African Falcon General Trading

African Falcon General Trading AFGT is a new comer on the UAE Logistic scene. We want to offer something fresh to our customers to succeed through our services.

African Falcon is a new comer on the Logistic / Transportation scene within the UAE. We are a dynamic team with a lot of experiences than span around 20 years in the Industry. We want to offer something fresh and different to our customers and help them succeed through our services.

05/11/2020

When COVID vaccines are loaded onto cargo planes, other cargo will be put aside.

Just in time for Halloween, here is a scenario to chill the blood of executives tasked with moving time-sensitive cargoes via air freight.

The vaccines are coming! Sometime in the next several months, hundreds of millions of doses of COVID-19 vaccinations are going to be shipped globally on cargo flights, causing a massive bottleneck for other air shipments. With over 80 percent of the belly cargo capacity on passenger flights unavailable due to the drastic cuts in air travel by people, the impact on air freight availability could be heavy.

The global distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine could take up to 18 months, with sustained pressure on a capacity-constrained air cargo supply chain requiring unprecedented industry collaboration, according to Glyn Hughes, head of cargo at the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

“It is inconceivable for me to think that the vaccine distribution is going to be made over a short time frame,” Hughes told the Journal of Commerce. “It will have to be progressively rolled out over a significant period, with critical early planning bringing in forwarders, trucking companies, pharmaceutical suppliers, and governments.”

Neel Jones Shah, global head of airfreight at freight forwarder Flexport, described the vaccine introduction as “the biggest product launch in the history of mankind.” He pointed out to AirCargo News that even when Apple launches a new product, airfreight capacity is affected.

The scale of the distribution effort Hughes outlined is sobering to say the least. “This is going to touch the entire planet, so you could be looking at more than 200 countries or territories with a vaccine that's not only going to need to be transported in a very precise temperature-controlled environment, but also in a very precise security-controlled environment, because a vaccine is a valuable commodity,” he said. General cargo shippers using airfreight when a Covid-19 vaccine is launched are likely to face capacity shortages, delays and price hikes.

Having a coronavirus vaccine that is effective and getting into the hands and bloodstreams of the world’s population is undoubtedly a good thing, so no one is wanting to get in the way, but the distribution will not come without disruption to the supply chains of companies that rely on air freight.

23/03/2020

Things supply chain decision makers can do to mitigate the impact of COVID-19

If crisis really is an amalgam of danger and opportunity, it is possible for those who think clearly and plan well to emerge better-positioned from what seems to be a totally negative situation. There are steps that can and must be taken now, both to navigate through the short-term uncertainty, and to prepare for the period after the worst of the pandemic is behind us.

Create a Plan

• Each company needs its own company action plan, designed with the ability to function with or without external help.

• As much as possible, include alternatives, contingencies and ‘what-ifs.'

• A company plan should extend to vendors that are critical to its supply chain.

Action Items

• Right now, start by thinking short-term vs. long-term.

• You cannot make sweeping changes to your supply chain in the midst of this crisis.

• Now is not the time to change providers, or to look to near-sourcing or onshoring.

• Begin with the end in mind, starting with your customers.

• Create a customer priority list.

• Who are your key customers?

• What needs to be delivered to them?

• Create a product priority list.

• How much of which items will the company be able to source and/or make?

• Use the BOM – bill of materials – to identify key components and raw materials.

• Are vendors in place who can deliver these components?

• Create vendor action teams.

• Reach out to vendors.

• Identify and assess their risks, including risks from the vendors’ vendors.

• Provide assistance to vendors as practical.

• In the 2008 recession, stronger companies extended credit to their upstream supply chain.

• At the same time, the market saw a lot of vertical integration and opportunity buys.

• Communicate, communicate, communicate.

• Communicate the risks, the plan, and next steps throughout the organization.

• Ensure customers, staff, vendors and carriers know your priorities and needs, and work to understand theirs.

