Readers will remember that Tuscor Lloyds Spain was a key logistics supplier to the project. The company moved the huge cranes used during the construction of the structure. The cranes, some of the world’s tallest, were supplied by a specialist firm in Spain. Tuscor Lloyds moved them across the Atlantic in pieces and then they were moved into position by truck, ready for assembly by the construction company.

During the opening ceremony, the President spoke proudly of the engineering feat, highlighting the importance of linking the central part of the country with the west coast. The bridge has become symbolic of Mexico’s continuing provincial development and its opening is part of the celebrations to mark 200 years of the country’s independence from colonial Spain. The practical implications however are huge with the journey time from Mazatlan to Durango reduced by 6 hours. This makes the road journey across Mexico’s heavily populated central regions commercially viable, linking the Atlantic and Pacific coasts by road for the first time.

Read the previous article here: www.tuscorlloyds.com/shipping-news/the-bridge/ ]]> http://www.tuscorlloyds.com/shipping-news/building-bridges-baluarte-bridge-mexico/feed/ 0 http://www.tuscorlloyds.com/shipping-news/a-qa-with-tuscor-lloyds/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=a-qa-with-tuscor-lloyds http://www.tuscorlloyds.com/shipping-news/a-qa-with-tuscor-lloyds/#comments Wed, 21 Dec 2011 10:18:50 +0000 admin http://www.tuscorlloyds.com/?p=8856 Which markets will provide growth potential in the months to come? The Middle East and North Africa both look very exciting especially the Energy Sector. Now that the political situation appears to be calming down we are anticipating invigorated regional markets and some bounce back over the next 12 months. Libya especially is seeing strong growth since the fall of the regime. We are seeing increasing activity in Brazil right now as infrastructure and development gathers pace for the World Cup and Olympics. We expect the market there to grow further over the next 2 years. We are seeing a great deal of project cargo to Brazil, especially from the continent. Have customers changed the way they choose service providers? The market is becoming cost driven – more than ever. Our customers move very high value cargo and they used to demand service before price. The demand for service is still there but the customers seem to be going out to the market and tendering jobs more nowadays. The problem with this approach is that they may drift towards inexperienced suppliers who look like they’re cheaper but the shipper will find costs increasing through the job. Where are customers cutting costs and how does this affect the way you operate? There seems to be a desire for shippers to deal directly with the shipping lines at the moment. The perception is that they will save some money by ‘cutting out the middle man’ but often this leads to headaches and mistakes. We are constantly improving our service offering, as this is the primary draw for our customers and one that the shipping lines can’t compete with. We do find ourselves being squeezed on price because others claim to offer the same service for less. Customers find they are hit by surprise costs and this is where unscrupulous operators are making their money. Much of our cargo is time sensitive so another common trick is to offer earlier sailings to win the job, and then once the cargo is safely in hand the customer finds the vessel is delayed. We have maintained our high standards and always tell the truth. You try and educate the customer – as the saying goes: if something is too good to be true, it usually is. Is the industry facing any equipment constraints? Apart from the usual seasonal problems with haulage and road coverage, there seems to be a shortage of special equipment in the UK and Europe right now. Most shipping lines are claiming they will not be able to find equipment until the New Year. Furthermore the depots are struggling to find time and space to handle loading jobs. Fortunately our supplier contacts are well placed. They are finding equipment and space for our customers. Long standing relationships based on trust is the key to getting things done. Ours is still a people business. What’s the situation at the moment with availability of charter vessels and lease costs? In contrast there seems to...]]> Which markets will provide growth potential in the months to come?

The Middle East and North Africa both look very exciting especially the Energy Sector. Now that the political situation appears to be calming down we are anticipating invigorated regional markets and some bounce back over the next 12 months. Libya especially is seeing strong growth since the fall of the regime.

We are seeing increasing activity in Brazil right now as infrastructure and development gathers pace for the World Cup and Olympics. We expect the market there to grow further over the next 2 years. We are seeing a great deal of project cargo to Brazil, especially from the continent.

Have customers changed the way they choose service providers?

The market is becoming cost driven – more than ever. Our customers move very high value cargo and they used to demand service before price. The demand for service is still there but the customers seem to be going out to the market and tendering jobs more nowadays. The problem with this approach is that they may drift towards inexperienced suppliers who look like they’re cheaper but the shipper will find costs increasing through the job.

