Dec 20, 2017 - Delays in collecting containers from the Ports of Auckland is costing the road freight transport industry and their customers, and end consumers could ultimately pay the price. The introduction of automated straddle carriers by the Port has reduced the working area at the container terminal and queue jumping by some trucking companies is creating delays of up to three hours for a truck to pick up a container.
As a result, the road freight transport industry is looking at charging customers for the time trucks sit idle at the Port, waiting to pick up containers.
In the past trucks have usually only had to wait 20 to 30 minutes to pick up a container, but the continued growth in container freight of between five and ten per cent a year is putting more pressure on the Port’s operations.
National Road Carriers CEO David Aitken says the issue has been building for years but recent increases in wait times mean it is reaching the stage where the industry may have to act.
“The time is coming when the industry as a whole may agree to charge for waiting time which will add to costs for end consumers.”
The problem is a complex one, he said, with no easy fix.
While the road transport industry is calling for the Port to be transparent around its booking system and not let some drivers push in when they do not have a slot booked to pick up a container, the solution is not that simple.
“Our industry and customers also have to be more organised and plan ahead at least 24 hours when they ask us to pick-up a container,” said Mike Herrick, the Managing Director of TDL Ltd.
The industry is incurring increased costs with more staff working shifts to pick-up containers at night, as well as the cost of the delays.
Passing costs on to customers when they can no longer be absorbed is becoming a real possibility.
“It’s been happening in Australia for a long time. It has become an acceptable part of the costs of doing business there,” said Top Tranz Ltd Managing Director Marcus de Kort.
“The delays have become the norm,” said Barry Mackenzie, the Managing Director of Philpott Airfreight Ltd. “It’s very frustrating. I know the Port has got to provide a service to the ships and turn them around promptly, but they should also be providing a better service to us.”
“Sometimes the boats are late arriving, but there is no space to store containers,” said. “Yes, there will be a bit more room when the updated automation process has finished, but the freight volume is increasing all the time.”
Mr Mackenzie said there were often queues of trucks, but straddle carriers to load the containers onto them were sitting idle without drivers, compounding the delay problem.
“The space is jammed with containers, often they have to shift three or four to get the one we are picking up.”
The Port operates a booking system, so transport companies can reserve a time to pick-up a nominated container. Only so many slots are available each hour, with some flexibility allowed due to Auckland’s increasing traffic congestion.
“But if the system starts running behind time it can never catch up,” said Mr de Kort. “If a truck sits idle for two to three hours its work schedule for the rest of the day is disrupted and it can’t meet other commitments during the day.”
Larger companies had more resources to juggle against hold-ups at the Port said Mr Herrick, but smaller fleets could often not deploy a different truck to do a job originally scheduled for the one held up at the Port.
“The problem is certainly worse at the moment with the pre-Christmas peak,” said Mr de Kort. But when the Port reduced staff numbers at off peak periods the problem has continued.
With exports expected to reach their annual peak volume early in 2018 the delays at the Port are expected to continue.
“When we moved to night shifts, the problem was solved for a while,” said Mr Herrick. “But now we operate 24/7 five days a week, with shorter hours at the weekend.”
Complicating the process are the different booking systems used by the Port, the Metro Port at Te Papapa and the six-empty container depots around the city where containers are stored in between use.
National Road Carriers Association is the largest nationwide organisation representing companies involved in the road transport industry. It has 1700 members, who collectively operate 15,000 trucks throughout New Zealand.
| A National Road Carriers Association release || December 19, 2017 |||
Dec 20, 2017 - The New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has today released a video calling for international action against the US$425 billion annual spend on fossil fuel subsidies.
“Many countries have made political commitments to reduce these harmful subsidies, but progress has been too slow,” warns Vangelis Vitalis, Deputy Secretary, New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
“We believe that a solution for addressing this lack of action is to drive enforceable change through the World Trade Organisation (WTO).”
Last week New Zealand’s Minister for Trade and Export Growth, David Parker, presented this proposal to the WTO at its Ministerial Conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina. A total of 11 other WTO members also gave their support.
“The WTO is the one global institution that legally binds all of the major economies in the world. It's the only place where major economies can be held to account in an enforceable way,” says Mr Vitalis. “While most of the world’s biggest contributors to fossil fuel subsidies did not give their endorsement, and we know getting these WTO members over the line will be a challenge, we believe this is a challenge worth pursuing,” says Mr Vitalis.
View the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s short film entitled “425 billion reasons for change”, or read its long-form feature on the issue here.
