Freight rail reports, projects and other news from outside North America

Global trade could be “peaking” — World Trade Organization

The latest reading of the World Trade Organization’s Goods Trade Barometer — 110.4, recorded on March 31 — is the highest on record since the indicator was first released in July 2016, and up more than 20 points year-on-year, WTO officials said on Aug. 18. The barometer is a composite leading indicator providing real-time information on the trajectory of merchandise trade relative to recent trends ahead of conventional trade volume statistics. “The rise in the barometer reflects both the strength of current trade expansion and the depth of the pandemic-induced shock in 2020,” WTO officials said. “It is notable that, while still well above trend, the index has started to rise at a decreasing rate, which could presage a peaking of upward momentum in trade.

M&A

• On Aug. 17, Bonn, Germany-based Deutsche Post DHL Group announced it had signed an agreement to acquire up to 100% of freight forwarder J.F. Hillebrand Group AG and its subsidiaries at an equity value of around €1.5 billion. Hillebrand, which is based in Mainz, Germany, generated revenue of €1.4 billion in the last 12 months, will ship about 500,000 TEUs in 2021, Deutsche Post DHL officials said. "In line with our Group Strategy, we strengthen our core logistics business and deliver profitable long-term growth," said Frank Appel, CEO of Deutsche Post DHL. "Using our financial strength, we are able to pursue quality investments while reinforcing our unchanged commitment to deliver on investor return expectations."

• Finnish lift equipment manufacturer Konecranes Plc and Finnish cargo handling machine maker Cargotec Corp. received “an unconditional approval” from China’s competition authority — the State Administration for Market Regulation — for their planned merger, Cargotec officials said on Aug. 10. “The companies continue to work closely with the competition authorities in the remaining jurisdictions to obtain regulatory approvals,” they said, adding the two companies were confident the approvals would be received to allow completion of the transaction by the end of 2022’s second half. Other jurisdictions, including the European Commission, have launched investigations into the proposed combinations. Konecrones and Cargotec signed a combination agreement in the fall of 2020.

• On Aug. 6, shipping line A.P. Moller – Maersk announced it had (1) acquired Visible Supply Chain Management, a U.S.-based business-to-consumer (B2C) logistics company focused on parcel delivery and e-fulfilment services in the United States; and (2) reached an agreement to acquire Dutch-based B2C Europe, a logistics company focused on B2C parcel delivery services in Europe. Terms of the transactions were not revealed. “Market dynamics are changing and we see more and more consumers doing their shopping online,” Maersk officials said. “With an increasing relevance of business-to-consumer supply chains and in line with our strategy to become the global integrator of logistics, we have set out to further build on our e-commerce capabilities.” 

A 20-year plan under discussion in Brazil

The government of Sao Paulo has proposed a freight and passenger logistics plan that calls for private investment of 70 billion Brazilian reals by 2040, nearly 80 percent of that total dedicated to rail, according to numerous published reports. During the next several months, the government plans to conduct public hearings to discuss the feasibility of the plan

A last-mile drone delivery pilot in Sweden

Drone delivery startup Aerit announced on Aug. 16 that it has received operational authorization from Transportstyrelsen, Sweden’s national transportation agency, to pilot last-mile drone delivery in Sweden. “The authorization is an important milestone in Aerit’s journey to become the world's leading drone delivery service,” said Aerit CEO and Co-founder Alexander Perrien. “Transportstyrelsen has been an outstanding resource for the development of our drone platform, Nimbi, and procedures to ensure the safety and robustness of our operations." Nimbi is capable of autonomous pick-up and delivery of up to four kilograms of goods and requires no additional infrastructure for senders or receivers, said officials of Aerit, which is based in Stockholm and part of KTH Innovation, The Innovation Growhouse Stockholm, and the European Institute of Innovation and Technology Urban Mobility Accelerator.

Tunnel vision achieved at Etihad Rail

Etihad Rail, the developer and operator of the UAE National Rail Network, late last month completed the longest tunnel in the Gulf Region. Running for 1.8 kilometers, the tunnel is part of Package D on Stage Two. Package D runs for 145 kilometers from Dubai and Sharjah, through the Al Hajar Mountains, and toward the emirate of Fujairah. The package includes the construction of nine tunnels through the mountains at a cumulative length of 6.9 kilometers, and includes 54 bridges and 20 animal crossings. The route passes through some of the most complex topographical areas in the construction of the network, Etihad Rail officials said. Tunnel excavation required 300,000 work hours to complete, with over half a million tons of stone being removed during excavation, officials said.