Where are customers cutting costs and how does this affect the way you operate?

There seems to be a desire for shippers to deal directly with the shipping lines at the moment. The perception is that they will save some money by ‘cutting out the middle man’ but often this leads to headaches and mistakes. We are constantly improving our service offering, as this is the primary draw for our customers and one that the shipping lines can’t compete with.

We do find ourselves being squeezed on price because others claim to offer the same service for less. Customers find they are hit by surprise costs and this is where unscrupulous operators are making their money. Much of our cargo is time sensitive so another common trick is to offer earlier sailings to win the job, and then once the cargo is safely in hand the customer finds the vessel is delayed. We have maintained our high standards and always tell the truth. You try and educate the customer – as the saying goes: if something is too good to be true, it usually is.

Is the industry facing any equipment constraints?

Apart from the usual seasonal problems with haulage and road coverage, there seems to be a shortage of special equipment in the UK and Europe right now. Most shipping lines are claiming they will not be able to find equipment until the New Year. Furthermore the depots are struggling to find time and space to handle loading jobs. Fortunately our supplier contacts are well placed. They are finding equipment and space for our customers. Long standing relationships based on trust is the key to getting things done. Ours is still a people business.

What’s the situation at the moment with availability of charter vessels and lease costs?

In contrast there seems to be ample space and availability in port and on conventional vessels at the moment. Our chartering desk has been able to secure some very interesting cargos lately. There is certainly some good capacity available, especially short sea and inter-European trades. Cargo handling in port and on board vessel stevedoring is also easy to organize right now.

What changes in the shipping industry have most affected your business this year?

There appears to be more forwarders and shipping lines who claim they know how to ship heavy and abnormal project cargoes. They are attracted to the market because margins are better than their native container-based businesses. Many of these companies actually lack the expertise or ability to do a good job. Their service levels are poor and they make frequent and costly mistakes.

Some customers have been seduced by their promises, probably by pushy sales staff and heavy marketing campaigns. Almost all these customers returned with grim stories of big problems on relatively simple projects. Experience and integrity are important in todays’ market. We primarily sell knowledge to our customers. They use us as a ‘safe pair of hands’ for jobs which are rarely straightforward such as complicated multi-modal and cross trade movements.

What political changes have most affected your business this year?

Due to the global economic crisis, we feel there is over capacity and pent-up demand at the moment in the heavy lift market. Many exporters seem to be waiting for something bad to happen but we have thrived in this challenging environment. Our reputation as a reliable partner has allowed us to retain our key accounts and instil greater loyalty in our customer base.

Many companies are being squeezed by lack of cargo and falling revenues. Operators must be financially secure and able to handle problems if they occur. Too many shippers go purely on rate and fail to understand the implications of corporate failure and how close some firms are to going out of business.

What do you see as the single biggest challenge for your sector in the year to come?

The economic environment continues to challenge everyone in the freight industry. I think we will see many of the weaker firms falling by the wayside. The ones who remain will be all the stronger for it. Thankfully at Tuscor Lloyds we are seeing an increase in profit year on year. Not many in the industry can say that right now and this is down to the hard work and determination of our staff.

What was your growth strategy this year and how will you approach the next 12 months?

Our business model works well, but it is based on knowledge. We are gaining expertise by making a point of training the right people in house to think like us. The aim is to expand our project management staff numbers further. The more people we have who know how to handle project cargo intelligently, the better placed we will be to secure an even larger market share.

North Africa is really taking off for us right now and we’re looking at expanding our market share in the region. Much of the work is oil and gas industry related and as this sector is our specialty, we are finding a great deal of business out there. We are also expanding our offer in Brazil. We are working with some fantastic people over there and we’ve got some very big plans for our South American offer next year.

For all their undoubted cruelty, the secular dictators of North Africa oversaw important investment programs in port infrastructure. As recently as January 2011, the Mubarak-led Egyptian government agreed capital expenditure of over $16 billion for new equipment and upgrades across the country’s port facilities. More investment is needed however and while democracy is good for trade, the newly elected North African governments must not be tempted to cancel the more astute decisions of their predecessors – no matter how hated their regimes were.

