The site is located on the Port Jersey Channel at the former Military Ocean Terminal, renamed “The Peninsula”, at Bayonne Harbour.

The BLRA is offering the site for lease to companies capable of developing a terminal facility to take advantage of the planned channel deepening to 50 feet.

The terminal will form part of a larger mixed-use residential and commercial development envisioned for the 460-acre peninsula.

A contributing factor for the downward estimate was the assumption that US housing demand has peaked and therefore demand for mostly Chinese-made goods will decrease.

The report said that in the previous financial year, house-related products such as furniture and flooring had accounted for a 27.7 per cent rise in goods shipped from China and Hong Kong to the US over FY02.

Demand for these products will fall this year and next, the report said.

Other key factors that might cause a downturn in demand were a general US economic slowdown and the negative impact of Sars on production activity in China.

However, the report added operating profit estimates in FY03/04 for major Japanese industry players such as K Line, MOL, and NYK had risen due to a perceived increase in liner rates.

Although van Uden have been planning the terminal from 1996, not all procedures have been cleared.

One of the obstacles is the restriction on the river Gouwe of inland barges that can only be a maximum 11-metres wide and 90-metres long.

Van Uden, a leading logistics company in the Netherlands, will develop and run the terminal.

“We created the Menlo DirectTech offerings in response to requests from companies who wanted our proven and highly effective logistics management solutions, but who preferred to run their own operations,” said Edward Feitzinger, senior vice president of Menlo Worldwide Technologies.

“We are particularly well-positioned to design, configure and implement solutions that meet specific customer needs since Menlo has more than a decade of experience implementing and operating complex logistics projects around the world.”

In a related development, Menlo Worldwide has signed a global reseller’s agreement with Provia Software and will be reselling Provia’s ViaWare WMS application, as well as providing systems integration and other related IT services.

“We are delighted to witness the formation of Menlo DirectTech and to participate in the marketing of Menlo’s logistics and transportation management software offerings,” said Kenneth Lewis, CEO, Provia Software.

In his new position, reporting to Gabe Gabriel, executive vice president supply chain management, he will lead strategic logistics and transportation functions for Albertsons.

“Mike is a great addition to our team. His Wal-Mart merchandising and logistics experience provided him with the hands on skills and operational tools required to help Albertsons develop a world class supply chain function,” said Mr Gabriel.

Cargojet will receive cargo sales, marketing and interline support from Korean Air Cargo, which currently serve over 81 destinations in more than 28 countries.

All Korean Air Cargo flights originating from, or destined to western and Atlantic Canada will connect with Cargojet’s premium domestic overnight service flights.

“Both companies will benefit mutually, as Cargojet can now assist Korean Airway Cargo in servicing the complete Canadian marketplace,” said Ajay Virmani, president and CEO the Cargojet group of companies.

“Cargojet and its customers will also benefit with the expertise Korean Airway Cargo has developed over the years in terms of sales and marketing, handling and information technology,” added Jamie Porteous, executive vice president of Cargojet.

“Our new partnership with Cargojet will expand our Canadian presence, and provide a feeder service to the best freighter network in Asia, via our Toronto freighters, and Vancouver passenger flights,” said Bob McGowan, general manager, Korean Air Cargo-Canada.

The upgrade, called Aurora II, is the result of improvements to Aurora, the basic system used by MOL Logistics (Japan) that has been in use for over 13 years.

The upgrade will incorporate the remaining export cargo, accounting, and the balance of overseas accounts systems next year. By that time, the company expects all systems to have been transferred to Aurora II.

The company said the new system offers greater flexibility to deal with the requirements of third-party logistics (3PL), and offers data warehousing capabilities, which is expected to help speed up management decision-making, in addition to bolstering sales support.

The twice-weekly return service will commence from New York, proceeding to Brussels and Kuwait before arriving in Singapore.

The services to Kuwait will provide direct freighter capacity to a fast growing region.

President of Singapore Airlines Cargo, Hwang Teng Aun, said: “Kuwait is a good fit and an important addition to our existing network. With these services, we will be able to serve the growing opportunities in the region.”

The geographic position and infrastructure of the new CargoCity in the south of Frankfurt Airport, its large area and short distance away from customs, airlines and handling companies were decisive for Kuehne and Nagel basing itself at this location.

“With the construction of a considerably larger airfreight terminal we are accommodating rapid business development, the more so as Frankfurt is the centre of our airfreight activities not only in Germany but in the whole of Europe,” said Klaus-Michael Kuehne, executive chairman and president of Kuehne and Nagel International AG.

