Dubai has huge ambitions to be a global leader in perishables handling and is looking to the sea and skies to fulfil its goal. Its logistics resources certainly take some beating. Millions have already been ploughed into the emirates’ facilities and with more initiatives coming into fruition in the next two to three years, it is a busy time for Dubai’s perishables sector.
Often referred to as the Rotterdam of the Middle East, Dubai has big aspirations to break through to supply the European market with Middle East, Asian and African produce.
Reams of column inches worldwide have been devoted to the US$70 million (£36.3m) Dubai Flower Centre (DFC), which is strategically located in Dubai Cargo Village at the airport.
As the only state-of-the-art transhipment centre for perishable goods in the region, the DFC promotes itself as a one-stop shop for local and international buyers, traders and exporters.
“Facilities at the DFC cater not just to flowers but anything that is perishable and needs a cool-chain process, like fruit, vegetables and fresh meat or fish,” marketing director Ibrahim Ahli explains.
The centre provides a closed-loop supply chain system that ensures the right temperature from aircraft to the climate-controlled zone, a state-of-the-art computerised tracking system and a duty-free environment.
The DFC has the capacity to handle 180,000 tonnes of perishable products each year. With so much investment, there are high hopes that the centre will spur exponential growth in the regional cargo sector.
Ahli claims: “With the latest facilities and equipment, DFC is unique in the world technologically speaking, while the quality of service is second to none. This will give a boost to the cargo sector in the region, especially for transhipment of perishable goods, from the Middle East, Asia and African regions.
“We have already received very positive responses from east African flower growers and exporters including from Kenya and Ethiopia, as well as from consuming countries like Russia and Japan.”
DFC became fully operational in July 2006 and handled an impressive 3,475t of perishables in its first 10 days of operation.
The centre’s computerised tracking system enables exporters and importers to track the flight status, shipment loading and temperature of products through the supply chain.
DFC has also caught the eye of South American flower growers and exporters who, according to the centre, are looking for “better transhipment of their perishable goods and to utilise DFC as a gateway to enter new markets in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries, Middle East, and the rest of Asia”.
DFC md Ian Strachan and Ahli recently visited farms in Peru, Ecuador and Colombia, and also met with key government officials.
“The official export promoting bodies - Prompex of Peru, Corpei of Ecuador, and Proexport of Colombia - along with the many growers in the region seek to expand their markets to cover the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region and use Dubai as a redistribution centre,” Ahli says, adding that future alliances with Latin American logistics firms may be on the cards.
Ahli says that, in recent years, there has been renewed interest among Latin American companies to expand their presence outside of their traditional markets of Europe and North America.
Furthermore, Iran and other central Asian countries are looking keenly at DFC to boost exports to Europe and the Far East.
Iran’s floral sector is flourishing and, according to official figures, some 3,000 flower production units across Iran produce more than 1.4 million stems of cut flowers, 120m trees and shrubs and 38m pot plants a year.
The sector suffers from high wastage due to insufficient storage facilities. However, Ahli says Dubai is ready to offer its services. “The DFC can surely support the Iranian floriculture industry as we have the necessary infrastructure to meet its requirements,” he says.
Looking at Dubai’s logistics figures, it is impossible to be anything but impressed by the recent growth. The area’s port and airport are hoping to capture further business and significant investment has been ploughed into the facilities.
During the period of January to September 2006, Dubai Cargo Village handled 1.03mt of cargo, compared to 969,296t in the first nine months of 2005, an increase of 6.72 per cent. May was the busiest month for the Cargo Village, when it handled 124,366t of cargo, compared to 107,487t in May 2005, a 15.7 per cent increase.
Dubai International Airport has been growing at an average rate of 15 per cent annually since 2000, and HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, president of Dubai Department of Civil Aviation and chairman and ceo of Emirates Group expects the growth rate to pick up pace over the coming years.
Ambitious plans are underway, including the expansion of Concourses 2 and 3 and Terminal 3. The expanded facility will be capable of handling approximately 60m passengers by 2010.
On the sea front, DP World-UAE aims to increase its current capacity of 20m TEU (twenty-foot equivalent container units) to an estimated 42m TEU’s by 2010. It has continued its expansion by adding terminals in Yemen, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), India, and China.
“DP World-UAE has been at the forefront of implementing new technologies,” says Mohammed Al Muallem, senior vice president and managing director, DP World-UAE. “The UAE region and Dubai in particular, has seen buoyant growth in the economy with Dubai being established as a business hub within the Middle East. Port Rashid and Jebel Ali Terminal play a vital role in contributing to the strength of Dubai as a business hub.”
DP World-UAE’s flagship facility Dubai Ports was ranked as the world’s ninth top container port, handling 7.62m TEUs in 2005.
DP World claims companies can benefit from its innovative services. These include the Container Terminal Management System (CTMS) which facilitates an integrated inter-port transfer of containers between Port Rashid and Jebel Ali; or the Container Freight Station System (CFSS), which computerises the entire operations of the station.
Company officials recently met with the Dubai Municipality’s Health & Food Inspection Section and foodstuff traders to discuss a number of issues, including quality certification standards, shelf-life requirements, production limitations and municipality inspection points.
Dubai Municipality is in the process of rolling out advanced shelf-life regulations, as well as improving the efficiency of its electronic systems for dial-up internet users. Talks are also underway to increase facilities for container inspections.
“This will considerably improve efficiency and allow containers to continue their journey without any delay,” says Khalid Mohd Sharif Mohd Al Awadi of Dubai Municipality.
EMIRATES RAISES THE BAR ON PERISHABLES
Perishables account for a significant proportion of Emirates SkyCargo’s business and the Dubai-based air carrier has made substantial investments in its operations over the past year.
“It is our aim to continuously improve the service quality and our infrastructure to serve the perishable industry,” says Emirates SkyCargo’s Therese Puetz, adding that the carrier expects to be able to offer further synergies and services via its close relationship with the Dubai Flower Centre.
Emirates SkyCargo has recently increased its presence in Europe and last year introduced 11 new cities to its expanding global route network, including Hamburg and Tunis.
Furthermore, in July 2006, Emirates Skycargo moved into its new facility at Heathrow Cargo Village, after signing a five-year cargo ground handling contract. “The UK is an important perishable import market for Emirates SkyCargo and consumers there have high quality demands,” Puetz tells FPJ.
Close co-operation with the shipper or agent at origin to secure the cool chain from the very beginning is needed and Puetz says that Emirates is actively involved in industry forums and working groups to co-ordinate improvements for perishable handling in airfreight.
Emirates SkyCargo has enjoyed impressive growth over the last year and this is likely to be accelerated in the near future.
“Our freighter fleet will grow by another two B747-400’s this year and we are also working on the Cargo Mega Terminal (CMT) which, when completed will have a cargo capacity of 1.2 million tonnes per annum,” Puetz says. “World Central, Dubai Logistics City and the new CMT are the major growth projects in Dubai at the moment and will facilitate unconstrained growth for the air cargo market.”
In addition, Emirates recently launched SkyChain, an IT cargo management system which uses the latest Java technology and is designed to improve efficiencies in air cargo transportation.
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