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Bali’s IDR10 trillion LRT project on track, will link airport with Kuta

Source Image:https://coconuts.co/

Bali is getting its own light rail transit (LRT) system, officials said, which will whisk passengers from the Ngurah Rai International Airport to the bustling tourist hub of Kuta.

The LRT project has been in the works for years, but it has now received the official nod from the central government for an expected 2027 completion date.

Bali Governor Wayan Koster announced on Tuesday that the Ministry of Transportation and the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) have agreed to fund and support the LRT project, which Transportation Agency Head IGW Samsi Gunarta previously said will cost a whopping IDR10 trillion (US$671 million).

The LRT project is a collaboration between the Bali provincial government and the South Korean government, which will provide technical assistance and funding through a soft loan scheme.

Following a feasibility study launched in 2021, officials said the LRT route will cover 9.46 kilometers, with four stops along the way: the airport, Central Parkir Kuta, Discovery Mall, and Seminyak. The LRT will run on a track that is partly underground and partly elevated.

The LRT project is part of Bali’s long-term plan to develop an integrated public transportation system.The plan aims to reduce Bali’s dependence on private vehicles and motorcycles, which have contributed to air pollution and road accidents on the island.

In 2020, a 4.78 kilometer LRT line connecting Ngurah Rai and a planned satellite terminal in Kuta was seemingly underway. Before the project evolved to its current iteration, officials said then that the LRT would cost IDR5 trillion (US$335 million) and be up and running by 2022.

Article Source:https://coconuts.co/

Reality of ocean container volume far cry from China reopening hype

As the global trade recession began to materialize in 2022, there was a great deal of hype over the potential boost to ocean container demand once the Chinese government ended its COVID restrictions and lockdown measures. But now that hype has faded and what was once hoped to be a great reopening and much-needed boost to volumes is looking more and more like a great flop.

In the chart above, the Inbound Ocean TEU Volume Index from China to the U.S. provides a seasonality view that compares 2023 volumes thus far (white line) with volumes over the past four years. It was late March/early April of 2022 (green line) when the Chinese government announced another round of COVID restrictions and lockdowns. This new round of lockdowns at first appeared as if they would make the transportation of goods to and from major manufacturing hubs nearly impossible. That caused some to automatically (and haphazardly) assume the following scenario: The lockdowns would cause a backlog of goods and pent-up demand that would eventually cause another container surge similar to what occurred after the first round of lockdowns in 2020. But we were able to see a different story playing out in real time through our bookings data.

Image Source:https:https://finance.yahoo.com/

Those who were expecting an impending freight surge hadn’t realized that, even though access to the Port of Shanghai was largely blocked due to landside restrictions (i.e., road closures), shippers were able to reroute volumes through the closest alternate major port in nearby Ningbo. As the chart above clearly displays, the resulting decline in Shanghai bookings and container volumes was more than offset by a surge of volumes through Ningbo during that time (from the rerouted Shanghai bookings).

As the year progressed into the second half, global container volumes began plummeting, and there were still no signs of a surge in volumes coming out of China. As the hopes of a potential freight wave eventually began to fade, it was still widely believed that China’s reopening would (at least) be a major factor in helping boost volumes and possibly create a “soft landing” for the global ocean container market. Unfortunately, that boost in volumes never appeared. Instead, volumes continued to soften out of China during a largely nonexistent peak season. The weakening volumes were then met by emerging headwinds such as the inventory glut, weakening consumer demand and increasingly negative economic landscape.

 
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Bali Airport Off to Strong Start in 2023

The Class I Immigration Office at Bali’s Ngurah Rai Airport reports that Australian nationals represented the largest number of foreigners entering Bal in January 2023. For January, 99,075 Australians were processed through the immigration desks at Bali’s airport. Australians were followed by Russians (22,703) and Indians (22,116).

Arial View of Bali Airport

Handy Heryudhitiawan, general manager of Bali’s Airport, told Beritabali.com that domestic traffic at Bali’s Ngurah Rai Airport continued to grow as the 2023 New Year dawned. In January, 757,863 passengers arrived and departed from Bali, representing an increase of 27% compared to passengers handled in January 2022.

Most domestic arrivals in Bali emanate from Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, from which 328,939 passengers flew to Bali. Meanwhile, Surabaya’s Juanda Airport had 85,433 passenger departures for Bali, and Ujung Pandang embarked 42,717 passengers for the Island.

Handy is optimistic that passenger traffic will grow in 2023 at higher levels than in 2022. His optimism is buoyed by the steadily increasing number of international flights and plans by Emirates Airline to operate a Jumbo Airbus A380 aircraft beginning in June.