21/03/2020

Things supply chain decision-makers should know about COVID-19

As we adjust to the new reality of a global pandemic, even while we see change by the day and the hour, there are things supply chain decision-makers should know about COVID-19:

First of all, this situation is unprecedented in our lifetime and will leave the world changed. This is not comparable to SARS or other epidemics, the Fukushima nuclear disaster, or the 9/11/2001 attacks –COVID-19 is closer to a combination of the 1918 Spanish Flu in terms of medical impact, and the 2008 recession in terms of financial impact.

The Financial Environment

Both supply and demand are being impacted. Financial instruments may help with demand but they cannot fix the supply problem – to date, the fiscal stimulus has been ineffective at stabilizing markets. Government intervention, though, is necessary, expected and is being received – across the globe. This will impact macroeconomics but may not help weak businesses survive.

Timeline

There is a 4-6 week lag between when manufacturing shuts down in China/Far East and the impact is felt in the US. Coupled with the Lunar New Year's closure in China, this ends up being a double whammy on product sourced from Asia. As a benchmark, Foxconn has projected coming back to 70-80 percent capacity by end of March and 100 percent by April. This may be realistic or just wishful thinking – we cannot know, and they cannot be certain.

Freight and Logistics

Ocean carriers from the Asia-Pacific region continue to adjust for excess capacity, causing canceled or delayed sailings. Despite this, spot rates are down – by 6-7 percent year over year, aided by lower bunker fuel fees on ocean freight.

On the European front, with travel bans and passenger flight cancellations, the overall impact is a sharp increase in air freight rates on these lanes.

On the domestic front, there is pressure on the small package fulfillment network, driven by a major surge in e-commerce.

The bottom line is these are uncharted waters we are moving into. Anyone who claims to have all the answers or know with any degree of certainty how the pandemic will play out is kidding themselves. But we will weather this crisis, and moves taken now can help to mitigate the effects on your firm and the larger community. We will address some of these steps in our next message.

27/02/2020

Coronavirus impacts spread worldwide, with or ahead of actual cases

The downside of a tightly interwoven global supply chain is being thrown into sharp relief by the burgeoning spread of the coronavirus. With no one on earth possessing natural immunity, and no vaccine in hand, COVID-19 has spread to countries worldwide, jumping borders and causing authorities to shut down sporting events, schools, and entire cities in an effort to isolate the contagion.

Over the weekend, the number of recorded cases soared globally to 78,000, with new clusters of the disease emerging in South Korea, Italy and Iran. Factory and port closings have left companies without parts, finished goods or even workers.

The effects on business are showing up even in areas where no coronavirus cases have appeared, from a Massachusetts bicycle manufacturer running out of wheels from its facilities in Milan, which has been thrown into turmoil, to a German auto parts factory shut down after a visit from a Chinese colleague, to millions of live lobsters in New Zealand – 150 to 180 tons of them – likely to be released back into the ocean as there is no market for them. In this country, the stock market has taken a substantial hit, with the Dow Jones average losing over 1,900 points, more than six percent, in just two days, and international exchanges doing even worse.

The fears of a pandemic have caused unprecedented disruption in ocean container shipping, particularly for the trans-Pacific China to U.S. lane. According to a report in Splash 247, 1.7 million TEUs, or twenty-foot-equivalent container units, are failing to ship as scheduled due to blanked or cancelled sailings, and carriers are losing around $350 million per week due to the virus.

When the coronavirus does abate and demand returns, the tide that has gone so far out – more than at any time in the 60-year history of container shipping, said the Journal of Commerce – will sweep back in with a vengeance, leading to a massive capacity crunch and a spike in container rates, particularly out of China, as shippers and carriers scramble to catch up. Of course, that is preferable to the alternative, a worldwide recession and the global economy grinding toward a halt as a COVID-19 pandemic spreads unchecked.

12/07/2019

A modern supply chain is vital now to prepare your company for what’s coming
You have probably noticed us harping on the critical necessity for modernizing your supply chain, pushing your practices into the 21st century. The wave of automation that has occurred over the last two decades has separated efficient shippers from the rest of the pack.

