The U.K conducted its last evacuation flight from Sudan on Saturday, as the U.S. and France also brought groups of foreign nationals out of the conflict-torn African country.
The moves come amid a deteriorating security situation in Sudan, as fighting continues between the Sudanese Armed Forces and its rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
The British government decided to end evacuation flights “because of a decline in demand by British nationals, and because the situation on ground continues to remain volatile,” the U.K. Foreign Office said in a statement.
“Focus will now turn to providing consular support to British nationals in Port Sudan and in neighboring countries in the region,” it said, noting that more than 1,888 people were evacuated on 21 flights during the operation.
A French plane arrived in Chad on Friday carrying staff from the United Nations and international humanitarian non-profit organizations. France has evacuated over a thousand people from Sudan since the outbreak of hostilities.
The U.S. State Department said on Saturday that a convoy of U.S. citizens, locally-employed staff and citizens of partner countries arrived in Port Sudan and that it is assisting those eligible to travel onward to Saudi Arabia.
“Intensive negotiations by the United States with the support of our regional and international partners enabled the security conditions that have allowed the departure of thousands of foreign and U.S. citizens,” the State Department said.
“We continue,” it added, “to call on the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces to end the fighting that is endangering civilians.”
[ad_2]
#Western #governments #evacuate #citizens #Sudan #situation #deteriorates
( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )
Price: [price_with_discount] (as of [price_update_date] – Details)
[ad_1]
From the manufacturer
3 AC Sockets
You can plug in 3 different electronic devices simultaneously into this extension board for powering up or charging them at the same time. This includes kitchen appliances, home appliances, TV, DVD player, sound system, and much more!
3 USB Ports
At the same time, you can also use 3 USB ports for connecting and charging various devices like phones, other smaller home appliances, and more!
Extra Long Cable
With its 2 meter long cable, this board gives you the flexibility and comfort to reach across a large distance for your convenience. Whether you need to reach a distant socket or you want to fit the cable behind furniture, this board is your best choice!
Space Saving Design
This extension board has a smart look and is sleek in design, which makes sure it is not imposing on your space and compactly fits anywhere.
Lightweight
Since it weighs very little, you can carry this extension board from one place to another very easily.
Safe from Power Surge
This extension board can handle power fluctuations and surge till a maximum of 125 J.
Long and durable cable of 2 meter length gives you space to extend the board as per your needs Power and charge multiple devices like laptops, phones, DVD player, audio systems, home appliances, and more It has a type D power plug and can handle maximum surge of up to 125 J or 4500A 1 year limited warranty Size: 27.2 x 7.1 x 3.535 cm; Weight – 361 gm
European Union politicians and officials have rounded on the front-line Eastern states of Poland, Hungary and Slovakia for imposing import bans on Ukrainian farm produce, denouncing the curbs as illegal and counterproductive.
The three countries banned imports of Ukrainian grain and other food products over recent days, arguing the export surplus had flooded their markets and threatened the livelihoods of local farmers.
The curbs have set the group on a collision course with Brussels while at the same time threatening the EU’s fragile solidarity in backing Ukraine’s fightback against Russia’s war of aggression.
EU diplomats believe the import bans contravene both international and EU law — and will fail to achieve their goals.
“Unilateral bans of individual countries won’t solve anything,” Czech Minister of Agriculture Zdeněk Nekula said.
“We must find agreement throughout the EU on the rules under which agricultural commodities will transit from Ukraine to European ports, and that production from them goes further to countries outside the EU that are dependent on Ukrainian production.”
The issue risks turning into a ticking time bomb.
Ukraine’s economy heavily relies on grain exports, which before the war were enough to feed 400 million people. When Russia invaded last year and blocked much of Ukraine’s global exports, the EU quickly installed so-called “solidarity lanes,” dropping all inspections on imports.
As a result, grain imports into surrounding countries shot up — much to the anger of local farmers who say they can’t compete. Instead of transiting through the countries to the rest of the world, the grain stays on the local markets, the countries argue.
With the summer harvest season ahead, the situation might get even tenser. Both Poland and Slovakia are heading into national elections later this year where the rural vote will be crucial.
“Solidarity lanes aren’t working. We have no effective tools controlling the transit,” Poland’s Ambassador to the EU Andrzej Sadoś told POLITICO. “We have in our silos some 4 million tons of Ukrainian grain and we need some time to stabilize the situation.”
The problems had been largely ignored by the European Commission so far, he said, forcing the Polish government to act.
