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The Cargo Letter
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THE CARGO LETTER [371]
Air & Ocean Logistics - Customs Broker News
20 November 2001
Good Tuesday Morning from our Observation Deck...... overlooking the
officially designated "Cargo City" area and....... Runway 25-Right, at Los
Angeles International Airport, voted "Best Cargo Airport in North America."
Happy Thanksgiving to you & your staff! God Bless America as the war against
terrorism continues.
Contribute your knowledge, stories & company information ........ by
e-mail to The Cargo Letter. We strive to
bring you useful information which is timely & topical. Be sure to visit our
web site:
To post comments or discuss articles, go to ....... http://www.interpool.com/tcl/disc1_frm.htm
Michael S. McDaniel, Editor & Publisher, Countryman & McDaniel,
forwarder/broker attorneys at LAX.
INDEX to The Cargo Letter:
Section A: Section: Trade, Financial & Inland News|
Section B: FF World Air News |
Section C: FF World Ocean News | Section D: FF in Cyberspace |
Section E: The Forwarder Broker World
Freight Forwarder Trade Briefs
The Cargo Letter Financial Page
- U.S. Goes Up ........
as boosted by new technology advances, labor
productivity in the U.S. between 1995 & 2000 increased by an average 2.6%, up
from 0.8% between 1990-1995, and outpaced the European Union & Japan,
according to a report by the Int'l labor Organization. But these steady
gains, warns the ILO, could be derailed or reversed in the short term by the
shock of the Sept. 11 events.
- Hong Kong Goes Down ........
as total exports & imports of goods both
fell significantly in Sept. 2001 over a year earlier, according to figures
released by Hong Kong's Census & Statistics Dept. The value of total exports
of goods (comprising re-exports & domestic exports) for Sept. decreased by
11.0% over a year earlier to US$17.3B, after a 9.1% year-on-year decline in
Aug. Within this total, the value of re-exports fell by 9.5% to US$15.6B,
while the value of domestic exports plunged by 22.6% to US$1.7B. The value of
imports of goods also declined markedly over a year earlier, by 9.0% to
US$18.3B in Sept. after a 9.3% fall in Aug. A visible trade deficit of US$1.0B
, equivalent to 5.5% of the value of imports of goods, was suffered in Sept.
2001.
- Iraq & Lebanon Go Free ........
as they will sign a free trade
agreement in a bid to further promote bilateral trade relations. The
agreement will be signed during the upcoming Baghdad Int'l Fair, Iraqi Trade
Minister Mohammad Mehdi Salah was quoted as saying.
- China First? ........
as the relationship between the U.S. & China is
the most important bilateral relationship in the coming century as it regards
a peaceful & prosperous world, former U.S. president George H.W. Bush said
Nov. 8. "I know & confidently tell you that China is vastly important to
America," he said in a keynote speech to participants of the 12th World
Productivity Congress held in Hong Kong. China's trade climbed 7.9%
year-on-year for the 1st 10 months of 2001, taking a dip of just 0.1% after
the terrorists attacks in the U.S. on Sept. 11.
- China & Japan Cozy ........
as trade between them reached US$43.6B in
1st half of 2001 -- an increase of 12.7% on last year, a record which may hit
US$90B for the year.
- Wood War Smokes ........
as the U.S. has slapped a 12% to 13% tariff
on Canadian softwood lumber in addition to the 19% countervailing duty
imposed in Aug. -- Canada not pleased. Following U.S. opposition, the Dispute
Settlement Body (DSB) at its meeting on 5 Nov. rejected Canada's request to
establish a WTO dispute settlement panel to examine U.S. countervailing
duties imposed in the context of the ongoing U.S.-Canada softwood lumber
dispute.