A key industry for UK exporters to the region in the future will be the energy sector. According to The International Energy Agency’s 2011 World Energy Outlook, global demand for oil (currently at 88 million barrels per day) is likely to increase to 99 mb/d by 2035. The report claims productivity will fall for many oil producers over the same period and more importantly, production costs will increase for almost all suppliers. The outlook for the North African fossil fuel industry however looks bright, with almost the entire shortfall in productivity (nine tenths, according to the IEA) to be taken up by the Middle East and North Africa combined.

The IEA estimates investment to the tune of $2.7 trillion is required across the North African region in the energy sector to achieve this goal. This level of commitment cannot be exclusively provided by local business, and it is likely much of this assistance will come from established oil companies with the expertise and resources to reach productivity targets. We can be sure that UK business will be at the forefront of the development and the all-important logistics services will be offered to British forwarders.

Monica Herandez, General Manager of Tuscor Lloyds in Veracruz, comments: “We are really excited about the new premises. The previous office space was far too small for us and after taking on several new employees this year it was becoming harder to operate efficiently. This new office will allow us to continue our plans to expand further next year with more staff joining us in early 2012.”

Like many countries, particularly those with close ties to the United States, we suffered a deep recession in 2008. Since then however, economic output has recovered and the World Bank estimates strong 2011 results after an overall expansion of 5.5% in 2010. Trade with Europe has grown steadily in the past 10 years, largely due to the Free trade Agreement with the EU and policies which encourage Mexican firms to seek a wide supplier market. A recent spike in violent crime in Mexico has raised concerns about the security situation, particularly in provincial cities. Despite this however the country has enjoyed a relatively stable political environment and this has fed through to steady growth and development of the economy.

Tuscor Lloyds will be moving into the new premises on the 5th December 2011.

Phone numbers for the new office will remain the same as before but obviously there is a change of location, the new address is as follows:
ALACIO PEREZ #25, 4to piso, COL. FLORES MAGON, C.P.91900
VERACRUZ, VER. EDIFICIO “JOSTER”.

For full contact details and a map showing the location of our new office please visit the Veracruz Office page.

Outsized, heavy and abnormal cargo would normally be booked as conventional shipments. Often the vessels are geared and properly configured to receive consignments of various types and sizes. It is widely acknowledged however that conventional vessels are inconsistent in terms of schedules and transit times. They often omit port calls and large volume bookings are required to ensure a measure of reliability.

Container lines provide a highly attractive alternative, with their regular as clockwork sailings (by comparison), wider coverage of port calls and faster sailing times. Container vessels, with their tight schedules, require a slick and efficient port operation in order to off-load. The ports are now set up for this, with equipment and cables on hand to adapt gantry cranes and even mobile heavy duty cranes available to execute heavy and awkward lifts. This provides a good substitute for the conventional vessel’s gears and reduces handling time and risk to the cargo.

Whilst the ports have the expertise on the ground, the process is all too often scuppered by a lack of operational knowledge in the office. Expertise is required to make the whole process work and the customer needs to feel confident the job is being done correctly. Often the shipper will not even get to a quotation so will assume that break bulk cannot be carried, but it can be as simple as speaking to the right person within the liner organisation to assist with the enquiry. If the container lines are really serious about becoming a substitute to conventional services then they need to train their office staff to better handle the enquiries. For container lines to become an attractive alternative to a different type of shipper the industry generally needs to wise up. There are far too few lines capable of handling conventional cargo yet far too many who claim a stake in the market.

Just select your destination from the list and you will be able to view the next available dates for sailing, once you have your date you can use the handy quote form to contact Tuscor Lloyds to see how we can service your shipping needs. You can also click to be taken directly to our mobile website where there is a whole host of useful information such as Currency, Weight and Measurement converters, Hazardous Goods information and many other useful functions all designed to make your job easier.

Simply search the Android Market Place for ‘Tuscor Lloyds Schedules’ and install. Alternatively, scan the QR code below and it will take you directly to the download page and follow the on screen instructions.

We will be updating this app regularly and welcome any suggestions you have on any improvements that can be made. Use the comments form below to submit your suggestions.

