TNT in transportation deal with Volvo
TNT Express has signed a two-year contract with Volvo for transportation services from the automobile manufacturer’s newly built Regional Parts Distribution Centre (RPDC) in Dubai.
The distribution centre makes spare parts available to dealers of Volvo trucks, Mack trucks, Volvo Construction Equipment and Volvo buses in 17 countries throughout the Middle East and Africa. The link-up will see TNT responsible for transporting more than 1.1 million kg of spare parts annually from the distribution centre.
Agreement on ACT
Aqaba Development Corporation (ADC), the owner of Aqaba ports, signed a joint venture agreement with APM Terminals to manage, operate and expand the Aqaba Container Terminal (ACT) for 25 years. ACT is the principal gateway for the Jordanian container trade and also serves transit cargoes to and from Iraq and other regional markets. The current terminal configuration consists of 540 m of quay supported by over 8,800 ground slots.
GAC offices in Brazil
With Brazil being tapped to play an increasingly important role in international business as an emerging market, GAC Group, whose corporate head office is in Dubai, has established its first fully-fledged operations offices in the Latin American country. GAC Brazil has opened offices in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. In addition to general logistics services, GAC Brazil is focusing on the development of the ship spares logistics business.
Mubarrad chooses Sage
Mubarrad Transport Co, one of the largest land transport companies in the region and majority-owned by A’ayan Leasing and Investment Company, has chosen Sage Abra HRMS 500 and Sage Line 500 ERP software solutions to streamline its rapidly growing business.
“We have recently gone through a huge expansion throughout our company. In order to meet growing market demands, we have increased our fleet to 1,200 trucks, from 800 just last September, taking our total asset worth to over KD20 million ($69.1 million),” said Khalid Al Obaid, IT manager of Mubarrad Transport Co.
Gulf Navigation IPO oversubscribed
A $248 million initial public offering (IPO) of UAE shipping firm Gulf Navigation was 3.5 times oversubscribed, the lead manager said. Dubai investment bank Shuaa Capital said the offer attracted $844 million in bids from more than 46,000 individuals and institutions. The UAE Finance Ministry bought 5 per cent of the company’s shares, the maximum allowed.
Gulf Navigation, which transports crude oil and chemicals, was offering GCC investors a 55 per cent stake, or 910 million new shares, at Dh1 per share. Gulf Navigation plans to buy 13 crude and chemical carriers worth $1 billion and is also considering buying liquefied gas tankers.
DHL service points
DHL has recently opened four new service points in the UAE. They are located at Deira and Sharjah City Centres, Mall of the Emirates and Dragon Mart and represent a major step in DHL’s ambitious retail expansion plans with shipments up 40 per cent and further increases expected.
They are part of 21 existing sites in the UAE, with others scheduled to be opened soon. The company said the service points were convenient, accessible and user-friendly retail outlets, offering significant advantages to customers including a full range of packaging and simplified pricing to fulfil a variety of service requirements.
“We are witnessing huge growth in the number of shipments originating from our service points, with figures up 40 per cent year-on-year,” said DHL UAE general manager David Wild.
RFID inlays launched
Symbol Technologies Inc has introduced a portfolio of radio frequency identification (RFID) inlays to help organisations provide intelligent asset management solutions for customers. Based on the Generation 2 standards issued by the Electronic Product Code (EPC) standards body, the new Symbol RFID inlays and tags can be read from any orientation at distances of up to 30 ft.
This innovative RFID antenna design uses two antennas and allows the tag to perform faster read and write functions regardless of the position of the RFID reader antenna, which is ideal for high-speed conveyor belt applications used in distribution warehouses as well as luggage processing at airports.
