Agility annual profits up 16pc to US$228.2 million as sales rise 14pc

    Global Kuwaiti logistics provider Agility's net profit increased 16 per cent year on year in 2017 to KWD68.5 million (US$228.2 million), drawn on revenues of KWD1.4 billion, up 14 per cent.

    "In 2017, Agility posted another year of healthy growth and continued to plant the seeds for future sustainable growth," said Agility CEO Tarek Sultan.

    Agility Global Integrated Logistics (GIL), which includes Agility forwarding and contract logistics, saw revenue grow 14.3 per cent to reach a little over KWD1 billion in 2017, reports London's Air Cargo News.

    In the fourth quarter, forwarding and contract logistics revenue rose to KWD293 million, up 21.5 per cent year on year. Revenues from air and ocean were upt 25 per cent with air cargo volume rising 9.7 per cent.

    National Aviation Services (NAS), Agility's airport services unit, enjoyed healthy growth in Kuwait, Cote d'Ivoire and Afghanistan during 2017. Revenue earned in Cote d'Ivoire and Afghanistan grew by more 20 per cent year on year.

    Late last year, NAS launched operations in Liberia and Uganda. Meanwhile, the company is said to be "working to turn around performance in Tanzania and Morocco".

     Australia, India, Japan and the US have suggested an alternate Belt and Road scheme and have started talks towards creating it, reports Chinese financial news portal Caixin Global.

    The scheme will act as a counter-weight to spreading Chinese influence in developing market economies throughout the Asia-Pacific region, said the report.

    Australian media sources described the venture as an alternative to China's ambitious Belt and Road Initiative, both having the stated goal of promoting infrastructure and growth in countries along the Old Silk Road spanning Eurasia.

    The plan is still "nascent" however, according to newspapers. This is expected to be a significant talking point between Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and US President Donald Trump during his three-day visit to the US, where he will be accompanied by a small entourage of Australian political and business leaders.

China ban on waste imports hits repositioning backhaul empties hard

    Data from PIERS illustrates the enormous impact China'a ban on recyclable waste is having on repositioning containers profitably in Asia after delivering manufactures to the West from the Far East, reports IHS Media.

    Data for the commodities banned in July show that the hardest hit carrier in 2017 was Sealand, which saw volume down 53.4 per cent to 3,851 TEU; Hamburg Sud volume fell 53.1 per cent to 5,453 TEU; Hapag Lloyd was down 50.7 per cent to 34,528 TEU; and Maersk volume of the banned commodities declined 42.6 per cent to 110,570 TEU.

    "Fortunately, Chinese imports of some commodities is growing and this is helping to somewhat offset the decline in waste products," said the PIERS analyst.

    The analyst said Chinese imports of beef, for example, have soared in recent years, reaching more than 800,000 tonnes in 2016 - compared to 6,000 tonnes 10 years before - as rising income boosts meat consumption and Beijing recently removed restrictions on the import of US premium grain-fed beef.

    Beef is the fastest growing meat sector in China and the country is the world's fastest-growing overseas market for beef following the resumption of US imports in mid-2017.

    On June 12, US beef was added to the list of products eligible for export to China, ending a longstanding ban on US beef imports by Beijing following a 2003 case of mad cow disease in the United States.

    China's largest retailer, JD.com, has since signed agreements to purchase meat worth more than $1.2 billion from the United States over the next three years in a deal expected to increase Montana's beef export sales by as much as 40 per cent in 2018.

(Source:HKSG-GROUP)

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