Major Ports Witness 7% Cargo Growth In August, Jnpt Leads The Growth Rate

MUMBAI:  Efficiency gains from technological advances combined with a slew of Ease of Doing Business schemes are driving up growth at Major Ports that together account for roughly 70 percent of the Country’s total container trade.

 

The newest port data collected by JOC.com shows Major Ports’ cumulative throughput in August increased 7.7 percent to 772,000 TEU from 717,000 TEU in the same month last year.

 

Much of that growth is owed to an 8.5 percent year-over-year volume rise at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) during the month, reaching 409,000 TEU from 377,000 TEU previously. With steady productivity improvements, that trend is expected to gain further momentum at JNPT.

 

August throughput at the Chennai Port was up 5 percent to 134,000 TEUs from 128,000 TEUs a year earlier, a clear sign that the busiest Eastern harbor has been vigorously fighting to hold onto its market share amid cut-throat competition from private rivals.

 

A previous JOC.com analysis showed Chennai still commands roughly 40 percent of total South India container trade, but privately-operated Minor Ports, especially Adani Group-owned Kattupalli, are making rapid inroads into the market that is already oversupplied and has limited hinterland cargo potential.

 

JNPT and Chennai together load the majority of India’s containerized freight moving through Major Ports.

 

Like JNPT, Chennai is expanding the Direct Port Delivery (DPD) program to cut dwell times. DPD volume in the April-to-August period increased to about 17 percent, or 63,2497 TEU of the total 380,503 TEU, from 14 percent in the same period last year.

 

August volumes at other Major Ports were as follows: Kolkata, up 9 percent from 64,000 TEU to 70,000 TEU; Tuticorin, or V.O. Chidambaranar, essentially flat at 56,000 TEUs; Cochin (DP World-operated Vallarpadam Transshipment Terminal), up 15 percent from 44,000 TEU to 51,000 TEUs; and Visakhapatnam, down 6 percent from 34,000 TEUs to 32,000 TEUs, new statistics show. 

 

The figures at DP World Cochin are reportedly a monthly volume record, suggesting that it is making headway in meeting the long-term Government goal of recapturing domestic cargo transshipped over foreign hub ports, especially Sri Lanka’s Colombo.

 

On a year-to-date basis, Major Ports’ total throughput was up 6.4 percent to 3.8 million TEU from 3.5 million TEU in the April-to-August period of 2016, with JNPT accounting for 2.02 million TEU, a gain of 6.2 percent year-over-year, according to the collected data. 

 

Technology-backed Ease of Doing Business program at Indian ports will enter a new phase Oct. 1. Customs will begin allowing “electronic self-sealing” services for factory-stuffed export shipments with the use of radio-frequency identification tags, which is expected to significantly enhance supply chain security and facilitate smoother cargo flows by eliminating many physical on-site customs inspections.

 

 

Soures : dailyshippingtimes.com

With Tougher Norms, Importing Toys No Longer A Child’S Play

KOLKATA: The government has imposed tough quality norms for imported toys and mandated certification of compliance by agencies accredited with Indian authorities — a move that can choke Chinese imports and boost local manufacture, but the Rs 5,000-crore local industry is worried about orders already booked for the festive season.

 

The comprehensive notification issued on September 1 prescribes norms for physical and mechanical properties, chemical content, flammability, and testing for indoor and outdoor toys for both electrically and mechanically operated ones — going far beyond the earlier norms. The notification by the Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) says import of toys shall be permitted freely only if the manufacturer abides by norms of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).

 

Compliance has to be certified by an independent laboratory approved by an accreditation authority under the Department of Science and Technology. This will hit import from China, which accounts for nearly 70% of toys available in the Indian market. Lob Gupta, CEO, Fun Toys, said the new norms will have a big impact.

 

"Initially, there will be a big drop in imported toys from China. Government too will lose customs duty on account of this move. But safety standards will be ensured which is good for Indian children. The government should introduce BIS certification for India-made toys too," Gupta told ET.

 

Electric toys, swings, slides and similar activity toys come under the ambit of the new government stipulation. The toy industry is worried about consignments already booked before the new norms came into force.

 

"This is the peak time for the toy industry and will continue till January. If some importer has ordered in August and his consignment is to land in September, then he will face a lot of problem to get clearance. We are not sure which are the laboratories from where we will get the conformance certificate," said Manish Kukreja, president of All India Toy Manufacturers Association.

 

Kukreja is of the view that the importers should have been given at least three months' time. However, a section of the toy industry feels the move may help domestic toy manufacturing industry as it is finding it difficult to compete with cheaper Chinese imports. The domestic toy industry, which is largely a mix of organised and unorganised units, employs nearly 25 lakh people. Most of these units are located in West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Andhra Pradesh.

 

There are more than 2,000 registered units and at least 40% of these have already shut shop in the past five years, an industry executive said.

 

"It is a much-needed quality reform which would be beneficial for Indian children. However, importers should have been given some time so that pending orders lying offshore could have been imported. The DGFT notification comes at a time when the toy business is going through a bad patch since last November, when demonetisation was announced and the overall taxation has increased following the introduction of GST on July 1," Gupta of Fun Toys said. Electric toys attract 18% GST against the earlie.

 

 

Soures : economictimes.indiatimes.com

Reduction In Gst On Supply Of Scrips To Boost Exports: Fieo

MUMBAI: Welcoming the decision of the GST Council of reducing the rate on supply of various scrips from 12 per cent to 5 per cent, the Federation of Indian Export Organizations (FIEO) said the move will give a boost to the exports sector.

 

"Reduction of the GST rate on supply of scrips like merchandise exports from India scheme (MEIS), service exports from India scheme (SEIS), duty free import authorisation (DFIA) from 12 per cent to 5 per cent follows the fitment formula adopted by the Council," FIEO president Ganesh Kumar Gupta said in a statement issued here today.

 

He said the decision will give a boost to premium on scrips which plummeted with restriction on utilisation of scrips in the GST regime.

 

"Wider utilisation of scrips will also be looked by the new Committee as the government's objective is to benefit the exporters through the grant of scrips rather than the importers," Gupta said.

 

 

Sources : economictimes.indiatimes.com