- Time To Help Pakistani Textiles? ........
as the Pakistan Textile
& Apparel Group, a coalition of Pakistan exporters in textiles & apparel, has
urged the U.S. Congress to pass the "Pakistan Emergency Economic Development
& Trade Support Act," as quickly as possible. The legislation was designed by
Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., to avert an economic disaster to Pakistan's
economy by providing President Bush with the authority to reduce or suspend
existing duties on textile & apparel imports from Pakistan. Although shipment
of goods has continued uninterrupted since the U.S. bombing began in
Afghanistan began, many American buyers have all but stopped doing business
with Pakistan & failed to place new orders for the upcoming 2002 season.
Dramatic decline in orders from the U.S. has already resulted in the layoff
of thousands of workers, & factory closings are anticipated in Dec. & Jan.
Many buyers, including those representing major U.S. apparel brands, are
still taking a "wait & see" attitude regarding future orders with Pakistani
manufacturers. The U.S. is Pakistan's single largest customer, importing
US$2.2B worth of Pakistani goods last year, with clothing & textiles
accounting for 86%. Pakistan's textile industry employs 60% of the country's
industrial work force. High stakes for Pakistan.
- But How To Help Pakistani Textiles? ........
as U.S. domestic textile
producers have told the Bush administration the elimination of duties on
Pakistani textile imports would further erode the U.S. textile industry.
Charles Hayes, president of the American Textile Manufacturing Institute
said, "Eliminating duties will depress prices still further & dramatically
increase imports. Our estimates show the damage to the U.S. textile industry
could reach billions of dollars." The group said it understood the need to
keep Pakistan's textile & apparel industry alive during the war in
Afghanistan. While it competes with the major retail importers, ATMI backs
the increase of imports at the current duty rate.
- Customs Commish Returns ........
as former New York police
commissioner Raymond Kelly will again head the New York Police Dept. -- the
nation's largest police force. He takes over Jan. 1. Kelly currently serves
as head of global security for Bear Stearns. He was Commissioner of the U.S.
Customs Service from 1998 to 2000.
- U.S. Customs Pay Up ........
as it has set Jan. 18 as the deadline
for annual user fees on each Customs broker permit & national permit held by
an individual, partnership, association or corporation. The US$125 fee that
users pay each calendar year for their permit, is set forth in the Customs
Regulations in section 111.96 (19 CFR 111.96). Customs Regs. provide that the
fee is payable for each calendar year in each broker district where the
broker was issued a permit to do business by the due date which is published
in the Federal Register annually.
- Mad Greek ........
as the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture's Animal & Plant
Health Inspection Service said it will continue its ban of meat imports from
Greece after a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy was found in a cow on
July 2. BSE, or "mad cow" disease, is a neurological disease of cattle and is
not known to exist in the U.S. Meanwhile, the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture has
added France & Ireland to its list of countries considered to be free of
rinderpest & foot-and-mouth disease. However, these countries are still
subject to certain import restrictions on meat & animal products because of
their proximity to or trading relationships with regions affected by the
diseases.
- Put It On The Rail ........
as the Int'l Federation of Freight
Forwarders Associations (FIATA) & the Int'l Union of Combined Road-Rail
Transport Companies have issued a joint declaration calling for the
development of a better combined road-rail transport system, with the full
liberalization of Europe's railways. The declaration states that: "According
to recent prognoses, transport of goods is expected to rise in Western &
Central Europe by a further 38% between 1998 & 2010," pointing out that 66%
of inland transport is currently moved by road. More attention should be
aimed at reducing this share & developing other modes of transportation, such
as rail. The freight forwarding industry, however, deems the current
performance of railways below acceptable levels. Border crossing speeds need
to be increased & full liberalization achieved to improve competition levels,
the declaration states.
- China Rails Privatize ........
as domestic railway cargo
transportation will gradually be opening up to foreign investors, according
to the China Daily. Plan is in line with China's promise to open up its
markets to foreign companies after it becomes a WTO member. The Ministry of
Railways, which has held tight control for the past 50 years, will let go of
its monopoly in stages over the next 5 years. In the 1st stage, from 2002 to
2003, foreign companies will be allowed to form joint ventures with Chinese
companies holding majority stakes. From 2004 to 2006, foreign companies will
be allowed to hold major shares in rail cargo transport joint ventures and,
finally, in 2006 the market will be open for foreign companies to compete
evenly. Transportation of passengers will remain under state control.