“Furthermore, the bundling of activities at a transportation hub such as CargoCity South enables an optimal logistics offer to our customers in this dynamic economic area and creates the best conditions for the expansion of our market position.”

About 55 per cent of central European import and export volumes of Kuehne and Nagel’s global airfreight organisation is currently handled via Frankfurt.

The hub should gain further significance for inbound traffic in particular and is to be developed into a European logistics hub within the Kuehne and Nagel organisation.

“It is true that we are trying to be active [in China] but it is also true that MOL as a foreign company cannot do everything in China.

“We have to realise that, but still I think China will be successful for us and I believe the key to it will be the short cut – trying to get the best partner,” he said.

Mr Suzuki sees this business partner as the conduit to circumventing “traditional” problems that have thwarted foreign companies’ dealing with China in the past.

“A relationship with a very good business partner, and establishing such partnership is very important in China and very different from other countries,” he said.

“Foreigners still have difficulties and problems exploring the business. So we still have to carefully look at what local business practice is in each city and who we will have to closely work with to get around particular local practice. That kind of thing is most important.

“If I go over there and do business the way I do in Japan or in Hong Kong or the US, nothing will happen. I still have to observe and pay respect.”

MOL (Asia) Ltd has established six branch offices in China, with its divisional headquarters for China business in Shanghai.

With this network, and local partners in place, Mr Suzuki is confident that his company will flourish in a China that is opening its doors to the outside world.

“They are also trying to change things, and I am quite sure they are trying to westernise, come closer to a global standard, or international standard,” Mr Suzuki said.

“They are working very hard to do so but there is their own way of doing things, just like we in Japan have our own way of doing things.”

The new managing director is also unsure what advantages will be found in the recently announced Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (Cepa) between Hong Kong and China.

Mr Suzuki said: “I think we have to look at this carefully. Maybe I am wrong, but I am quite sure that even if more deregulation in the trade and service areas comes earlier to Hong Kong than other countries there will still be problems.

“Whenever an ocean carrier or an international freight forwarder gets involved in business in China, one of the most frustrating things is that the critical difference between a Chinese forwarder and a foreign forwarder is the so-called customs clearance right,” Mr Suzuki said.

“We call them a first-class forwarder, and this licence is only at this moment granted to China-based forwarders, so no foreign entities are allowed to do customs clearance in China.

“That is most critical because in China you can have tracking, warehousing, staffing to container, hauling container to port and booking to the shipping carrier, making all the documentation but there is no co-ordination among the vendors, so it is quite usual for any shipment to miss the schedule.”

He added: “Shippers receive so many excuses. `Oh, for my part I did my job but unfortunately, the warehouse manager didn’t work well’. There will be so many excuses.”

Mr Suzuki believes that to make business work more seamlessly, co-ordinating the entire job must be the task of the first-class forwarder.

He reasons that the first class forwarder can work and monitor each part of the supply chain and at the same time control customs clearance.

“This is a very critical job,” said Mr Suzuki.

“Foreign freight forwarders can do a co-ordination job but a foreign company cannot do a clearance job. If the foreign company can become a first-class forwarder, then it can co-ordinate.”

Based on the new route, transit time will be 19 days from Hong Kong to Naples. MSC said it brought about the revision, which comes into effect in early October, in response to market demand.

The section to be deepened is in the middle section of the river of about 150 kilometres. When completed, navigation along the river will be greatly improved both in capacity and safety.

According to the plan, the river will be upgraded to be able to handle 1,000-tonne vessels, and will eventually link with Zhujiang River for river trade in the southern part of China.

In China, the service will call at Quanzhou, Fuzhou, Shantou, Hong Kong and Xiamen.

Upgrading existing representative offices in China is also a key part of the company’s China strategy.

Qingdao is MOL’s third branch office on the mainland. The first opened in Tianjin in 1996, and the second opened last year in Shenzhen.

In addition, MOL already has government approval to upgrade three (Guangzhou, Xiamen, and Ningbo) of its 18 mainland branch offices.

All three are making final preparations for their conversion to MOL (China) branch offices in October.

As Guangzhou gears up for further growth, the port has started dredging work to deepen the sea-bed to 13 metres, which would allow 50,000 ton vessels to dock.

At a later stage, there are plans to dredge even further to between 15 and 16 metres. This could allow 100,000-ton vessels to call at the port.

The port is also developing its own advanced information system to strengthen its capabilities as a logistics hub.

Throughput this year is expected to surpass 170 million ton.