.

The full article can be viewed on the QANTAS website: http://www.qantas.com.au/regions/dyn/au/publicaffairs/details?ArticleID=2011/mar11/5092

We have received notifications from transport companies of fuel charges increasing. Therefore our current Fuel Charge at Origin and Destination will be updated accordingly in line with these current adjustments to a rate of 12.5% – effective 28.03.11

Source: Rohlig

Under the deal reached in New Zealand, Qantas will plead guilty to participating in the cartel with other international airlines, including Air New Zealand.

In exchange, the Commerce Commission will recommend the NZ$6.5 million penalty to the country’s High Court at a hearing for April 11.

New Zealand was the last of six jurisdictions, including Australia, where Qantas was fined and in some cases faced a class action for fixing prices in its freight division between 2000 and 2006.

The NZ$6.5 million fine included a 50 per cent discount for the airline’s co-operation with the commission in its investigation.

The New Zealand fine comes after Qantas paid a similar charges in Australia, Europe, Canada and the US following a worldwide investigation launched by competition authorities in late 2005 when Deutsche Lufthansa sought immunity from the US Department of Justice in return for co-operating.

Including the New Zealand fine, Qantas has paid more than $100 million in penalties and the former head of the airline’s North American freight division was sentenced to eight months jail.

In Australia, government data on air fares showed business class and full priced economy fares remained higher than a year earlier in March, while discounted air fares were still well below the same time a year ago.

JP Morgan analysts said Qantas’ exposure to the Australian corporate market, which was driving business traffic, would help offset yield pressure in the leisure segment where it may only partially recover higher fuel costs.

Source: Australian Financial Review (March 21, 2011)