Most basically, Handy says Indonesia’s proven ability to control the COVID-19 outbreak and the return of international flights are the most likely factors to contribute to growing arrivals numbers for the remainder of 2023.

Bali’s Airport handles a daily average of 45,811 international and domestic passengers.

Article Course :https://balidiscovery.com/

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Global liners enter familiar price war territory

Image Source:https://splash247.com/

Liner shipping has entered a price war, a race to the bottom that has characterised almost every cycle of this shipping sector for the last 50 years.

Analysts at Sea-Intelligence have suggested that the decision by the big global container carriers to not reduce capacity in line with the dropping demand registered over the past six months can only be explained by the fact the market participants have entered into a price war.

“A choice to allow overcapacity to persist is also a choice to allow rates to continue to drop. Such a choice has a description: A price war,” Sea-Intelligence experts wrote in their latest weekly report.

“It has been obvious for a number of months that carriers have reverted to type – the instinct to preserve volumes and price lower to secure short-term bookings has taken over,” commented Simon Heaney, senior manager of container research for UK-based Drewry. “The idea that the extreme profits had changed mindsets has been proven to be totally false.”

Heaney predicted that today’s price cutting will mean freight rates land more closely to pre-pandemic levels, as will profits. Drewry estimates liner shipping made record combined operational profits of $290bn last year, something that will slide to just $15bn in 2023.

“The carriers do not have a choice as a price war is bound to happen whether they want it or not,” argued Hua Joo Tan, the founder of Asia-based consultancy Linerlytica, in conversation with Splash today. “What we have is a perfect storm with excess supply coinciding with the collapse in demand with none of the main carriers willing or able to make an exit from the market,” Tan said.

Commenting on how the market dynamics might play out, Lars Jensen, CEO of Danish consultancy Vespucci Maritime, told Splash that today’s price war will likely be a temporary one, whereupon more capacity will be pulled to stabilise the market.

“But it should be noted that the market is at the same time entering a cyclical downturn which in itself adds negative pressure,” Jensen cautioned.

Korean flagship liner HMM issued record annual profits today of $7.88bn, but became the latest carrier to warn that 2023 will be a challenging year.

“Unfavorable market conditions are expected to continue due to widespread inflation and weak economic growth, putting pressure on demand,” the Seoul-based carrier stated.

“Container freight rates have fallen materially over the past six months and are hovering at 2020 lows across several routes,” Jefferies noted in a recent note to clients, calling for a “major supply response” to right-size the market.

Article Source:https://splash247.com/

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Indonesia Tourist Entry Visas Clarified

The Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a circular memorandum (SE/005/PK.04/2022/64) on 28 April 2022, addressed to all foreign legations of the Republic worldwide, detailing visa entry requirements.

The salient points of the memo follow.

Citizens of the following nine ASEAN member countries are traveling for “leisure purposes” are allowed to travel visa-free:

  1. Brunei Darussalam
  2. Philippines
  3. Cambodia
  4. Laos
  5. Malaysia
  6. Myanmar
  7. Singapore
  8. Thailand
  9. Vietnam

Citizens of the following 60 countries and administrative regions are entitled to receive a “Visa on Arrival for Leisure Purposes” after paying a visa fee of Rp. 500,000 (US$35):

  1. South Africa
  2. United States of America
  3. Saudi Arabia
  4. Argentina
  5. Australia
  6. Austria
  7. Netherlands
  8. Belgium
  9. Brazil
  10. Brunei Darussalam
  11. Bulgaria
  12. Czech Republic
  13. Denmark
  14. Estonia
  15. Philippines
  16. Finland
  17. Hong Kong
  18. Hungary
  19. India
  20. United Kingdom
  21. Ireland
  22. Italy
  23. Japan
  24. Germany
  25. Cambodia
  26. Canada
  27. Republic of Korea
  28. Croatia
  29. Laos
  30. Latvia
  31. Lithuania
  32. Luxembourg
  33. Malaysia
  34. Malta
  35. Mexico
  36. Myanmar
  37. Norway
  38. France
  39. Poland
  40. Portugal
  41. Qatar
  42. Romania
  43. New Zealand
  44. Seychelles
  45. Singapore
  46. Cyprus
  47. Slovakia
  48. Slovenia
  49. Spain
  50. Sweden
  51. Switzerland
  52. Chinese Taipei
  53. Thailand
  54. Timor-Leste
  55. People’s Republic of China
  56. Tunisia
  57. Turkey
  58. United Arab Emirates
  59. Vietnam
  60. Greece

Visit Visa Exemptions or Visa on Arrival for Leisure Purposes are granted for foreign nationals are available at the following Immigration Checkpoints:

  1. AIRPORTS:
  2. Soekarno Hatta, Banten/Jakarta
  3. Ngurah Rai, Bali
  4. Kualanamu, North Sumatra
  5. Juanda, Surabaya, East Java
  6. Sultan Hasanuddin, Makassar, South Sulawesi
  7. Sam Ratulangi, Manado, North Sulawesi
  8. Yogyakarta, Special Administrative District of Yogyakarta
  9. Hang Nadim, Riau Islands
  10. Zainuddin Abdul Majid, Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara
  11. SEAPORTS
  12. Nongsa Terminal Bahari, Riau Islands
  13. Batam Center, Riau Islands
  14. Sekupang, Riau Islands
  15. Citra Tri Tunas, Riau Islands
  16. Marina Teluk Senimba, Riau Islands
  17. Bandar Bentan Telani Lagoi, Riau Islands
  18. Bandar Seri Utama Lobam, Riau Islands
  19. Sri Bintan Pura, Riau Islands
  20. Tanjung Balai Karimun, Riau Islands

CROSS-BORDER POSTS:

  1. Aruk, West Kalimantan
  2. Entikong, West Kalimantan
  3. Mota’ain, East Nusa Tenggara
  4. Turon Taka, North Kalimantan

VISA REQUIREMENTS

Visit Visa Exemptions or Visa on Arrival for Leisure Purposes can be issued following the following requirements;

A diplomatic/official/ordinary passport valid for at least 6 months.
A return ticket or passing ticket for continuing travel to another country.
Proof of payment for Visa on Arrival of Rp. 500,000 when applying for a Visa on Arrival for Leisure Purpose
Proof of insurance coverage from an insurance company incorporated as a legal entity in Indonesia that covers health costs during the traveler’s stay in Indonesia.

ENTRY STAMP

The entry stamp given to foreign travelers when entering Indonesia utilizing a Visit Visa Exemption or Visa on Arrival for Leisure Purposes will serve as a Visit Stay Permit that is valid for:

Visit Visa Exemption: Valid for a maximum of 30 days and non-extendible.
Visa on Arrival: Valid for a maximum of 30 days and extendable for an additional 30 days at the Immigration Office in the area where the foreign national resides.
Visit Visa Exemption or Visa on Arrival for Leisure Purposes can also be granted to foreign nationals on an official visit or governmental duties to attend international events. This exemption requires presenting an invitation letter issued by the Indonesian government to attend an international conference/trial/meeting.

The facilitation of a Visit Visa Exemption or Visa on Arrivals for Leisure Purpose stipulated above applies to holders of diplomatic passports, service passports, service passports, or ordinary/regular passports.

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The sleeping giant awakens: Indonesia reopens to the world

After experimenting with localized trials in Bali, Bintan and Batam, Indonesia effectively reopened its borders to tourists by reinstating visa exemptions for ASEAN nationals and scrapping on-arrival COVID-19 tests for vaccinated travelers on April 6. Citizens of 33 other countries including the United States, United Kingdom, China, Japan and multiple European Union nations are also eligible for visas-on-arrival. The reopening will provide a further boost to Southeast Asia’s largest economy, which has been on a gradual recovery after gross domestic product (GDP) contracted 2.1 percent in 2020 following a nationwide outbreak of COVID-19’s deadly delta variant. Businesses in the retail, transport, and hospitality sectors in particular will rejoice at a likely surge in visitor arrivals as travelers return in force – Indonesia saw 16.1 million visitors pre-pandemic (2019), but only 4 million in 2020 and 1.6 million in 2021. These encouraging prospects were undoubtedly on the minds of investors participating in the initial public offering ( IPO) of Indonesian tech juggernaut GoTo, whose shares jumped 13 percent on the first day of trading.

Nonetheless, to focus solely on pandemic-hit sectors like hospitality would also miss the larger picture of Indonesia’s growth trajectory. At a time of heavily disrupted supply chains and rising commodity prices, Indonesia’s abundance of natural resources – from coal to iron to palm oil – places the country in an enviable position of strength. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent spate of sanctions placed against the former has only accentuated the strain on commodities. Significant attention has already been paid to Russia’s supplies of oil and gas as well as wheat, but it would be remiss to neglect other resources like nickel (used for producing steel and car batteries, among others), of which 10 percent of the world’s supply originates from Russia. Incidentally, Indonesia has the world’s largest nickel reserves at 21 million metric tons. However, companies hoping to rely on Indonesia as an easy source of raw materials should temper their expectations. In 2021, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo announced the urgency for the country to upgrade from its status as a commodity-based economy to encompassing more downstream components of the value chain. He made these statements at a groundbreaking ceremony of an electric vehicle battery plant in Karawang, West Java – described as Southeast Asia’s first – a non-too-subtle signal highlighting Indonesia’s “downstreaming” manufacturing push from nickel extraction to electric vehicle (EV) battery production. The country has aggressively courted investments in battery manufacturing in recent years, with Chinese and South Korean firms among the first to respond to the call.