Romanian farmers protest in the front of the European Commision headquarters in Bucharest | Daniel Mihailescu/AFP via Getty Images
“Individual farmers started to block terminals and train connections. They were protesting. We were very close to an escalation,” said Sadoś. He stressed that the ban, due to expire on June 30, is only temporary.
‘Unacceptable’ moves
One EU diplomat accused Warsaw of indulging in “gesture politics.”
“The situation has come to a head, it wants to send a signal that it’s supporting its farmers,” this diplomat said. “But it’s really not the most elegant solution, especially with regards to solidarity for Ukraine.”
Others even doubt whether the measures are legal in the first place.
In public, the EU’s executive branch, the Commission, has taken a measured approach, telling journalists in Brussels on Monday that “at this stage, it’s too early” to give a definite answer on the legality of the move. It did, however, note: “Trade policy is of EU exclusive competence and, therefore, unilateral actions are not acceptable.”
The private steer from Brussels appears to be more adamant about illegality. Czech Agriculture Minister Nekula, for example, said the EU’s Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski — who is himself Polish — had told him that such measures “are unacceptable.”
Asked whether the bans were legal, another EU diplomat said: “I don’t think so.” That’s because, the diplomat argued, trade is an exclusive competence of the EU, meaning individual countries cannot simply unilaterally block imports from a country. Yet another EU diplomat supported that argument, pointing to World Trade Organization rules.
The terms of EU-Ukraine commerce are also supposed to be safeguarded by the terms of a free-trade area applied since 2014.
Poland rejects the idea that it is breaking the rules, citing national laws that allow it to do so for public safety reasons.
It’s not just Poland, however, and each of the three countries is trying to avoid the Commission’s wrath by making different arguments in its defense.
Slovakia, for its part, argues it was forced to act on Monday after Poland and Hungary moved at the weekend to block imports.
“There was a risk their routes will redirect towards us and will cause even more pressure on our small domestic market,” a Slovak official said, adding that tests had also shown an excessive level of pesticides in wheat.
Contrary to Poland and Hungary, Slovakia said it would keep transit open.
European Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski speaks during a debate on the Common Agricultural Policy | Pool photo by Christian Hartmann/AFP via Getty Images
A way out?
Wiesław Gryn, one of the main leaders of farmer protests in Poland, said a better way would be to focus on banning products that are made in violation of EU standards, rather than imposing a temporary blanket ban.
“Stopping Ukrainian exports for two months won’t do much because at least six months are needed to export the 4 million tons [that is already in Poland],” he said.
To address the issue, the EU has disbursed some €30 million to Poland, some €16.8 million to Bulgaria and €10 million to Romania.
That isn’t nearly enough, said Sadoś, the Polish ambassador. “We need systemic solutions, not just support for the farmers,” he said. Poland wanted to keep supporting Ukraine through imports, he said, “but the price cannot be … the bankruptcy of millions of Polish farmers.”
Such systemic solutions, in Sadoś’ view, would be to give importers a window of 24 hours, for example, for shipments to reach a transit port to ensure that the products don’t stay in Poland.
That is legally complicated, however, and would involve more checks and paperwork — potentially holding up trade flows even more, say critics.
Lili Bayer and Gregorio Sorgi contributed reporting.
[ad_2]
#Eastern #Europeans #face #Brussels #backlash #Ukraine #grain #bans
( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )
BERLIN — German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is heading to China to represent Berlin, but she’ll likely have more explaining to do about Paris in the wake of French President Emmanuel Macron’s explosive comments on Taiwan.
As Baerbock embarked on her two-day visit Wednesday evening, officials in Berlin were eager to stress that Germany and the EU care about Taiwan and stability in the region, arguing it’s mainly China that must contribute to de-escalation by refraining from aggressive military maneuvers close to the island nation.
Baerbock’s trip comes amid international backlash against Macron’s comments in an interview with POLITICO, arguing Europe should avoid becoming America’s follower, including on the matter of Taiwan’s security. Although German government spokespeople refused to comment directly on the French president’s remarks, a spokesperson for the foreign ministry specifically called out Beijing when expressing “great concern” over the situation in the Taiwan Strait.
“We expect all parties in the region to contribute to peace. That applies equally to the People’s Republic of China,” the spokesperson said, adding: “And it seems to us that actions such as military threatening gestures are counter to that goal and, in fact, increase the risk of unintended military clashes.”
