The Logistics Society will this year once again be a supporting organisation of LogiChem Asia.

LogiChem Asia is the only event specifically for those working in the chemical supply chain area. Featuring over 250 attendees, 70 speakers, 14 hours of roundtables and five streams, LogiChem Asia is the only event around able to give you the in-depth chemical specific supply chain analysis you need.

Eddy Setiawan, President, South East Asia of Dow Chemical will open our focus day on sustainability and discuss how sustainable supply chains impact directly on your bottom line.

LogiChem Asia will also devote individual roundtables to China, India, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and so much more.

The entire Asian chemical logistics supply chain will be here. A few speakers are listed below, for more check out our website www.logichemasia.com.

· Eddy Setiawan, President, South East Asia, Dow Chemical

· Berthold Alfes, Managing Director and Senior Vice President of Supply Chain Center APAC, Bayer MaterialScience Ltd

· Mary Scheibner, Global Supply Chain Director, BASF

· Adam Balarin, Vice President, Supply Chain, Unilever Vietnam

South Africa’s Competition Commission has fined Singapore Airlines ZAR25.1 million along with South African Airways ZAR18.8 million (US$2.35 million) for price-fixing on routes between Johannesburg and Hong Kong.

The fine settles another investigation into South African Airways, which was accused of collusion over domestic fares and international freight rates during the 2010 football World Cup, citing a statement from the anti-trust authorities, reported Agence France-Presse.

“SAA has offered its full cooperation to the commission in its ongoing investigations and prosecution of both the matters,” the statement said.

“Similarly, Singapore Airlines undertook to do the same with regards to the Far East matter.”

No separate ruling was made against South African Airways in the World Cup enquiry, however, the Competition Commission was cited as saying that the fine will settle the matter.

Singapore’s manufacturing output faced an 8.8% fall in January, a drop more severe than what economists had initially predicted.

The decline in manufacturing output, taken from the Economic Development Board, was steeper than the median 0.7% fall expected by 11 economists in a Dow Jones Newswires poll, Wall Street Journal reported.

The fall in January was attributed to the decline in manufacturing demand from the weak global economy, with the long Lunar New Year break further aggravating the industry’s situation.

The drop has been reported to be the biggest decline in the last eight months.

Electronics output dropped 28.4% from last January, while precision engineering output experience a fall of 13.3%. Chemical manufacturing output also fell 12.4%. However, biomedical manufacturing output saw a 27.9% increase.

With the exclusion of biomedical manufacturing, the total manufacturing output saw a 15.3% decline, compared to last year.

Commncing Monday 20th February, the Logistics & Supply Chain Management Society will be featured on Channel News Asia’s, Invest In Me show that airs at 8.30 p.m. Singapore time with repeat telecasts being shown throughout the week. Episodes can also be downloaded from the Channel News Asia website.

In this programme, the Society shows its support in helping social enterprises in the region by providing Logsitics advice and hands on expertise to an events company with Logistics issues. Follow us as we make this journey with the Society’s President, Raymon Krishnan and other individual and corporate members towards resolving some of the common Logistics issues faced by SME’s.

Past episodes of the programme can also be viewed online at - http://www.channelnewsasia.com/investinme

It took low-cost long-haul carrier AirAsia X four years to secure the right to serve Sydney, and the carrier is now putting the matter behind it following its confirmation it will serve the Australian city from Kuala Lumpur with a daily service from 01-Apr-2012, with the likelihood of a double daily to follow. Another Australian city will later be added, to reach its goal of serving five Australian cities by the end of 2013. Also on the carrier’s expansion list is increased services to its existing Asian destinations, many of which are not served daily.

While the Sydney route progressed in likelihood following restrictions being lifted in Jun-2011, the route became a certainty after start-up competitor and Singapore Airlines subsidiary, Scoot said it would make Sydney its first destination from the middle of this year. The possibility of Malaysia letting a competitor based in Singapore, its fierce rival, serve Sydney before a Malaysian low-cost carrier was simply unacceptable!

Figures from the Hong Kong Marine Department show the port handled 24.4 million TEU in 2011, an increase of three per cent from 23.7 million in 2010, December’s figures showed a 1.4 per cent increase to two million TEU from the same month the previous year.

Singapore’s Maritime and Port Authority reported a 5.3 per cent increase in container movement in 2011, having handled 29.9 million TEU compared to 28.4 million TEU in 2010. December container volumes are expected to increase 11 per cent to 2.6 million TEU year on year making the island state the 2nd busiest port in the world after Shanghai.

Well we have had some stellar entries for our LSCMS Photo Competition, and from 15th February we’ll be posting a link to the top 6 finalists and you can vote on the best submission and decide the winner!

The six finalists are:

• Evgeny Drokov
• Ramlee B. Manap
• Ong Yi Chao
• Ee Kay Beng
• Tan Ai Bee
• Tan Choon Lai

UPDATED: VOTE NOW!! Voting closes 15.Mar.2011.

Highly Commended Photos

We also had some highly commended photos. A big well done to the following people, and thanks to all for your submissions!

Sea (Port Cranes) - by Ronald See

Storage & Handling by Firhin Yusoff

Container & Material Handling Equipment by Kenneth Tan

The Logistics and Supply Chain Management Society has achieved an industry’s first! It’s training partner, The Turning Point Business School, has been appointed as the ‘Program Manager’, the first Approved Training Organisation in Logistics Training with the Singapore Workforce Development Agency to conduct the ‘Workforce Skills Qualification’ or WSQ in Logistics.

By achieving the ‘Program Manager’ status, it allows the school to train individuals; both employed and unemployed, with minimal charges. On top of this, Training Allowance will also be disbursed to individuals or companies upon successful completion of their modules.

Read more…

Hello All,

The following article appeared in last Wednesday’s Straits Times, and illustrates the importance of Singapore to the region in terms of logistics. Please click on the article picture below to view the full sized version.

Courtesy of The Straits Times, Wednesday, Nov 7, 2007 – Money Section, page H34

Updated: Other articles relevant to this include:

• CargonewsAsia – Singapore the world’s top logistics hub
  Singapore has emerged as number one in terms of logistics, according to a World Bank survey.
• EnterpriseOne – Singapore Soars As A Logistics Hub
  Reliability and service key to growth
  Singapore is steadfastly growing as a logistics hub for multinational corporations (MNCs) as it emerged tops in a World Bank survey for efficient handling and shipping of goods.

New intakes for programmes in Logistics – please see the following links for more information:

• Diploma in Logistics Management
• BBA in Logistics & Supply Chain Management