Mr Vivek Choudhary was re-elected Chairman of Calcutta Freight Brokers Association (CFBA) at its 81st Annual General Meeting held at the Bengal Chamber of Commerce, here, on July 12, 2019. The AGM also elected Mr Ajay Chhajer as Vice-Chairman, and Mr J. S. Chopra, Mr Rajiv Agarwall, Mr Pawan Farmania, Mr Bharat Jain and Mr Manoj Vyas as Committee Members for the term 2019-20, said a release.
On behalf of the Association, Mr Vivek Choudhary welcomed the Chief Guest of the evening, Mr Steve M. Felder, Managing Director, South Asia, Maersk Line, and the members of the Bombay Overseas Freight Brokers Association, who have been always extending support by their presence. Also present on the occasion were officials from shipping companies across India and members of the media.
The newly elected Chairman addressed the gathering and said that it was his privilege to welcome the invitees/guests on the occasion of the 81st AGM of CFBA, one of the oldest associations of freight brokers in India serving the shipping industry.
He expressed his gratitude to officials from shipping companies across India, members of the media and fellow members for taking out time to make the meet a memorable one.
He began by giving a brief introduction of Mr Steve M. Felder, who grew up in Cape Town, South Africa, and now, based in Mumbai, leads the businesses in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Maldives.
It was pointed out that Mr Felder has held various executive positions within Maersk Line and his strongest area of expertise is in emerging markets, underpinned by his extensive experience in establishing and growing businesses in such markets.
Moving on, Mr Choudhary gave a brief overview of the international container trade and the shipping industry. Today’s container market is confronting more than its fair share of headwinds. There have been concerns of a slowing global economy stoked by the ongoing US-China trade war, UK’s expected departure from the European Union, escalating geopolitical tensions in many regions of the world, and an industry grappling with challenging new low-sulphur emission regulations. Beyond these, however, a series of fears are also beginning to present themselves that could dent demand for shipping in the future, namely, the regionalisation of manufacturing supply chain and growing momentum behind a low carbon, environment-first campaign that has the potential to fundamentally change global consumption habits. It is for all these reasons that the forecast for global port throughput growth has been downgraded from 3.9 per cent to 3 per cent in 2019, he said.
Shifting focus to the performance of Kolkata Port Trust, it was highlighted that in 2018-19, the container volume handled by the port showed a growth of 4.18 per cent, from 7,96,211 TEUs to 8,29,482 TEUs, and that it continues to hold 3rd position in cargo handling among the Major Ports. In 2018-19, KoPT handled 3,648 vessels, the highest among the Major Ports, he said. The Port Trust has been taking various steps to facilitate the ex-im trade by improving infrastructure augmentation, especially dredging, and trying to achieve operational efficiency by upgradation equipment. However, there still remain areas of improvement and the authorities should continue to strive for better conditions and facilities at the ports, he added.
Next, he addressed friends and colleagues from the shipping lines. The relationship with them has lasted since time immemorial and it has been a fulfilling journey. It is time the shipping lines encourage the facilitation of trade by dealing with freight brokers rather than approaching shippers directly. The brokerage should be paid on total freight instead of basic freight, and only to registered freight brokers. By increasing business through brokers, the lines will benefit through increased transparency in all sectors of the shipping business, thereby improving the overall trade scenario.
He thanked the shipping lines for closely working with the freight brokers for the benefit of the trade.
For broker friends in the current industry scenario of surplus capacity and market consolidation, the role of a market facilitator assumes greater significance, and it is their responsibility to provide true market feedback to the shipping lines, he stressed. In order to survive in these market conditions, one needs to look to expand the portfolio of services and strive for continuous improvement and customer satisfaction, he said.
Mr Choudhary concluded by quoting Lyndon Johnson, “Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose”.
