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ZIM Shrinks Net Loss

Israel’s shipping company Zim Integrated Shipping Services (ZIM) managed to cut its net loss during the first quarter of 2017 to USD 6.4 million, compared to a net loss of USD 56.3 million reported in the corresponding period a year earlier.

The company’s total revenues increased by 4% to USD 655 million, compared to USD 630 million in the same three-month period in 2016, while its operating cash flow stood at USD 33.8 million, against a negative USD 14.6 million seen a year earlier.

Additionally, ZIM said that it saw a 3.6% increase in its carried volumes which reached 598 thousand TEUs, compared to 577 thousand TEUs handled in the first quarter of 2016, while the average freight rate per TEU stood at USD 953, against USD 943 in the same period in the previous year.

The shipping liner industry has been going through major developments and changes in the last year, with the increased mergers and acquisitions and the changes in the alliances’ structure. Since the third quarter of 2016 ZIM said that it has been witnessing a positive trend in the industry with slightly improved freight rates in some trades. However, market conditions on the whole “remained challenging and volatile.”

“In the face of this tough business environment, ZIM continues to outperform the industry and achieve improved results. ZIM’s Q1 results reflect the constant improvement in the company’s performance, as a result of the comprehensive transformation the company has implemented in recent years,” according to the company.

Source: http://worldmaritimenews.com/

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ZIM NAMES GLICKMAN CEO

Zim Integrated Shipping Services also announced the departure of its chief financial officer.

Zim Integrated Shipping Service’s board of directors named Eli Glickman as president and CEO to replace Rafi Danieli, who announced last year he was stepping down.

Glickman will assume leadership of Zim on July 1. Zim also announced that CFO Guy Eldar, who led the complicated restructuring of the company’s debts in 2014, would also step down. No replacement for Eldar was named.

Glickman was previously CEO of the Israel Electric Company and worked in logistics from 2003 to 2005 as CEO of Exel MPL. He has also served as deputy CEO at Partner-Orange Cellular Communication where he managed the customer division and comes from a military background, having been a commanding officer in the special operations unit of the Israeli navy.

He has also been a missile ship commander and naval attache in Washington, DC.

Glickman has a masters of science in financial management from University of Monterey (California) and has graduated from Georgetown University’s International Executive Business Administration program.

Danieli has led Zim for the past 8 years and worked previously as CFO and deputy CEO. Zim said Danieli led a successful operational reorganization that has had tangible benefits.

Zim operates around 80 vessels with a total capacity of 344,460 twenty-foot-equivalent units (TEUs), according to the company’s website.

Zim posted a net profit of $4.6 million in the fourth quarter, down from $43.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2015. For the full year, Zim posted a loss of $163.5 million compared with a profit of $6.5 million in 2015.

In preparation for the new vessel-sharing agreements that launch April 1, the Haifa-based carrier has been restructuring its network, unveiling new trans-Pacific services connecting Asia with the Pacific Northwest.

The company also is rolling out its Zim Med Pacific service using 15 vessels with capacities of 4,500 TEUs as well as a new service to the Mediterranean from India.

Dustin Braden, Assistant Web Editor, JOC.com
Source: http://www.joc.com/

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CONTAINER SHIPPING LINES SIGN UP WITH ALIBABA TO OFFER ONLINE BOOKING

SHANGHAI — Two container shipping lines, France’s CMA CGM and Israel’s Zim, have signed up with Alibaba to allow customers to book space on their vessels through the Chinese e-commerce giant, in a bid to boost sales as the sector battles a severe downturn.

Container lines, facing their worst ever downturn due to a glut of ships and weaker demand, are pursuing several measures such as vessel-sharing arrangements or mergers and acquisitions to ride out the current slump. A growing number of logistics firms are going online to buoy their business.

In December, Maersk – the world’s largest container shipping line and a unit of Denmark’s A.P. Moller-Maersk – started offering online booking services to Chinese shippers on Alibaba’s OneTouch website.

Shippers traditionally go through freight forwarders to book space for goods on container vessels, but more liners are allowing cargo owners to book directly via the internet. As for e-commerce companies, they are venturing into logistics to try to gain better control over their supply chain networks.

“Alibaba.com is open to collaborating with logistics firms who want to join our platform which aims to streamline the logistics process for small and medium-sized enterprises and empower them to seize cross-border trade opportunities,” an Alibaba spokeswoman told Reuters in an e-mail on Thursday.

Israeli shipping line Zim, which is 32 percent owned by Kenon Holdings, has begun allowing customers to book space through the platform on routes such as Shanghai to India and Pakistan, or from Xiamen to South America, according to advertisements posted on the OneTouch platform.

France’s CMA CGM has signed a memorandum of understanding with Alibaba to begin cooperating on the OneTouch platform for routes such as Qingdao to Barcelona or Ningbo to Venice, it said in a statement.

Acquired by Alibaba in 2010, OneTouch targets small and medium-sized Chinese exporters with online services such as customs clearance and logistics. It also allows them to book air freight and parcel delivery services and supports its parent Alibaba.com’s business-to-business marketplace.

Maersk has begun offering a similar service to customers of online freight forwarding website Yun Qu Na, it said in an e-mail to Reuters on Thursday. The liner said in January that it planned to launch more pilot programs on third party portals.

(Reporting by Brenda Goh; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/