The Hungarian government is planning to spend EUR800 million on logistics infrastructure between 2007-2013.

Dubai’s ambitious new logistics/airport project has already attracted 50 companies:

Some 50 companies, including Kuehne +Nagel, one of the world’s top 10 logistics operators, have opted to build their own dedicated facilities at Dubai Logistics City (DLC), the first phase of the 140 square kilometre Jebel Ali Airport City aviation community, and a key plank in the creation of the world’s first integrated logistics and multi-modal transport platform.

‘Covering more than 2 million square metres of DLC land, these companies have started to design and plan their facilities, perfectly reflecting the diversity of the logistics business,’ said HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President, Department of Civil Aviation, Government of Dubai and Chairman of the Emirates Group.

‘DLC tenants represent a balanced mix of regional versus global players, large versus medium-sized companies, organisations focussing on cargo handling versus a warehousing or distribution focus.’

Kuehne +Nagel says it intends to use DLC as a base for further expansion in the Middle East and India.

This month we celebrate the50 year anniversary of containerization:

Globalization is having an anniversary.

It was 50 years ago that Malcom McLean, an entrepreneur from North Carolina, loaded a ship with 58 35-foot containers and sailed from Newark, N.J., to Houston.

He wasn’t the only one to suggest that containers might make shipping more efficient. But he was the first to design a transportation system around the packaging of cargo in huge metal boxes that could be loaded and unloaded by cranes.

Container shipping eventually replaced the traditional “break-bulk” method of handling crates, barrels and bags, and stowing them loose in a ship’s hold, a system in use since the days of the Phoenicians. Replacing break-bulk with cargo containers dramatically reduced shipping costs, reinvigorating markets and fueling the world economy.
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In 1959, according to Matson research, the industry was loading and unloading 0.627 tons per man hour. By 1976, with container shipping well established, the figure was 4,234 tons per man hour. A ship’s time in port shrank from three weeks to 18 hours.

In 1950, an average commercial vessel could carry 10,000 tons at a speed of 16 knots. With container shipping, the average commercial vessel carried 40,000 tons at a speed of 23 knots, Matson says.

The numbers are even larger today. A vessel capable of carrying 6,600 20-foot containers can carry 77,000 tons at up to 24.8 knots.

That’s about it for the past few days. Sorry I have been rather quiet lately, I promise to get some more Incoterms definitions posted.

Stumble it!