Well, you ain’t seen nothing yet. On top of the current state of the art for logistics managers, new waves of change – and disruption – are just over the horizon. To be able to take advantage of the next round of supply chain innovation, it is imperative for shippers to be performing at a “best in class” level now, to be ready for what’s coming.

In Forbes magazine, the founder of Chinese retail giant JD.com, Richard Liu, described his vision for full automation within his company as “no human beings any more, 100 percent operated by AI and robots,” a true no-touch supply chain.

Some of this is happening now. Technologies that enable automation of the physical flow of goods are coming online, including lights-out factories and warehouses, piece-picking robots, automatic-guided vehicles, and early iterations of self-driving trucks and drone delivery. Ordering processes are also advancing, reported Supply Chain 24/7, moving rapidly from fax and phone to the internet, EDI, personal assistants/chatbots and IoT. Even in complex B2B environments, automation degrees of more than 90 percent are possible.

Technologies are also coming together to automate information flows and decision making, including Cloud platforms, robotic process automation (RPA), negotiation bots and artificial intelligence or AI. Predictive analytics in demand planning, in which multiple input sources can be combined and assessed to form a basis for anticipated future demand, is another example of how technology reduces manual planning efforts.

To own the future, the key is to get out of the past and get your supply chain up to speed in the present. Which leads to a question: do you have a robust, multi-mode transportation management system (TMS) up and running?

02/07/2019

Ripples from the trade wars are roiling the world of ocean freight, particularly in international shipping from China. Container volumes fell on intra-Asia trade in the first quarter of 2019, which in normal circumstances would indicate decreasing orders for manufactured goods, and a good indicator of demand on major trans-Pacific shipping routes.

But the situation is anything but normal. With shippers beginning to rush cargoes from China to avoid tariffs threatened in the wake of faltering U.S.–China trade talks, just as the traditional peak of import activity gets underway, ocean importers are heading into uncharted waters.

There are steps managers can take to be prepared for supply chain volatility, particularly from new tariffs. These can include talking with overseas suppliers to possibly produce product ahead of tariffs being imposed, ensuring U.S. Customs bonds are adequate, and warehouse space in distribution centers will accommodate sudden volume surge. A 25-percent tariff, imposed overnight, will put a major strain on importers’ cash flow.

In the face of potential 25-percent tariffs on goods imported from China – and threatened for a short time on Mexican imports – prices will have to rise. Having a pricing strategy in place, communicating with customers and your sales force, and being aware of constraints including long-term contracts will help ease disruptions. And staring at imminent tariffs can make moving cargo by air freight a cost saving rather than an expense.

Of course, these issues could evaporate – at least for the moment – with the news that the parties have reached the agreement that was said to be within reach just before trade talks collapsed in May. But there’s no way to be certain. And the new International Maritime Organization’s low-sulfur fuel mandate, which will pull container ships out of service to have scrubbers installed, is another wild card.

It’s a volatile time for global supply chains. Sometimes, “just in case” works better than “just in time.”

21/03/2018

US imports, exports will decline this year if trade war becomes reality.

Right now, though, the two may be heading for an uncomfortable intersection, as the prospects rise for the United States becoming embroiled in an international trade war following the imposition of stiff US tariffs on imported steel and aluminum.

The warning in Global Port Tracker, which is published monthly by the National Retail Federation (NRF), comes at a time when US imports are holding up relatively well during the traditional slow shipping period that follows Chinese New Year.

Spot rates in the eastbound Pacific provide an indication of the strength of containerized imports. Spot rates from Asia to the US East Coast at Lunar New Year were 14.4 percent higher than six weeks prior, compared to falling 8.4 percent in 2016, according to Drewry Shipping Consultants. This indicates that imports so far this year have been strong.

But if there is a trade war that causes consumer prices in the US to increase, imports to drop, and US exports to decline as trading partners respond with tariffs of their own on American goods, shipping activity is likely to drop markedly. In addition to inviting retaliation, said Jimmy Lyons, CEO of the Alabama State Port Authority, the proposed tariffs could make US exports more costly and less competitive. This could help to mitigate prices on container shipments from Asia, but only at the cost of a global slowdown in business activity that will not serve American companies well.