425 billion reasons for change — video (external link)
425 billion reasons for change — long-form feature
| A Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade release || December 20, 2017 |||
Dec 20, 2017 - It will be a sad day for Dunedin as 85 permanent, full-time Cadbury confectionary workers end their employment with the company, effective Friday. The loss of their jobs ends many years of collective contribution to an iconic Dunedin institution, and “there will be tears and sadness, as people realise it’s over,” says E tū delegate and Sub-branch Vice President, Teresa Gooch.
“Many will look back on years of camaraderie and really, the good times of working at Cadbury where workmates have been like family. Cadbury has been good to us. There is a real feeling of loss, so there will be grieving,” she says.
“It’s also hard for those of us who will still be working here – we know we’re next and we’re also feeling for our departing friends.
“Some have found jobs and gone already, but many others are very anxious.”
However, Teresa says people need to stay positive.
“I would urge people to have some faith about where they go from here. A lot of employers are keen to take on the Cadbury workers due to their committed work ethic, reliability and service to the company. These are wanted workers.
“As long as they’re active and positive there’s a good chance they’ll get a job somewhere.”
E tū Industry Coordinator Food, Phil Knight says the union remains concerned over the demise of many good quality jobs, especially in provincial centres like Dunedin.
“These have been good, permanent, full-time jobs and those aren’t always easy to find. We know some people are leaving Dunedin to get into jobs so it’s very disruptive,” he says.
| An E tū release || December 20, 2017 |||
Dec 20, 2017 - NZX will change the price structure of the local stock market in the second half of next year as part of a new strategy aimed at reinvigorating the domestic capital market.
The Wellington-based company will bring its trading and clearing pricing model into line with global practice, which will give participants greater price transparency when negotiating brokerage and services, and stoke on-market liquidity, it said in a statement. NZX will provide details of the move when reporting its 2017 annual result in February and have the new model in place in the second half of 2018.
"NZX is committed to implementing a pricing and rule structure that better supports the needs of our customers, and is consistent with global best practice in facilitating greater on-market liquidity, and driving greater transparency for investors," head of markets development and clearing Benjamin Phillips said. "These changes will further lift the integrity of the New Zealand market."
The stock market operator has gone back to basics in a strategic reset in an effort to revive interest in the exchange and boost the level of trading done through the bourse rather than in off-market deals.
Part of the strategy refresh is to introduce a broader suite of products, and NZX today said it will consult with market participants to develop new tools to drive greater transparency and liquidity on-market and will use a system upgrade in 2019 to meet those requirements.
NZX started trialling a tailored trade pricing structure in July to attract local and international electronic trading flows. That pilot has increased on-market trading by 13 percent compared to the prior period.
The shares last traded at $1.10 and have gained 4.8 percent this year. The stock is rated an average 'hold' based on three recommendations compiled by Reuters, with a median price target of $1.18.
Source: ShareChat || December 20, 2017 |||
Inventor’s son Duff Daysh became eminent financier
Dec 20, 2017 - The news that a hitherto unrecognised New Zealand dairy farmer Norman Daysh invented the mechanised milking machine and had the patents to prove it was officially revealed by the world leader in milking machines De Laval which took up these patents.
De Laval which is presumably aware of the problem that New Zealanders have in recognising achievements outside the sporting sphere platformed descendants of Norman Daysh who died at the relatively young age of 42 while demonstrating his invention at the Palmerston North Showgrounds.