- Reunion ........
as United Transportation Union members voted by a
6-to-1 margin to approve a merger with the Brotherhood of Locomotive
Engineers -- as certified on Oct. 29 by the American Arbitration Assn., which
counted the votes.
- Big Beijing ........
as the proposed "Beijing Logistics Port" is
expected to be built at a cost of US$1.33B with Beijing Jingtai Logistics &
the Kerry Group of Hong Kong being the key investors -- other include
Beijing's Huayuan Enterprises Group & Hongshi Industry Co. Ltd. The port will
cover 3 million square meters in eastern Beijing's Shibalidian district,
close to the Beijing-Tianjin-Tanguu expressway. Analysts believe the new
logistics port will help northern China keep in touch with investment &
economic developments in the south of the country. Port is expected to be
operational in 2006.
- Questing For Geo ........
as Questor Partners Fund II L.P. has
purchased US$67.5M of newly issued participating preferred stock in
GeoLogistics Corp., the non-asset-based North American logistics provider. In
addition to funding operational enhancements, proceeds from the Questor
investment will be utilized to pay down bank debt. Questor will have 5 seats
on the 10-member GeoLogistics board.
- Danzas In Austria ........
as the logistics arm of Deutsche Post,
announced takeover of the Cargoplan/Cargoline group, a freight forwarding &
logistics company based in Vienna, Austria, with sales of US$70M in 2000 &
500 employees.
- Phoenix Int'l Grows In Ireland ........
as it has opened a new office
in Shannon, marking the 2nd branch in Ireland, following the opening of
Dublin in June, 1999. Phoenix belives Ireland to be an overlooked market.
- U.S. Customs To Split ........
as it has proposed new rules that would
allow importers to submit a single entry to cover multiple portions of a
single shipment which has been split by the carrier & arrives separately in
the U.S. While split shipments can be found in the ocean & land transport
environments, it has historically been a problem in the air transport
industry. Split shipments often occur as a result of limited space, the need
to balance weight, and offloading concerns of planes. Proposed single entry
for split shipments is permitted under the Tariff Suspension & Trade Act of
2000 -- which would work as follows: 1.] A shipment is delivered & accepted
intact by the carrier in the export country under a single bill of lading or
waybill to be shipped in its entirety; 2.] The shipment is split by the
carrier, acting on its own; 3.] The split portions of the shipment remain
consigned to the same importer in the U.S., which is named on the original
B/L or waybill; and 4.] Those portions of the split shipment that could be cov
ered under the entry arrive directly from abroad at the same port of entry in
the U.S. within 10 calendar days of the date that 1st portions arrived.
Customs will take comments through Jan. 15, 2002. Contact Keith Fleming,
Office of Field Operations, at 202-927-1049.
- KPMG Buys Fuglei ........
as the national accountancy firm has
expanded the service offerings of its "Trade & Customs" practice by acquiring
"CUSTOMS Info", the popular customs reference information CD-ROM & Web site,
from Fuglei & Associates. CUSTOMS Info is marketed to more than 800
subscribers & 3,000 licensed users, including importers, exporters, customs
brokers & attorneys.
www.customsinfo.com.
- New "ExportView" ........
as Flagship Customs Services new system
allows its export clients to view online their shipper's export declaration
filed with U.S. Customs. ExportView gives shippers access to FCS' Export2000
Service to view & print SEDs submitted by the filer on their behalf. Thus,
the shipper is able to gain "instant access" at any time to its SED data
filed & accepted by Customs.
- Arzoon Unites ........
as it has released "Arzoon LIFE 4.0" software,
a solution that unifies transportation management and international trade
logistics on a single platform. The application is part of a category of
supply chain execution software called "logistics resource management" (LRM).
