Over the first eight months, Singapore’s throughput grew by 6.7 per cent to 12.017 million TEU.

In 2002, Singapore handled 16.9 million TEU, 146,000 TEU less than in 2000 – the island state’s best througput performance over the past five years.

Simatech now offers through service to all major Gulf destinations including Umm Qasr, Iraq, and Khoramshar, Iran.

Working in partnership with the automaker, Exel has created logistics solutions for genuine parts to meet the company’s requirements, ensuring that Volkswagen can achieve its objective of enhanced customer service through improved genuine parts availability.

Exel will operate a 45,000 square metre rail-linked facility in Waldau near Kassel where the main activity will involve handling bumpers on behalf of Volkswagen.

Most of the bumpers will arrive by rail, and be stored and then picked for shipping either to Volkswagen’s global Genuine Parts Centre (GPC) located in nearby Baunatal or directly to wholesalers and VW parts distribution centres outside Germany.

The second facility that Exel will manage is a 7,500 square metre warehouse in Nordshausen near Kassel. Here, the Exel team will receive and store specialist packaging materials required for repacking parts.

Exel will pick the packaging materials and deliver either directly to the Volkswagen GPC in Baunatal, or to Exel’s existing warehouses in the Kassel area, where it already manages the repacking of parts from production into genuine parts packaging on behalf of Volkswagen.

Exel will also be responsible for managing the transport between approximately 30 warehouses within a 30 kilometre radius of Baunatal and between these warehouses and GPC in Baunatal.

The rankings were based on a variety of public sources, including the US Bureau of Economic Analysis, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the Census Bureau, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Federal Highway Administration, and Rand McNally.

The state governor, Sonny Perdue, said: “These rankings demonstrate that Georgia is a national leader in distribution and logistics.

“These new rankings confirm what we have been preaching for the past six months: Georgia is a state where business leaders, elected officials and employees are working together to make Georgia a major hub in the movement of goods and people by air, water and land,” said Glenn Cornell, Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Industry, Trade and Tourism.

Doug Marchand, executive director of the Georgia Ports Authority, said: “The state’s continued commitment to expansion projects at the Georgia Ports Authority is fuelling our growth and creating thousands of new jobs.”

The airline said in a statement that the shift in days would offer customers a more timely service as cargo freight would arrive in China on Monday instead of Tuesday as had been the case with the previous arrangement.

“This schedule change allows local shippers and freight forwarders to use Air China Cargo’s non-stop service to get their customer’s cargo to Beijing by early Monday morning in order to access the business market,” said Air China Cargo’s station manager, Derek Shi.

Air China Cargo’s non-stop twice weekly air service from Portland to China provides local shippers faster transit times, competitive pricing and reduced damage to cargo because of less handling, the airline added.

In 2002, China was Oregon’s second-largest air export market with more than 3,200 metric tons. From 1997 to 2002, Oregon’s air cargo exports to China increased over 400 per cent.

A weak economy affected the carrier’s airfreight business negatively, a company spokesperson said, adding the airline’s cargo load factor fell by 2.3 percentage points to 64.1 per cent over the first nine months.

Lufthansa had an overall load factor (passenger business and cargo) of 69.2 per cent, representing a decline of 1.9 percentage points year-on-year.

Lufthansa said its traffic performance was significantly affected by Sars, the war on Iraq and the weak global economy, but added it raised passenger numbers and achieved a good load factor.

From January to September Lufthansa carried 33.5 million passengers, 1.4 per cent more than in the same period last year. Due to difficult market conditions, however, the 2.8 per cent increase in available capacity could not be fully utilised.

Lufthansa also boosted its seat occupancy rate in the first nine months of the year to 73.3 per cent.

DHL, which is currently operating out of two headquarters sites in Plantation, Florida, and Seattle, Washington, had said it expects the process of setting up a single headquarters to take place over the next 12-15 months.

Operations affected in Seattle include central headquarters functions, including human resources, marketing, public relations and areas of finance and operations support.

DHL is reviewing options for meeting its current and future space requirements before determining its final location.

John Fellows, chief executive officer of DHL, said: “It is clear that we cannot operate from two headquarters on opposite sides of the country over the long-term. After careful consideration, we have determined that, because of the pan-regional responsibilities of the headquarters, the optimal location for our headquarters is south Florida.”

The company also said that, as part of a company-wide initiative to integrate DHL’s IT systems into three regional platforms worldwide, the Seattle-based technology group will be transferred to Scottsdale,Arizona.

Mr Fellows added: “There will be no immediate impact on staffing levels in Seattle.

“We are still in the process of finalising detailed staffing arrangements and integration plans, but Seattle clearly represents a large pool of employees with great talent and significant experience, and we expect that many employees will be offered the opportunity to relocate.”

DHL is also still in the process of determining its long-term plans for other Seattle-based operations such as billing processing, revenue collection and claims processing.

A decision on these issues will be reached by the first quarter of 2004, the company said.

The company’s Seattle-based sales and pick-up and delivery operations will not be impacted by these changes.

“We expect to make a significant investment in our facilities and operations in South Florida, which will bring additional employment opportunities to the region,” said Mr Fellows.

“We look forward to working with Broward, Dade, and Palm Beach counties as we seek to determine the exact location of our headquarters.”

According to the Hong Kong Port Development Council, the territory’s Kwai Chung Terminal handled 1.09 million TEU in September.

Shenzhen also beat out perennial China number one port, Shanghai, in the container throughput stakes in September.

From January to September, Shenzhen handled a total of 7.65 million TEU, an increase of 39.24 per cent over the same period in 2002.

Over the first nine months, Hong Kong handled 9 million TEU.

Total cargo handled by Shenzhen Port during the same period was 81.57 million tons, up 26.75 per cent year-on-year. Of that total, foreign cargo accounted for 48.82 million tons, a rise of 31.31 per cent compared with the same period a year ago.

According to Shenzhen Port Authority figures, Yantian Terminal handled a total of 3.8 million TEU over the first nine months, an increase of 25.3 per cent over the same period last year, representing about half of the total handled at Shenzhen Port.

Another Shenzhen area port, Shekou, handled over one million TEU from January to September 16.

Shenzhen is to have another six container berths come into operation this year, which will increase the port’s total capacity by 2.15 million TEU.

Trinks is Germany’s largest beverage logistics organisation realises nearly 50 per cent of its sales in the beer sector, while 40 per cent of the company’s sales concern mineral water.

Nestle said it expects the definitive contract to be signed this month. The new ownership structure will be operational starting January 2004.

From that time on, Trinks will no longer be consolidated in Nestle’s accounts, and Nestle has agreed with the new majority holders that its participation will be reduced further in years to come.

The Los Angeles City Council unanimously confirmed Acevedo’s reappointment until June 30, 2008.

“Mr Acevedo brings to the Port of Los Angeles a diverse background and expertise in residential and commercial development and helps demonstrate the relevance of the port’s economic contribution to the entire city,” said Mayor Hahn. “Throughout his term, he has provided keen input on port development projects that aligns with community needs and assessments.”

A senior project manager for a southern California commercial development company. Mr Acevedo has overseen the development of numerous commercial projects in the greater Los Angeles area.

In addition to his role as Harbour Commissioner, Mr Acevedo concurrently serves as president of Neighbourhood Empowerment and Economic Development.

He has also served on the Los Angeles Board of Fire Commissioners and the Board of Zoning Appeals for the City of Los Angeles Department of City Planning.