Dec 20, 2017 - The incoming government has hit the ground running but will face many obstacles in 2018 as it seeks to sustain a stable economy, leading New Zealand economic forecaster BERL says. The Treasury’s half-year economic and fiscal update had all the hallmarks of a sizable mini-Budget, BERL chief economist Dr Ganesh Nana says. The update confirms pre-election calculations and conclusions that, while a tight fit with little wriggle room, there are no multi-billion-dollar holes and the package is consistent with the incoming government’s self-imposed Budget responsibility rules. “The other big shift signalled by the incoming government relates to setting an infrastructure and investment spending focus for economic activity. The current cycle of New Zealand’s economic activity remains dominated by household and housing related spending. “The government projects residential investment spending growth to surge to over six percent in the 2019-20 June year and reach eight percent in the following year. Similarly, infrastructure and non-housing investment spending growth lifts 5.5 percent in the June 2018-19 year, followed thereafter by six percent and 5.1 percent annual growth rates. “This is reinforced by the mini-Budget forecasts that indicate $41.7billion of capital spending over the coming five years, compared to a pre-election figure of $30.5billion. While $5.5billion of this increase is accounted for by extra contributions to the NZ Superannuation Fund, the planned additional $5.7billion of capital spend will be a sizable impetus to building and construction activity. “This infrastructure investment and building activity are set to be the cornerstone of the growth cycle over the immediate future. Primary risks are in the capacity of the sector to sustain this level of activity growth. “This attempted shift, away from population-based demand-driven economic growth, towards a supply-side focus for activity is undoubtedly ambitious. New Zealand’s productivity debacle appears somewhat intractable – with the level of labour productivity now back to where it was 10 years earlier. “Even if successful, it will take some time for such a shift to bear fruit. In the interim there will be many obstacles, as was experienced by the Key government and its ambitious plans to lift exports to 40% of GDP.” Dr Nana says some economic commentators are making much of the collapse in business confidence. It is pertinent to note that the same business confidence indicator collapsed on the election of the Clark government in late-1999; and subsequently soared on the election of the Key government in late 2008, he says. “Real GDP growth averaged barely two percent per annum and just three Budget surpluses over the latter period (compared to over three percent per annum and nine budget surpluses over the former period). While we wouldn’t want to suggest that low business confidence causes high GDP growth, it is difficult not to question just what so-called business confidence indicators are indeed measuring. “More sobering is the concern that some businesses could talk themselves into a funk over a change of government and threaten to muddy the prospective economic horizon. “We expect the risk of a slowing in activity growth over the short term sees GDP growth for the current 2017-18 March year dip under three percent. However, driven by the upswing in government investment, we see growth back above three percent for the 2019 and 2020 March years. “We also expect the composition twist in growth to see some slowing in consumer spending growth. However, the families’ income package is expected to bolster spending countering the confidence and wealth effects of easing house price growth. “The New Zealand scene continues to be dominated by the long-standing story of high, increasing, and unsustainable private household sector debt, currently at over 167 percent of the sector’s annual disposable income,” Dr Nana says.
| A MakeLemonade release || December 20, 2017 |||
Dec 20, 2017 - Pure South lamb from leading food company Alliance Group is to feature at one of China’s major online sales events this week. The lamb will be showcased in a three-day online sales promotion run through Tmall, a Chinese-language business-to-consumer online retail venture, operated by e-commerce giant Alibaba Group. Tmall is the largest business-to-consumer retail platform in Asia with almost 500 million users annually. Alliance Group has been selected as a strategic partner and New Zealand’s only lamb producer for the promotion, which will run from 20-22 December. The launch of the sales event will feature a video of award-winning Alliance Group farmers Hamish and Annabel Craw of Longridge Agriculture, who farm sheep over 422 hectares of hill country farm on Banks Peninsula. David Surveyor, Alliance Group Chief Executive, said the involvement in the promotion reflects the co-operative’s reputation in China. “We have a reputation for producing high quality meat products, built on meticulous food production techniques, world class systems and a strong focus on consumer needs. We look forward to further co-operation between Alliance Group and Alibaba (Tmall) in the future. “It is also great to see Hamish and Annabel Craw featuring in the promotion. They are committed Alliance Group farmers and will help tell the story of our products. “That’s a story of the highest-quality red meat, raised naturally and grass-fed in the clean lush pastures of New Zealand, a proud farming heritage, and a commitment to the highest level of environmental sustainability and ethical production.” Alliance Group has been working in China since the mid-1990s and is now the country’s largest exporter of New Zealand lamb to the country. It has a long-standing relationship with its in-market Chinese partner Grand Farm, the best-known distributor and marketer of top quality red meat in Northern China. Alliance exports a range of New Zealand-packed product, specially designed for the Chinese market and co-branded Pure South and Grand Farm. “As New Zealand’s only 100 per cent farmer-owned red meat co-operative, we are also committed to further strengthening relationships in Asia to deliver value to our 5,000 farmer shareholders,” said Mr Surveyor. Alliance Group is continuing to invest in new product forms and ranges that will be either produced from source or further processed in the market to meet the growing demands of China’s consumers. In June, Alliance was the first New Zealand company to export chilled lamb to China as part of a chilled trial programme. Alliance also recently purchased Singapore-based sales and marketing company Goldkiwi, which is now known as Alliance Asia.
| An Alliance Group release || December 20, 2017 |||
Dec 20, 2017 - “The Brexit and the European Plastics Converting Industry” has been published jointly by the British Plastics Federation and the European Plastics Converters Association.Brexit
A year and a half have passed since the Brexit referendum, and following months of negotiations, Theresa May and Jean-Claude Juncker announced that “sufficient progress” has been made to allow the beginning of the next phase: the talks about the future relationship between the EU and the UK.