Nils Schmid, the foreign policy spokesperson for German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD), said he expects Baerbock to “set the record straight” during her trip to China, which will involve meetings with Beijing’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang, Vice President Han Zheng and top diplomat Wang Yi.
“We clearly defined in the [government] coalition agreement that we need a changed China policy because China has changed. The chancellor made that clear during his visit. Above all, Scholz also issued clear warnings about Taiwan during his visit [last year],” Schmid wrote in a tweet. “I assume that Foreign Minister Baerbock will repeat exactly that and thus set the record straight and make a clarification after Macron’s botched visit.”
Berlin traditionally has been much more in sync with the U.S. on foreign and security policy than France has, which is why many politicians and officials in the German capital reacted with horror to Macron’s comments. The French president said Europe should not take its “cue from the U.S. agenda and a Chinese overreaction,” suggesting the EU stood between the two sides, rather than being aligned with its longtime democratic partners in Washington.
Macron gave the impression to some in the U.S. that Europeans see Beijing and Washington as “equidistant” from Brussels in terms of values and as allies, said SPD foreign policy lawmaker Metin Hakverdi, who is currently on a parliamentary visit to the U.S.
“That was foolish,” Hakverdi told POLITICO, adding that “Macron potentially damaged the peaceful status quo around Taiwan” by giving “the public impression that Europe has no particular interest in the conflict over Taiwan.
“The issue of Taiwan is not an internal matter for the People’s Republic of China. Anything else would virtually invite Beijing to attack Taiwan,” Hakverdi added. “I am confident that our foreign minister will make that clear during her trip to Asia — both to Beijing and to our Asian partners.”
Katja Leikert from the main German opposition party, the center-right CDU, criticized Macron’s comments as “extremely short-sighted,” and added: “Should China decide to strike Taiwan militarily, either by invading it or by starting a maritime blockade, this would have significant political and economic repercussions for us. We cannot just wish that away.
“What we actually need to do right now is strengthen our defense against aggressive measures from Beijing,” Leikert said.
For Berlin, Macron’s comments also come at a particularly bad moment for transatlantic ties. The German government is keen to mend cracks in its relationship with Washington that have emerged over the controversial benefits for U.S. businesses under Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. Europe hopes to reach an agreement so that its own companies may also be eligible for these subsidies.
Macron’s comments “will not help in renegotiations on the Inflation Reduction Act, nor will they help Joe Biden in the election campaign against populist Republican candidates,” said the SPD’s Hakverdi.
The German foreign ministry spokesperson was quick to stress that both France and Germany were involved in shaping a joint EU-China policy | Ludovic Marin/AFP via Getty Images
The German foreign ministry spokesperson was quick to stress that both France and Germany were involved in shaping a joint EU-China policy, which was also done in cooperation “with our transatlantic partner.”
During her trip to China, Baerbock plans to raise the situation in the Taiwan Strait; Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine; the human rights situation in China; as well as the fight against climate crisis, the spokesperson said.
Baerbock’s foreign ministry is also currently drafting Germany’s first China strategy. A draft of this seen by POLITICO last year vowed to take a much harder line toward Beijing. Baerbock and her Green party are at the forefront of pushing such a tougher position, while Scholz has long preferred a softer approach.
Incidentally, however, the German government said Wednesday it is reassessing whether to potentially take a firmer stance and ban Chinese state company Cosco from going through with a highly controversial move to buy parts of a Hamburg port terminal.
Scholz had strongly pushed for the port deal ahead of his own trip to Beijing last year, but the future of the transaction is now in doubt after German security authorities classified the terminal as “critical infrastructure.”
[ad_2]
#Germany #aims #set #record #straight #China #Macrons #Taiwan #comments
( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )
BRUSSELS — China and other powerful countries need to step up to help steer the world away from a potentially “catastrophic” hunger crisis this year, the new head of the United Nations’ World Food Programme said.
Cindy McCain, an American diplomat and the widow of the late U.S. Senator John McCain, also told POLITICO that the EU and U.S. should see world hunger as a national security issue due to its impact on migration. She furthermore accused Russia of using hunger as a “weapon of war” by hindering exports of Ukrainian grain.
McCain, formerly the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. food agencies, took the helm of the WFP on April 5 and begins her five-year term at a time of increasing world hunger. The number of people facing food insecurity around the world rose to a record 345 million at the end of last year, up from 282 million in 2021, according to the WFP’s figures, as Russia’s war in Ukraine deepened a food crisis driven by climate change, COVID-19 and other conflicts.