Strong first half for Germany’s Port of Kiel

The Port of Kiel “achieved significant volume growth in the cargo sector” in the year’s first half, port officials announced on Aug. 13. From Jan. 1 through June 23, the port handled 8.25% more goods than in the same 2020 period. “Ferry traffic grew disproportionately,” increasing 12.7% in the number of transhipped trucks and trailers, port officials said. Added, Dirk Claus, Port of Kiel’s managing director: "We are on the right track in the cargo sector. Declines from the same period last year were more than compensated for in terms of volume." Not that the pandemic hasn’t had an impact. Witness cross-border traffic. The number of unaccompanied cargo units increased “by a good quarter,” port officials said, adding that of the 100,000 trucks and trailers handled, more than half were unaccompanied. 

India and Bangladesh … and beyond

After almost 56 years, India and Bangladesh resumed regular operations of freight trains along the Haldibari-Chilahati rail route, India’s Ministry of Railways announced on Aug. 2. Inaugurated in December 2020 during a virtual meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to bolster trade relations between the two nations, the Haldibari-Chilahati rail link is expected to provide northeast India with an opportunity to enter the international market, Indian railway officials said. The distance between Haldibari railway station and the international border is 4.5 kilometers; the distance from Chilhati, 7.5 kilometers.

Engineering a footprint in China

ITK Engineering GmbH is branching out into Asia. The company, which is based in the Southern Palatinate region of Germany, opened an office in the Chinese "mega-city" of Wuxi near Shanghai, the company announced on Aug. 18. Initially focusing on the automotive sector, the branch office’s activities will first center on system development, electric vehicle verification and validation, and highly automated driving. The company also plans to “delve into medical and rail technology in China over the medium term,” company officials said.

The digitalization thing …

• Digital trade finance network Contour Pte. Ltd. has partnered with the Global Shipping Business Network (GSBN) to offer an end-to-end digital solution for “all participants involved in trading, financing and shipping goods around the world,” GSBN officials said on Aug. 17. GSBN’s blockchain-enabled operating system and its product Cargo Release are designed to enable highly efficient and transparent digital sharing of verified logistics and cargo data, and can cut the time for cargo to be document-ready for release from days to a matter of hours, GSBN officials said. “The global logistics and shipping industry — like trade finance — is in critical need of digitization,” Singapore-based Contour CEO Carl Wegner said. “Counterparties need to be able to interact with trust, certainty and security — both in the way they finance trades and in the processes that support the physical shipment of goods.” Added Bertrand Chen, CEO of Hong Kong-based GSBN: “This [partnership] will pave way for more trusted collaboration between market participants, as well as a more efficient and resilient global supply chain.”

• Swiss IoT company Nexxiot and Polish freight-car rental company Eurowagon “started a cooperation” and are equipping Eurowagon's fleet with Nexxiot products, Nexxiot officials announced on Aug. 11. The gateway devices to be used to equip Eurowagon’s non-powered freight wagons, called Globehoppers, deliver data in near real-time. “By 2026, we will increase our fleet to 4,500 wagons, becoming the largest professional rolling stock company for the rental of rail freight wagons in Central and Eastern Europe,” said Marek Gołębiewski, Technical Director at Eurowagon’s technical director. “To achieve this, we strive to integrate the latest technologies and ideas into the company now to offer our clients the best possible service.”

• Plasser & Theurer is “actively involved” in the EuProGigant research project alongside other industrial companies, universities and software companies from Austria and Germany, the company announced on Aug. 5. The research project’s aim: “to efficiently generate large amounts of data, to store it safely and to analyze it in a useful manner with the use of GAIA-X, the European cloud infrastructure,” company officials said. “This will lead to the development of a digitally networked production ecosystem that is location independent. The lead project for GAIA-X, EuProGigant focuses on the production environment. During the kick-off event in Vienna and Berlin, all 16 project partners from Germany and Austria met for the first time in late June, n 24 June, with the aim of outlining their plans for research and technology transfer. Plasser & Theurer is “on board” with two application scenarios: big data in manufacturing, and the potential for non-stop data recording and transfer by on-track machines, company officials said.