The Arzoon LIFE LRM platforms provides enterprise & supply chain-wide
visibility & control of logistics processes from the procurement of raw
materials to the distribution of finished goods.
www.arzoon.com.
- Clicklogistics Refuels ........
as the provider of technology &
management services has secured an additional round of venture capital,
amounting to "a 7 figure sum," with GTCR Golder Rauner Fund VII. The
provider, based in Boston, "has demonstrated an ability to attract customers
in a tough economy," said Dave Donnini, a principal at GTCR. Clicklogistics
has recently signed Marathon Oil, Krispy Kreme, & Alcoa as clients.
- Others Consolidate ........
as Digital Freight, a provider of
Net-native transportation management tools & Cleartrack Information Network,
Inc., a supply chain event management firm, have announced a strategic
partnership to provide an online comprehensive solution for transportation
procurement, freight management & visibility from users' desktops. The
Digital Freight-Cleartrack combined solution will allow global shippers to
effectively manage the transportation procurement bidding process & monitor
shipments from end-to-end while providing proactive event & alert
notifications throughout the shipment's cycle.
www.digitalfreight.com.
- And Others Consolidate ........
as Freightquote.com & Unishippers have
announced an alliance which will enable Unishippers' 300+ franchises &
200,000 customers to compare discounted rates & transit times of numerous
carriers. "InstaShip" will offer truckload, LTL & other heavy freight
services electronically. The alliance will add freightquote.com's freight
rating, scheduling & tracking technology to Unishippers' air express online
service offerings. The shake out continues.
www.unishippers.com.
- Weeded Out ........
as Mexican marijuana growers are having a tough
time this year, as U.S. agents searching for terrorists find illegal drugs
instead. Heightened border security since Sept. 11 has led to increases in
the number of drug seizures by U.S. agents over the past month, raising the
total between Sept. 24 to Oct. 25 from 198 in 2000 to 265 -- a 34% increase,
according to U.S. Customs figures for Texas, New Mexico & Arizona. Customs
agents in the 3 border states confiscated 25,045 pounds (11,360 kg) of
marijuana from Sept. 24 to Oct. 25, figures show. Figures for California were
not available.
- Historic Seizure ........
as U.S. Customs seized US$100M worth in
counterfeit Microsoft computer software in Los Angeles & arrested 3
individuals on Nov. 17. Customs seized a 40-foot container of counterfeit
computer software & 2 X 40-foot containers containing 85,000 cartons of
counterfeit Marlboro cigarettes valued at about US$3M. Customs in another
search of a related storage unit in La Puente, Calif., found more than 47,000
copies of counterfeit Microsoft & Symantec software and 21 cartons of
counterfeit end user license agreements, manuals, barcodes, labels &
registration cards. The copies of Windows Millenium & Windows 2000
Professional were indistinguishable from the real thing except for their lack
of authenticating holograms on the CDs, flaws in packaging & other slight
defects. Scary! Largest seizure of pirated software in Custom's history.
- Tried To Wing It With Customs ........
as a man is accused of
smuggling 44 birds, including Cuban finches popular as pet songbirds, by
strapping them to his body for a charter flight from Havana. Carlos Rodriguez
Avila of Miami was released Nov. 2 on US$50,000 bond after he was charged
with lying on a customs declaration by denying he was bringing any wildlife
into the U.S. Suspicious airport inspectors thought Rodriquez a bit
"flightly" and asked that he raise his pant legs & saw something strapped to
his legs when he arrived in Miami. A final count of 44 birds included some
Cuban melodious finches -- a species not endangered in its home range but
easily stressed by capture & smuggling. Cuban finches are popular as pets for
their singing & could easily be sold as pets in South Florida. An Int'l
treaty requires an export permit to remove the birds from Cuba, & U.S.
regulations requires quarantine on arrival to check for disease. Males have
black faces nearly surrounded by a bright yellow band. The rest of the body
is yellow-green, black & gray. Adults are about 4 inches long.
- Airborne Inc ........