This year could be worse still, McCain warned, with the Horn of Africa experiencing its worst drought in 40 years and Haiti facing a sharp rise in food insecurity, among other factors. “2023 is going to be catastrophic if we don’t get to work and raise the money that we need,” she said. “We need a hell of a lot more than we used to.”
Non-Western countries, which have traditionally contributed much less to the WFP, need to step up to meet the shortfall, McCain said, pointing specifically to China and oil-rich Gulf Arab countries. China contributed just $11 million to WFP funds last year, compared to $7.2 billion donated by the U.S.
“There are some countries that have just basically not participated or participated in a very low fashion. I’d like to encourage our Middle Eastern friends to step up to the plate a little more; I’d like to encourage China to step up to the plate a little more,” said McCain. “Every region, every country needs to step up funding.”
Her entreaty may fall on deaf ears, however, given rising geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and China. The WFP’s last six executive directors have been American, dating back to 1992, and Beijing may prefer to distribute aid through its own channels. Last summer, for example, China shipped food aid directly to the Horn of Africa following a drought there.
National security
Countries hesitant to throw more money into food aid should think about the alternative, McCain said, particularly those in Europe that are likely to bear the brunt of any new wave of migration from Africa and the Middle East.
“Food security is a national security issue,” she said. “No refugee wants to leave their home country, but they’re forced to because they don’t have enough food, and they can’t feed their families. So it comes down to if you want a stable world, food is a major player in this.”
The WFP is already having to make brutal decisions despite raking in a record $14.2 billion last year — more than double what it raised in 2017. In February, for instance, it said a funding shortfall was forcing it to cut food rations for Rohingya refugees living in camps in Bangladesh.
The problem is compounded by surging costs following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, which sent already-high food prices soaring further, as grain and oilseed exports through Ukraine’s Black Sea ports plunged from more than 5 million metric tons a month to zero.
A U.N.-brokered deal allowing Ukrainian grain exports to pass through Russia’s blockades in the Black Sea has brought some reprieve, but Moscow’s repeated threats to withdraw from the agreement have kept prices volatile.
Moscow claims that “hidden” Western sanctions are hindering its fertilizer and foods exports and causing hunger in the Global South | Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP via Getty Images
The deal, initially brokered in July last year, was extended for 120 days last month; Russia, however, agreed to extend its side of the Black Sea grain initiative only for 60 days. Last week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov threatened, once again, to halt Moscow’s participation in the initiative unless obstacles to its own fertilizer and food exports are addressed.
Moscow claims that “hidden” Western sanctions — those targeting Russia’s fertilizer oligarchs and its main agricultural bank, as well as others excluding Russian banks from the international SWIFT payments system — are hindering its fertilizer and foods exports and causing hunger in the Global South.
Ukraine and its Western allies have countered that Russia is deliberately holding up inspections for ships heading to and from its Black Sea ports, creating a backlog of Ukraine-bound vessels off the Turkish coast and inflating prices.
These delayed food cargoes are hindering the WFP’s ability to respond to humanitarian crises, said McCain, who did not hold back on the issue.
“Let’s be very clear, there are no sanctions on [Russian] fertilizer,” she said. “It is not sanctioned and never has been sanctioned.”
Russia is “using hunger as a weapon of war,” said McCain. “it’s unconscionable that a country would do that — any country, not just Russia.”
[ad_2]
#China #act #rising #global #hunger #WFP #boss #McCain
( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )
Price: [price_with_discount] (as of [price_update_date] – Details)
[ad_1]
Product Description
Premium and Portable Design: The UBON EXT-106 Extension Board comes in a classic and trendy look. Its portable and ergonomic design raises the standard of the product. You can carry this board wherever you want. Its user-friendly design enhances its efficiency. Universal Compatibility and 6 AMP Stable Power Output: EXT-106 Cordless Extension Board is universally compatible with set-top boxes, tablets, LED boards, Televisions, Computers, laptops, and many more electronic peripherals. The EXT-106 supplies 6-amperes of stable power to the connected devices for maximum power. LED Indicator and On/Off Buttons: The EXT-106 Wireless Extension Board comes with 2 power buttons and LED indicators. You can turn off and on the sockets at will. Connected devices receive safe and maximum power at a 6-ampere power output. Smart Protection & Low Power Consumption: The EXT-106 extension board is equipped with a smart protection system to guard against short-circuit and improve the safety standard of the extension board. Furthermore, the EXT-106 consumes low energy and delivers maximum power to the devices.