]]> http://www.tuscorlloyds.com/shipping-news/schedules-fingertips/feed/ 0 http://www.tuscorlloyds.com/shipping-news/african-odyssey/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=african-odyssey http://www.tuscorlloyds.com/shipping-news/african-odyssey/#comments Mon, 10 Oct 2011 14:11:51 +0000 admin http://www.tuscorlloyds.com/?p=8392 Tuscor Lloyds, adventures in Mozambique Over the last few months there has been a hive of activity in a small town in East Africa called Pemba, since the mineral wealth discovered offshore in fields such as Maniamba, Zambezi Graben, Banhine, Mazeng Graben, Limpopo Graben, Palmeiras Graben and Buzi Block as well as various oil and gas discovery sites such as Camarao, Windjammer, Tubarao, Barquentine 1, 2 and 3 and Lagosta. Along with the commissioning of exploration licences the sleepy town of Pemba has become the new frontier for logistics companies and leading the pack is Tuscor Lloyds. The story is told by Nick Rodriguez who led our first expedition into Pemba, a unique location in Mozambique. Nick; “I’ve been involved heavily with our work in East Africa and until 8 months ago it’s fair to say the majority of our business was focused on three countries, Uganda, Kenya and to a lesser extent Sudan. Then we were contacted by a client of ours to urgently move some cargo from Canada to Pemba with the strict instruction that the cargo must only be discharged in Pemba due to local requirements. As it happens Pemba is a port (amongst others in the area such as Nacala, Maputo and Beira) which only gets a call by a passing regular ship once (or twice in the busy seasons!) every six to eight weeks. Due to the unique requirements we believed it best to source our own container on behalf of the client which allowed us to navigate the container over multiple ports and vessels, along the way attending to customs documents allows us to move the cargo from one terminal to another when this was needed. The shipment certainly had its problems along the way, delays to paperwork being stamped and signed meant we missed a vessel in one port and a suspected series of Somali Pirate attacks in another region delayed another vessel whilst local vessel owners organised a group transit party in a “safety in numbers” attitude towards the situation. Thankfully the shipment arrived albeit a little later than anticipated but in one piece and crucially for our clients needs with direct discharge onto the Pemba quayside.“ That was the start of our “Moz-Freighter service”, the first shipment was just the initial kit required to undertake inspection work and with that up and running parts and additional machinery soon had to be sourced and moved over to Pemba to support the field crew. Shipments from Dubai, Tema, Europe and Asia soon started to be placed with us and again the task of identifying the quickest and most reliable routes fell to the projects team again, usually after everyone had left for the evening the lights that overhang the projects team in our Manchester office where left flickering late into the night this time Steven can shine a light on this episode. Steven; “At first we thought we had learnt it all when Nick did the initial shipment but that was just the...]]> Tuscor Lloyds, adventures in Mozambique

Over the last few months there has been a hive of activity in a small town in East Africa called Pemba, since the mineral wealth discovered offshore in fields such as Maniamba, Zambezi Graben, Banhine, Mazeng Graben, Limpopo Graben, Palmeiras Graben and Buzi Block as well as various oil and gas discovery sites such as Camarao, Windjammer, Tubarao, Barquentine 1, 2 and 3 and Lagosta. Along with the commissioning of exploration licences the sleepy town of Pemba has become the new frontier for logistics companies and leading the pack is Tuscor Lloyds. The story is told by Nick Rodriguez who led our first expedition into Pemba, a unique location in Mozambique.

Nick; “I’ve been involved heavily with our work in East Africa and until 8 months ago it’s fair to say the majority of our business was focused on three countries, Uganda, Kenya and to a lesser extent Sudan. Then we were contacted by a client of ours to urgently move some cargo from Canada to Pemba with the strict instruction that the cargo must only be discharged in Pemba due to local requirements. As it happens Pemba is a port (amongst others in the area such as Nacala, Maputo and Beira) which only gets a call by a passing regular ship once (or twice in the busy seasons!) every six to eight weeks. Due to the unique requirements we believed it best to source our own container on behalf of the client which allowed us to navigate the container over multiple ports and vessels, along the way attending to customs documents allows us to move the cargo from one terminal to another when this was needed. The shipment certainly had its problems along the way, delays to paperwork being stamped and signed meant we missed a vessel in one port and a suspected series of Somali Pirate attacks in another region delayed another vessel whilst local vessel owners organised a group transit party in a “safety in numbers” attitude towards the situation. Thankfully the shipment arrived albeit a little later than anticipated but in one piece and crucially for our clients needs with direct discharge onto the Pemba quayside.“

