Agility inks loan pact

KUWAIT’S Agility, the largest logistics firm in the Gulf, has signed an agreement for a $235 million loan with five banks, Reuters reported.

The facility, structured as a revolving credit facility, has a term of three years and was provided by National Bank of Abu Dhabi, HSBC, Natixis, Santander and Standard Chartered.

Agility is present in around 100 countries and plans further expansion in Southeast Asia, the Gulf countries and Africa.

Khalifa Port figures up

ABU DHABI’s Khalifa Port Container Terminal handled 32 per cent more containers in 2015. The terminal moved 1.50 million teu in 2015, up from 1.13 million teu in 2014.

Ro-Ro traffic had a 27 per cent upturn with 134,272 vehicles, up from 106,071. General and bulk cargo saw a 20 per cent upswing to 15.3 million freight tonnes in 2014.

Emirates lifts heavy cargo

EMIRATES SkyCargo, the freight division of Emirates, was recently chartered by a Japanese construction company to carry heavy machinery and steel parts for a new bridge being constructed across the Nile in Uganda.

The cargo, weighing about 84 tonnes, was flown from Tokyo’s Narita Airport to Entebbe on December 26, via the cargo carrier’s hub in Dubai.

The cable-stayed bridge, currently one of the biggest bridge developments in Central and East Africa, is a project of the Government of Uganda with support from the Japanese Government.

Mideast air freight expands

THE Middle East air freight segment led the way as the only market showing positive growth in November with demand expanding by 5.4 per cent, and a capacity rise of 9.2 per cent, said the International Air Transport Association (Iata).

However, the rate fell to less than half the 11.9 per cent average growth for the year-to-date.

Africa remains one of only three regions with Asia-Pacific and Middle East to record positive year-to-date growth for 2015.