The idea itself is nothing new. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s administration passed the Law on Mineral and Coal Mining 2009 as well as the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministerial Regulation (Permen ESDM) No. 1/2014, which forces mineral extraction companies to convert a minimum amount of raw material (ore) into semi-processed products. However, this was never strictly enforced, and exports continued until the current administration issued Permen ESDM No. 25/2018 which imposes a gradual ban on ore exports – including nickel, cobalt, iron, bauxite, copper, gold, and tin – with only processed or semi-processed materials allowed for export. This has led to hundreds of new smelters being established across the country, with the largest operated by Virtue Dragon (owned by Chinese firm Jiangsu Delong Nickel Industry) in Central Sulawesi.

The Indonesian government has similarly targeted exports of coal, which supplies more than 60 percent of Indonesia’s energy needs: in 2021, it increased the Domestic Market Obligation (DMO) for national coal producers from 10 percent to 25 percent, meaning that each holder of coal mining concession rights must sell 25 percent of all production at a discounted price to domestic market. In February 2022, the government also banned coal producers who failed to fulfil their DMO from exporting coal. In a nod to the downstreaming agenda, state-owned coal producer PT Bukit Asam is aiming to increase the gasification of coal into dimethyl ether (a substitute for LNG) as one way to add value to Indonesian-sourced coal. Indonesia’s downstreaming agenda has taken a long time to come into fruition, and – as with many of its other government policies – time will tell if this recent push bears success. That said, the odds have never looked better for a meteoric resurgence by Southeast Asia’s sleeping giant.

Source Article: The sleeping giant awakens: Indonesia reopens to the world – The Jakarta Post

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Rim Cargo Launch Website

RIM Cargo, a leading International Air & Sea Freight Forwarder solutions provider, is excited to announce the launch of its newly redesigned website: rimcargo.com. The streamlined, modern design offers easy navigation, user-friendly interface, and engaging content to help website visitors better comprehend our solutions and offerings.

“We are very happy at the launch of the new website for our partners, clients, and visitors looking to explore our solutions and offerings,” said, Paul Barker and Nengah Danta, Managing Director and General manager of RIM Cargo. “I feel that this new website aligns well with our company’s vision for growth and expansion by encompassing our entire solutions portfolio.”
Created with keeping the user experience a top priority, the new comprehensive website includes features like:
• Easy navigation – User-friendly interface and latest content allows the end-users to navigate through our solutions portfolio based on their business requirements.
• Accentuates value proposition – The updated content clearly articulates the value propositions of our solutions and enhances the RIM Cargo brand.
• Quick access to news and insights – Website visitors can stay informed with the relevant news and resources, latest insights, product launches, corporate milestones, case studies, and events information with just a few clicks.

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US Senate passes Ocean Shipping Reform Act

The US Senate yesterday passed the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, as the House of Representatives did in December. Presently the two renditions of the bill – the Senate’s and the House’s – should be explored and contrasts settled, before a solitary variant can go to President Biden for marking.

Congressperson John Thune, co-backer of the regulation with Senator Amy Klobuchar, said the regulation, “would even the odds for American ranchers, exporters and customers by making it harder for sea transporters to absurdly deny products that are prepared to send out at US ports. Particularly with record expansion in costs of merchandise, this regulation would likewise help customers by advancing the smoothness and productivity of the store network.”

Klobuchar underlined the regulation’s normal positive effects on port blockage and delivery costs. “Sea transporters that are generally unfamiliar possessed have revealed record benefits. This regulation will assist American exporters with getting their merchandise to showcase promptly at a fair cost,” she said.

The demonstration would reinforce the investigatory and authorization authority of the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) and give the organization another standard making authority. Sea normal transporters would be expected to answer to the FMC each schedule quarter on complete import and commodity weight and TEUs (stacked/void) for each boat that calls at US ports.

On March 22, the World Shipping Council gave an assertion saying that the Ocean Shipping Reform Act “addresses none of the underlying drivers of the US landside clog.” The Council noticed that “import blockage is additionally consuming the limit and space expected to guarantee the continuous progression of US sends out.” According to the WSC, the House variant of the bill “would aggravate existing clog.”

Source: https://splash247.com/us-senate-passes-ocean-shipping-reform-act/

Photo: Port of Los Angeles