That was the start of our “Moz-Freighter service”, the first shipment was just the initial kit required to undertake inspection work and with that up and running parts and additional machinery soon had to be sourced and moved over to Pemba to support the field crew. Shipments from Dubai, Tema, Europe and Asia soon started to be placed with us and again the task of identifying the quickest and most reliable routes fell to the projects team again, usually after everyone had left for the evening the lights that overhang the projects team in our Manchester office where left flickering late into the night this time Steven can shine a light on this episode.

Steven; “At first we thought we had learnt it all when Nick did the initial shipment but that was just the tip of the iceberg. Schedule reliability was an issue for us we had seen delays in some shipments and we were simply not happy for cargo to be delayed so with the approval of the clients we were able to discharge in a neighbouring port to Pemba and arrange on-carriage. The client had identified Maputo as an alternative port but we quickly moved to provide an alternative view to using this port, the distance is too great and the cost was too expensive in our opinion so we sourced an alternative route. We were in the process of starting an open agency agreement with a local agent in the Pemba area so together we quickly sourced local trucking companies with a wide range of chassis and trailers who were keen to put them at our disposal. The result is we reduced our down time in transhipment ports and had cargo moving to site quicker than anticipated which actually created another headache in the fact that cargo was arriving ahead of the schedule. This to be fair is unique in East Africa which is plagued with congestion in its ports, admittedly there was a lot of buffer in the original schedule due to the delays we had experienced in the past. We really felt like we were in the golden age of exploration creating new paths to Pemba all we needed was Pilth Hit and Gin & Tonic to complete the feel, and I can assure you the G&T was certainly earned.“

Today the project team are still moving cargo into Pemba it’s been a big success story and we can look back on late nights and early mornings now with the feeling it was time and energy well spent, the clients have grown on the back of our success (all the clients know each other and share information about who is good and who can be trusted) and people continue to appreciate making this part of Africa a little easier to reach now. Additionally we are pleased to see the local supply chain benefiting as we committed to seeing local companies in the region sharing in the success of the offshore wealth, as too the larger companies such as ENI, Saipem and ENH operating in the region are realising the market is growing and given support, more frequent vessels will start calling direct and the connection times will improve. Until then we’ll continue to expedite cargo into Pemba the best way we know, so feel free to pick up the phone or drop us an email should you have cargo you need moving to the Pemba.

We have been informed that someone would make a very good offer for the car and then claim that they need to ship it to another country. They inform the seller that they have contracted a shipping agent to move the car, but in order to start the transaction could the seller forward a small fee of £600 to the agent. The names they usually give is ‘Michael Thompson’ or ‘Scott Lavender’ along with contact and address details for Tuscor Lloyds. ‘Michael Thompson’ or ‘Scott Lavender’ do not and never have worked for us, nor do we accept transactions from Paypal or Western Union.

If this is something you have experienced please do not pay out any money and immediately contact your local police force or Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040

Tuscor Lloyds has adopted a strong policy of investing in future generations of freight professionals. The company actively seeks out new talent and is an enthusiastic supporter of the government’s apprenticeship scheme. After joining the company as a 17 year old apprentice, Sam is working on completing his shipping qualifications whilst gaining valuable hands on experience at the firm.

Tuscor Lloyds has always had a special part to play in the freight industry. Over the years customers have come to rely on the company’s depth of knowledge and expertise in global logistics. It’s the product of many years’ experience in the trade and the company feels that this is the perfect environment to nurture the talent of tomorrow.

Vessels are now calling at the aforementioned ports on a semi regular basis with the frequency improving all the time, although delays are expected as there is a shortage of stevedores.

According to the UN, Libya is critically short of basic supplies, including water, food and medicine. The National Transitional Council have now reopened the port in the capital Tripoli. At the time of writing this article fighting still continues in some parts of the country as forces still loyal to Gaddafi continue to offer resistance.