Chennai: The Adani group gained a further foothold in the port sector on the eastern coast by acquiring the all-weather deep water Karaikal Port owner Karaikal Port Private Ltd.
The Karaikal Port was acquired by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited (APSEZ) by submitting a resolution plan which was approved by the Committee of Creditors of the former and by the National Company Law Tribunal, Chennai Bench, Adani Ports said.
As per the Resolution Plan, APSEZ will infuse Rs 1,485 crore for upfront payment to financial creditors.
The decision of the Tribunal shall be binding on the corporate debtor and its employees, members, creditors, directors, guarantors, resolution applicant and other stakeholders involved in the resolution plan, Adani Ports said.
As per the resolution plan, Karaikal Port has allotted 10 lakh equity shares of Rs 10 each to APSEZ aggregating to Rs 1 crore on March 31.
The equity shares issued by Karaikal Port prior to the approval of the Resolution Plan have been cancelled.
With this, Karaikal Port became a wholly owned subsidiary of APSEZ.
Under the resolution plan, APSEZ is to infuse Rs 1,485 crore for upfront payment to financial creditors.
Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Saturday called for the “immediate cessation” of the war in Ukraine during a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Erdoğan also “thanked President Putin for his positive stance regarding the extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative” and added that the two countries “could take further steps” when it comes to economic cooperation, the Turkish presidency’s communications directorate said in a statement on Saturday.
The Black Sea grain deal, which allowed the export of foodstuffs from Ukraine to resume after Moscow’s unlawful invasion of the country blocked several ports, was extended last weekend. The grain agreement was originally signed last summer by Kyiv and Moscow under the auspices of the United Nations.
The Kremlin said in a statement following the Putin-Erdoğan phone call that the two leaders also discussed the situation in Syria.
They emphasized “the need to continue the process of normalizing relations between Turkey and Syria” and “Russia’s constructive role as a mediator,” according to the statement.
[ad_2]
#Turkeys #Erdoğan #urges #Ukraine #war #call #Putin
( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )
A provocative Vladimir Putin made a surprise weekend visit to Russian-occupied Mariupol, one of the symbols of Ukrainian resistance.
Mariupol, a port city on the Sea of Azov, is located in Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast and this is the Russian president’s first trip in the region since the start of his war against Ukraine in February 2022.
Mariupol fell to Russia last May, after the Kremlin failed to seize Kyiv. The battle for Mariupol was one of the war’s longest and bloodiest, as Moscow’s troops carried out some of their most notorious strikes. The Russian assaults included an attack on a maternity ward, which the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said was a war crime, and the bombing of a theater that was clearly marked as housing children.
It is the closest to the front lines Putin has been since the yearlong war began. The move is likely to be seen as particularly provoking to Ukrainians. The trip to Mariupol came after Putin travelled to Crimea on Saturday in an unannounced visit to mark the ninth anniversary of Russia’s annexation of the peninsula from Ukraine, the Kremlin said in a statement.
Putin’s visits come just after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for the Russian leader and top Russian official Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova over the forced transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia.
So far during Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, Putin has largely remained inside the Kremlin, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has made a number of trips to the battlefield to boost the morale of Kyiv’s troops.
Putin flew by helicopter to Mariupol, Russian new agencies reported, citing the Kremlin. Then he travelled around several parts of the city, driving a car and making stops to talk to residents.
The Kremlin said Putin also examined the coastline of Mariupol, visiting a yacht club and theater building. In the Nevsky district of Mariupol, Putin visited a family in their home. The new residential neighborhood has been built by Russian military with the first people moving in last September, according to media reports.
Residents have been “actively” returning, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin, who accompanied Putin, was cited as saying by Russian agencies. “The downtown has been badly damaged,” Khusnullin was reported as saying. “We want to finish [reconstruction] of the center by the end of the year, at least the facade part. The center is very beautiful.”
There were no immediate reaction from Kyiv to the visit.
The Kremlin has not commented yet on the ICC arrest warrant. Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said: “The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin. No need to explain WHERE this paper should be used … ” concluding with a toilet paper emoji.
Moscow has previously said it did not recognize the court’s authority.