"With steel and aluminum tariffs already in place, new tariffs on goods from China being threatened, and the ongoing threat of NAFTA withdrawal, we could very quickly have a trade war on our hands," said Jonathan Gold, NRF vice president for supply chain and customs policy.

09/09/2017

Walmart and Google team up to battle a common foe - Amazon.

First written in Sanskrit 2,500 years ago, "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" counts among mankind's oldest precepts. The concept had Churchill and Roosevelt partnering with Stalin's Soviet Union against Hi**er during World War II, and now has mega-corporations Google and Walmart joining up to battle a common threat - Amazon.

The two companies said Google would start offering Walmart products to people who shop on Google Express, the company's online shopping mall, reported the New York Times. It's the first time the world's biggest retailer has made its products available online in the United States outside of its own website.

The partnership is a testament to the heat both companies feel from internet behemoth Amazon.com. Amazon's dominance in online shopping is an existential threat to brick-and-mortar retailers like Walmart, while more people are starting web searches for products they might buy on Amazon instead of Google.

But working together does not ensure Walmart and Google will be any more successful. For most consumers, Amazon remains the primary option for online shopping. No other retailer can match the size of Amazon's inventory, the efficiency with which it moves shoppers from browsing to buying, or its many home delivery options. Walmart's website sells 67 million items, up from 10 million early last year. Amazon sells hundreds of millions of items. In July, about 83.6 million people visited Walmart's website, only half as many visitors as Amazon had.

Demonstrating the primacy of logistics, Walmart has been partially re-purposing its retail stores as e-commerce fulfillment centers, offering in-store pickup for products ordered online including groceries, and Google Express will offer free delivery with a $95 annual membership, a direct knockoff of Amazon Prime. Walmart may never catch Amazon online, but industry experts say if their partnership with Google can make them a strong number two, that could be enough.

01/06/2017

Ten days ago, the newly-built CMA CGM GEORGE WASHINGTON (14,000 TEUs) arrived at the Port of Los Angeles on her maiden voyage. See how full this sea giant is!

01/06/2017

Do you know what this object is? In Melbourne, CMA CGM Australia loaded 15 massive reels of rubber conveyer belts for a total of more than 585 tons. You can see one of them on the picture!

01/06/2017

: the CMA CGM LIBRA (11,388 TEUs) encountering a double rainbow on her way linking Southern China and the U.S. West Coast through the PEARL line service. Many thanks to Gabi Claudia Dragoslav for this wonderful shot sent to us via Facebook PM!

01/06/2017

Supply chains extend for thousands of miles, with multiple modes of transport, be it ocean, air, rail, long-haul trucking, or some combination. But no mile along the products' odyssey has been more costly, and caused merchants more issues, than the last mile.

Goods may flow seamlessly from overseas factory to stateside distribution center, but if the delivery to the final consignee goes wrong, the customer is left with a bad taste in their mouth and for the supplier, repeat orders may be jeopardized. Carriers delivering to the final mile must deal with high levels of unpredictability, particularly with B2C shipments, with constantly changing delivery addresses, customers not available, package theft, and city traffic fighting against ever-rising consumer expectations of fast, free delivery in all cases.

Parcel carriers claim to have all the answers, but they naturally shoehorn all shipments into their own networks. A company such as UPS brings a lot to the table, but it's a fair bet their delivery solutions are going to feature...UPS.

There are innovative options available to ensure reliable last-mile delivery at the most affordable rates. FedEx, DHL and the US Postal Service offer programs to boost efficiency and save money. Brown and Purple offer incentives for buyers to pick up their packages at a designated drop-off point, transferring a portion of last mile costs to the consumer. DHL has an extensive footprint of warehouse space nationwide. And if you've ever gotten a Sunday delivery from the mailman, you know the Postal Service is evolving as well.

So what's your best option? Working with an independent logistics expert, schooled in all the nuances of B2B and B2C delivery, gives your company the best crack at cracking the final-mile puzzle, and getting deliveries right at last.

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