All middle east articles – Page 5
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Feature
ECG president Baldissara to step down in 2016
Costantino Baldissara, commercial and logistics director of the Grimaldi Group, will step down from his position as president of the European Finished Vehicle Logistics Association (ECG) next spring.Wolfgang Göbel, managing director of Mosolf Automotive Railway, and head of marketing and logistics for the Horst Mosolf Group, will be nominated by ...
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FeatureECG Panel discussion: Talk is cheap, what is needed is action
A panel of OEMs and vehicle logistics experts discussed the present and future of Europe's vehicle logistics industry at the end of the ECG Conference in Vienna. Most expressed a desire to work more closely together – and perhaps they have even found a way to do it. While Europe ...
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FeatureLanka Harness: Out of Asia
Rohan Gunasekera reports on Sri Lankan supplier Lanka Harness’s global success and expansion in Mexico, and the local supply chain its executive chairman, Rohan Pallewatta, hopes to build for the company at homeLanka Harness, a Sri Lankan company that supplies impact sensors for airbags and seatbelts, has recently been making ...
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Feature
Are European vehicle logistics going back to the past or the future?
More than 240 delegates gathered in Vienna, Austria for this year’s annual meeting of the Association of European Vehicle Logistics (ECG), powered by Finished Vehicle Logistics, to discuss an industry that has returned to growth and is now confronting new technologies that could transform operations. But an ongoing and worsening ...
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FeatureSupply chain and mining are potential barriers to alternative powertrains
Most of the larger OEMs have made commitments for the coming years to increasing the amount of alternative powertrains within their production lineup. Electric vehicles are growing in appeal around the world and, as they do, so does the demand for a once-obscure group of specialist metals, which are vital ...
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FeatureDSV to buy UTi
DSV, a Danish transport company offering road, air, sea and logistics transport services, has signed an agreement to acquire US-based non-asset-based supply chain management company, UTi Worldwide. The deal values UTi at around $1.35 billion, and the news is expected to add around 50% to DSV’s annual revenue and scale, ...
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FeatureSafi Port revises ro-ro prices and reveals expansion plans at Derince
Safi Port, the private company that has been running the Turkish port of Derince since March this year, has announced it has revised its ro-ro handling prices at the request of its customers. It has also revealed plans to increase the operational area at the port, including ambitious plans for ...
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FeatureThe pros and cons of short-sea in Mexico
The picture in Mexico is constantly changing. At this year's Automotive Logistics Global conference in Detroit, Roberto Zavala, head of Mexico for Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics, said it was a country of contrast, or “two Mexicos”. One is the booming emerging market with huge amounts of investment and development, but the ...
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FeatureUECC forced to recycle vessel due to high costs and low rates
European short-sea ro-ro operator UECC has been forced to take its vessel M/V Autoracer out of service and send it for recycling. According to its CEO, Glenn Edvardsen, its removal was not because of low volumes but down to historically low freight rates on short sea voyages, a situation worsened ...
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FeatureCarmakers alter supply chains to cope with shift from Western Europe says Colliers
Latest research from commercial real estate firm, Colliers International, indicates that shifts in economic power and manufacturing capacity over the past two decades have significantly changed the distribution of vehicles in Europe’s automotive industry. The company said that lower labour costs, improved infrastructure and government support have all contributed to ...
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FeatureRenault and Daimler increase activity with EV engine supply deal
Renault and Daimler are moving forward with a number of joint projects for the supply of vehicles and engines in 2015. The latest include Renault’s supply of motors from its plant in Cleon to Daimler for use in electric versions of the German carmaker’s Smart city cars, which are made ...
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FeatureCurrency woes hit Turkish car exports
Exports of Turkish manufactured vehicles rose by 8% in August this year, reaching $1.36 billion, which is the best August result to be posted since the 2008 global financial crisis began to bite.Nevertheless, for the first eight months overall, exports are reported down 10%, according to Orhan Sabuncu, the chairman ...
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FeatureNYK signs deal to develop ro-ro in Saudi; JLR pulls plans on plant there
Global shipping line, NYK, has signed a joint venture with the owner and developer of King Abdullah port in Saudi Arabia – Ports Development Company (PDC) – to build a ro-ro terminal there. Due to be fully operational in the third quarter of 2016, KAP RoRo Terminal will be the ...
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FeatureEkol continues to branch out in Europe
When Turkish logistics provider Ekol started operations in Poland in May this year, it brought the number of countries in which it provides services to the automotive industry to 11.From its beginnings 25 years ago in Istanbul, the company has grown into an integrated logistics provider handling both intermodal transport ...
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FeatureFord’s Grant Belanger to retire; Todd Bryant will head global logistics
Ford will soon have a new executive director of global material planning and logistics (MP&L), and parts supply and logistics (PS&L) in North America as Grant Belanger (left) retires after 30 years with the company.Sources at Ford have told Automotive Logistics that he will be replaced by Todd Bryant, beginning ...
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FeatureSafi Port hits back at disgruntled ro-ro operators
The new private operator of the Turkish port of Derince – Safi Port – has defended its increase in handling fees in the face of widespread criticism from the maritime car carrier sector, saying they represent a combination of previously separate charges, as well changes that have resulted from privatisation.Following ...
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FeaturePost-panamax car carrier – Höegh Target – docks in UK
The Höegh Target, reputed to currently be the world’s largest pure car and truck carrier (PCTC), docked in the UK this week on its maiden voyage from China. The enormous ship, which has deck space of 71,400 sq.m and can carry 8,500 cars, arrived at the Port of Tyne, Newcastle, ...
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FeatureThe 'X' factors of port efficiency
Speakers at the 2015 Import Export North American conference in Baltimore pointed to the need to improve visibility in the international vehicle logistics chain, and to work closely together ahead of what could be major changes to import and export patterns. Christopher Ludwig and Rachael Hogg report from Baltimore ...
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FeatureFord to assemble Ranger trucks in Nigeria from SKD imports this year
Ford will start making Ranger trucks in Nigeria from the fourth quarter of this year at a facility in Ikeja, the latest carmaker to announce production in the country following Nigeria’s introduction of a new automotive industry development plan late in 2013.It is the first country African country outside of ...
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FeatureRo-ro lines ditch Derince as port adds insult to financial injury
Following the sudden 450% increase in handling fees for finished vehicles at the newly privatised Turkish port of Derince, a significant volume of that business has now been shifted to the adjacent Autoport facility in Yeniköy, which has reopened for business after an 18-month suspension of services.Shipping lines have also ...