Quarterly net revenues were up 11 per cent to $196.8 million from $177.8 million in the third quarter of last year.

Total revenue from operations in six continents, was $711.5 million, up 15 per cent from $620.4 million a year earlier.

While revenue from ocean freight and ocean services improved in the quarter to $284.9 million, compared with the $205.2 million in the previous corresponding quarter, airfreight revenues fell to $307.6 million from $318.8 million, a decline of more than $11 million, financial statements show.

Revenues generated by the company’s Far East operations of $412.5 million surpassed those from Europe, Australia/New Zealand, Latin America and the Middle East.

“The story this quarter was really pre-announced back in the middle of September,” said Peter Rose, chairman and chief executive.

“We had a fundamentally sound September and we continue to work to catch up with the carrier rate increases. Margins did improve somewhat as the third quarter concluded, but growth in airfreight tonnage was not sufficient to make up for the August shortfall.”

The company said it hopes the service will enhance internal compliance.

It has also issued new rules of conduct to more clearly define ethical standards for all employees. The desk will be tasked to deal with situations deemed too difficult for employees to handle with regard to breaches of compliance.

The general manager of the Internal Audit Office will responsible for the desk, MOL said.

Employees are being encouraged to report breaches of compliance, while anonymous reports will not be entertained if done via e-mail, letter, or telephone.

The company added that all information reported to the desk will be kept confidential.

According to figures released by Chinese Customs, total imports of natural rubber amounted to 888,000 tonnes in the first nine months, an increase of 40.95 per cent.

In addition, imports of synthetic rubber in September came up to 95,000 tonnes, up 16.1 per cent. In the first nine months, imports amounted to 722,000 tonnes, a rise of 3.2 per cent.

The company handled 198,704 tonnes – up 4.7 per cent year-on-year, surpassing the previous monthly high of 189,758 tonnes handled during the same month last year.

Aggregate throughput from January to October this year was 1.62 million tonnes, up 4.6 per cent year-on-year.

Hactl also recorded its highest daily throughput ever on October 31, when it processed 7,694 tonnes, exceeding the 7,601 tonnes handled on the same day last year.

Another peak was achieved in the week of October 27-November 2 when a weekly tonnage throughput of 47,696 tonnes was recorded.

Total exports in October added up to 116,175 tonnes, up 7.8 per cent year-on-year. Shipments to Europe surged 31.4 per cent year-on-year, while exports to Asia increased 10.3 per cent year-on-year. Aggregate export tonnage over the first 10 months was 873,723 tonnes, up 7.5 per cent year-on-year.

Imports grew 1.7 per cent to 57,717 tonnes, while the total import tonnage through October was 530,830 tonnes, up 0.5 per cent year-on-year.

The company said that as part of trial run it had a convoy of transporters head off from the Port of Langon to its manufacturing base carrying structures that resembled parts of the massive plane.

The A380 is 73.3 metres long with a wingspan of 79 metres and to date Airbus has received a total of 129 firm orders and commitments from 11 customers.

The orders cover both the 555 seat and freighter versions of the new plane.

Airbus said the first wing for the double deck aircraft was removed from its four-storey high main assembly jig at its factory in Broughton, Wales. It is the port wing for MSN001, the first-flight test aircraft.

The 45-metre wing was then manoeuvred through 90 degrees to be laid horizontally for the first time. At this stage the wing weighs about 30 tonnes – including flight test instrumentation.

The wing will be laid on a transportation raft beside the assembly jig while detailed measurements and quality control checks are carried out. It will then be transferred to the next stage of assembly and placed in one of three dedicated two-storey bays in the new “equipping” area, the company said.

Here components such as hydraulic, pneumatic and fuel systems and wiring will be fitted followed by cleaning and anti-corrosion painting before a finished pair of wings is delivered from Broughton to the final assembly line in Toulouse next spring. Three sets of A380 wings are now in the main assembly jigs at Broughton – including a set of non-flying wings used for testing. The starboard wing for MSN001 is due for removal from the main jig before the end of this month, Airbus said.

Associated Press reported that the test run was an important demonstration to clients and investors that Airbus is on top of logistical problems. One of which is how to move huge chunks of the superjumbo on narrow country roads and highways built for small cars rather than Airbus, the report said.

Roundabouts have been razed, traffic lights moved and trees cut. The wings caused the biggest headaches. Roads had to be widened substantially to allow two 53-metre trailers used in the test to negotiate bends, AP said.

The maiden flight departed Sydney in November 1953, and was operated by a Constellation L749. It flew Sydney-Darwin-Jakarta-Singapore-Bangkok before continuing on to London, stopping at ports such as Calcutta, Colombo, Bombay, Karachi, Cairo, Beirut, Rome, Zurich and Frankfurt, which took another two days.

Flying has come a long way since 1953, with flights from Sydney to Bangkok now taking just over eight hours.

Vice Minister of Communication Hong Shan-xiang, told the International Maritime Forum 2003 held in Shanghai, that the restructuring of ports will continue at a faster pace.

He said the most important undertaking was to develop Shanghai into an international shipping centre, and speed up the construction of Yangshan Port.

Apart from this, China also plans to develop ports in Changjiang Delta, Pearl River Delta and Bohai Region to build up a container transport network that is to include main hubs and feeder ports.

Mr Hong said China would make a greater effort to boost the logistics facilities of ports, upgrade information technology, and improve the efficiency of ports.

At present, there are more than 1,460 ports of different size in China. Also, more than 60,000 vessels from 100-plus countries call at these ports.

Last year, the total container throughput for the whole of China was 37 million TEU, an increase of 35 per cent over 2001. Mr Hong said that in general, ports in China are able to meet the country’s economic development and foreign trade needs.

Container throughput for Shanghai and Shenzhen last year reached a record 8.5 million TEU and 7.5 million TEU respectively, making the two facilities the fourth and the sixth biggest container ports in the world.

Ports in Dalian, Tianjin, Qingdao, Ningbo and Xiamen have also greatly improved their facilities, said the vice minister.

Zip is a joint venture children’s wear supply business formed by retail giant Marks & Spencer and Desmonds, Northern Ireland’s largest privately-owned company. It provides all of Marks & Spencer’s children’s wear range, largely made in Sri Lanka, China, Bangladesh, the Philippines and Vietnam.

APL Logistics said its solution concentrated on global import logistics, information management and establishing systems and processes that allow the supply chain to respond quickly when need be.

“Zip demands world-class supply chain solutions, which require a collaborative partnership with their logistics services providers, as well as the application of best practice. This matches APL Logistics’ global business strategy,” said Dan Ryan, APL Logistics, president for Europe.

Alistair Jinks, Zip’s operations and logistics manager, said: “We are determined to be a world class benchmark for leading retailers striving to maximise customer service standards. We selected APLL because they demonstrated the experience and capability to deliver.” Among the service’s prime areas of focus are purchase orders and vendor management at origin.