[ad_2]
#Provocative #Putin #surprise #trip #occupied #Mariupol
( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )
Ahmedabad: Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ), the largest integrated transport utility in India and a part of the diversified Adani Group, crossed 300 MMT of cargo handling on February 23, 2023, in just 329 days, beating its own milestone from last year of 354 days.
APSEZ has registered unprecedented growth since it started operations over two decades ago and continues to outperform all India cargo volume growth, with its market share rising rapidly.
“The improvement in cargo volumes is testimony to the faith that our customers have in us,” APSEZ CEO and Whole Time Director Karan Adani said.
“It shows our commitment to using improved efficiencies and technological integrations to drive and achieve customer satisfaction. The APSEZ’s flagship port, Mundra, is outpacing all its closest rivals by comfortable margins and continues to be the largest port in the nation in terms of volumes handled. Mundra’s infrastructure meets world standards and provides service levels on par with those of its global competitors, making it India’s gateway for container goods.”
Increase in cargo volume handled at ports is a signthat the nation’s economy is picking up. Almost 95 per cent of the trade volumes in India are carried through maritime transport. So, having world-class mega ports is imperative for the Indian coastline. Through concession agreements with various government authorities, APSEZ has strategically built a string of ports (pearls) across the coastline of India, along with ICDs (inland container depots) and warehouses, woven intricately with self-owned rakes, covering more than 70 per cent of the hinterland.
APSEZ has seen 4 per cent growth y-o-y at its container terminals because of its efficient infrastructure,which not only helps the country increase its trade share in global trade but also makes it easier for consumers gain access to a wide range of international products at reduced costs. Also, the lower logistics costs associated with maritime allow Indian businesses to export goods around the world,boosting domestic economy and raising the employment rate of Indians in the process.
The engagement with container lines and the resolve to deliver on commitments has led to more new services at APSEZ terminals, raising volumes.
Mundra Port shipped 1,501 fertiliser rakes in the current fiscal year with the total cargo dispatch of 4.8 MMT – the highest ever in the port’s history.
This was made possible because of the port’s mechanised infrastructure and operational planning. This means vessels do not have to wait longer at the port as fertilisers are removed quickly from them, followed by quicker bagging and loading onto rakes with minimum wastage. The ability to turn around rakes and vessels quickly allows for the delivery of fertilisers to farmers round the year.
This year also saw growth in agri exports due to India’s record high foodgrain production and the Russia-Ukraine conflict that opened up opportunities for farm exports.
MundraPort registered a record RO-RO exports – an increase of 18 per cent largely due to long-time customer, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. Hazira has been continuously witnessing sustained growth in chemical volumes y-o-y due to its proximity to the chemical hub of India. It has seen a 16 per cent growth this year.
APSEZ’s market leadership in container business has been strengthened because of its strategic partnerships with the world’s largest shipping lines like MSC and CMA- CGM.
Mundra Port alone has handled 3,508 commercial vessels, hosting the country’s largest container vessel APL Raffles and the deepest draft container vessel MSC Washington.
Shipping larger quantities in a single shipment is very cost-effective. APSEZ’s foresight to maintain deep draft ports (cape-enabled) enables its customers bring larger vessel parcels, thereby lowering their overall logistics cost. Krishnapatnam Port has handled capesize vessel like MV NS HAIRUN that carried 165,100 MT of iron ore and departed the port waters with a departure draft of 17.75 m.
At a time when the country’s electricity demand is at an all-time high, APSEZ has risen to the occasion and handled the sudden surge of imported coal volumes flowing to India. In line with the government’s vision of RSR (Rail-Sea-Rail) movement of domestic coal, APSEZ has begun offering coastal coal export solutions to TANGEDCO through its Gangavaram Port. Similarly, it has been supporting the coastal coal movement to NTPC Khudgi by commencement of coastal coal handling at its Mormugao Terminal.
Besides expanding its business operations, APSEZ has also met its sustainability commitments. Energy and emission intensity has been reduced by around 41 per cent and water intensity by 56 per cent from 2016 levels. Electrification of Rubber Tyred Gantry Cranes (RTGs) and Quay Cranes has been completed, and that of Mobile Harbour Cranes is in progress, with 2023 as the target completion year. Diesel-based Internal Transfer Vehicles (ITVs) are being replaced by electric ITVs at Ennore, Kattupalli, Hazira and Mundra. The renewable share of electricity in 9M FY23 has been around 13 per cent.
With its plan to install 250 MW of renewable capacity on a captive basis, APSEZ is moving closer to its goal of becoming carbon-neutral by 2025.