In the light of these developments, the European Plastics Converters Association (EuPC) and the British Plastics Federation (BPF) have drafted a joint position paper, emphasising the need to develop a deep and comprehensive agreement that eliminates customs and minimises possible non-tariff barriers.
In a joint statement, Alexandre Dangis, EuPC managing director and Philip Law, BPF director-general, said: “In the interest of the European plastics converting industry, we ask the European Commission and the British Government to avoid any disturbances of the current trade with plastics and plastic products between the UK and the EU, especially in the second phase of the negotiations on possible sector trade issues.”
The BPF and EuPC stressed that plastics is an international business and the UK is the most important trade partner of the EU27 for manufactured plastic articles. In 2016, the EU27 exported goods with a trade value above €6.6bn to the UK. The same applies the other way around, in 2016, the intra EU exports of the UK amounted to over €4.5bn, which is 68% of the UK’s total plastic products exports. Additionally, there is considerable ownership of UK plastics businesses by EU companies from other member states and vice versa.
They added that restrictions to the free movement of labour could worsen the already existing shortage of qualified personnel that the European plastics converting industry is facing, and legal differences in the highly regulated plastics industry could become major barriers to international trade and investments.
The EUs flagship programme to create a circular economy can only be addressed in conjunction with the UK as a partner with the EU.
The major risks of a hard Brexit include the imposition of customs duties and other non-tariff barriers such as regulatory barriers or custom checks. Any of those barriers would have negative impacts on the highly integrated plastics converting industry. Therefore, the BPF and EuPC strongly believe that a temporary or permanent agreement should include:
The confirmation of duty-free trade between the EU27 and the UK. Mutual recognition of regulatory procedures and standards, especially REACH regulation. Customs procedures that are as efficient, simple and fast as possible.
More detailed information is available in the full joint position paper that can be found on the EuPC Website
| Source: packagingnews.co.uk || December 20, 2017 |||
Dec 20, 2017 - Virgin Hyperloop One has set a new speed record at its DevLoop test center outside of Las Vegas. During its third test phase, which was completed on December 15, an unmanned test pod reached a speed of nearly 387 km/h (240 mph) while running through an evacuated cylinder depressurized to 0.0002 atmospheres (0.003 lb/in²), or the equivalent air pressure of an altitude of 200,000 feet (37 mi, 61 km) above sea level.
According to Virgin Hyperloop One, the December tests not only saw a record speed run that broke the company's previous best of 310 km/hr (193 mph), but included trials of a new airlock system to allow the pods to move between the 500 m (1,600 ft) evacuated tube and normal air pressure, as well as the electric motor, controls and power electronics, magnetic levitation and guidance, and pod suspension systems. The end goal is to develop a transportation system capable of carrying passengers and freight through a system of tubes at airline speeds across continental distances.The prototype travel pod being loaded into the test cylinder
In addition to the speed record, the company confirmed the rumors that Sir Richard Branson had been named non-executive Chairman of Virgin Hyperloop One. The founder of Virgin Group, Sir Richard's Chairmanship comes on the heels of the Group's investment in the company and his joining Hyperloop One's board of directors in October 2017. Since then, the company has rebranded itself as Virgin Hyperloop One.
In further revelations, Virgin Hyperloop One announced that Caspian Venture Capital and DP World have invested an additional US$50 million in the enterprise.
"I am excited by the latest developments at Virgin Hyperloop One and delighted to be its new Chairman" says Sir Richard. "The recent investment by our partners Caspian Venture Capital and DP World sets up the company to pursue opportunities in key markets in the Middle East, Europe, and Russia as it develops game changing and innovative passenger and cargo ground transport systems."
Check out video of the record-breaking run via the source link below.
Source: Virgin Hyperloop One || December 20, 2017 |||
Palace of the Alhambra, Spain
By: Charles Nathaniel Worsley (1862-1923)
From the collection of Sir Heaton Rhodes
Oil on canvas - 118cm x 162cm
Valued $12,000 - $18,000
Offers invited over $9,000
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242
Mount Egmont with Lake
By: John Philemon Backhouse (1845-1908)
Oil on Sea Shell - 13cm x 14cm
Valued $2,000-$3,000
Offers invited over $1,500
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242