UP with 3rd-quarter net income of US$1.7M, compared with a
US$5.5M loss in the year-earlier period. Results for quarter include a
US$7.8M credit for compensation received for losses during Sept. under the
Air Transportation Safety & System Stabilization Act. The compensation
reflects only a portion of approximate US$13M loss Airborne estimates it
sustained in Sept. due to disruption in business.
- Atlas Air ........
DOWN with a 3rd quarter net loss of US$4.2M, or $0.11 per
share, for quarter ended Sept. 30, 2001, compared to a net income of
US$23.1M, or $0.60 per share, for 3rd quarter 2000.
- British Airways ........
DOWN with pretax profit of US$7.32M for the quarter
ended Sept. 30, 2001, as opposed to a US$292.7M figure for same period last
year.
- CP Ships ........
DOWN with a net loss of US$9M for 3rd quarter, as the former
shipping arm of Canadian Pacific reported 1st quarterly financial results
since it became a stock market listed company on Oct. 1.
- Delta Air Lines ........
DOWN with a net loss of US$295M & a loss per share of
US$2.43 for the Sept. 2001 quarter versus net income of US$273M & diluted
earnings per share of US$2.08 in the Sept. 2000 quarter.
- EGL, Inc ........
DOWN with a 3rd-quarter loss of US$8.6M, compared to net income
of US$18.3M for 3rd quarter 2000.
- Expeditors Int'l ........
UP as 3rd-quarter net income rose 7% to US$27.4M,
despite a 10% drop in revenues, to US$427M. Net revenue rose 4% to US$157.9M,
while operating income improved 6% to US$42M.
- Interpool, Inc ........
UP with income from continuing operations for 3rd quarter
of 2001 was a record of US$11.6M, or $0.40 per diluted share. Interpool is
corporate sponsor of The Cargo Letter archives.
- KLM Royal Dutch Airlines ........
DOWN as 2nd-half net income plunged 77.1%
US$24M.
- Kuehne & Nagel ........
UP with net income of US$71.5M for the 1st 9 months of
2001, exceeding the same period of last year by 33.8%. Gross profit rose by
43.4% US$926.6M.
- Pacer Int'l ........
DOWN as 3rd-quarter net income fell 83% to US$1.0M, due to
reduced operating income, US$6.9M in one-time charges & an US$800,000
increase in interest expense due to borrowings for acquisitions.
- P&O Nedlloyd Container Line Ltd ........
DOWN with a 73% fall in 3rd quarter net
profit, to US$16M, as its average revenue per TEU dropped 8% & vessel load
factors fell 5%.
- Swift Transportation Co. Inc ........
DOWN as 3rd-quarter net income fell 86% to
US$2.8M, on revenue of US$536.4M, up 7%.
- Trailer Bridge Inc., (U.S. mainland/Puerto Rico shipping) ........
DOWN with a net
loss of US$5.6M for 3rd quarter ended Sept. 30, compared deficit of $210,000
in same quarter last year.
- UAL Corp. (parent of United Airlines) ........
DOWN with a 3rd-quarter loss of
US$542M, its largest ever in 75 years -- compares to 3rd-quarter 2000 net
loss of US$64M.
- US Airways ........
DOWN with an operating loss of US$369M & a net loss of
US$433M for 3rd quarter of 2001.
- Wilh. Wilhelmsen ASA (diversified Scandinavian shipping group) ........
DOWN with
net group income for 3rd quarter of US$5M, down from US$18M in same period
last year.
Please click below for other sections:
Section A: Section: Trade, Financial & Inland News|
Section B: FF World Air News |
Section C: FF World Ocean News | Section D: FF in Cyberspace |
Section E: The Forwarder Broker World
The Cargo Letter Correspondents:
Michael S. McDaniel, Esq., Editor
(Countryman & McDaniel).
Cameron W. Roberts, Esq. (Countryman & McDaniel).
Written from wire stories, the Associated
Press, Reuters, Hong Kong Shipping News Lloyds & other world sources.
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