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Local neighbourhoods in the Southern California area are feeling the impact of the global container crisis as trucking companies in the region have exceeded storage space on their grounds resorting to parking the containers along residential streets leaving some residents trapped in their homes. This comes from a backlog of container ships arriving at ports in Los Angeles and Long Beach with workers continuing to unload shipments 24 hours a day. According to an interview with the CBSLA, Calif...

According to a news report by The Loadstar, rather than relying on a network of overwhelmed commercial feeders, ocean carriers are launching dedicated services on intra-Asia trade routes as demand for freight services boom. “In the latest development, TheAlliance members ONE and Yang Ming have teamed up with regional carriers Korea Marine Transport and SITC Container Lines to provide a weekly service between South Korea, central/south China and South-east Asia,” the report wrote. Korea...

According to an official letter from the Government, the finance ministry has agreed to postpone the enforcement of a 51% Bumiputra ownership requirement for freight forwarding companies to 31 December 2022. This move came after an association of freight forwarders urged the government to clarify its position on Bumiputra equity in logistics companies, with only months left before an end-of-year deadline on 31 December this year. The 51% Bumiputra ownership states that a 51% stake in all f...

Taking a hard look around you, everything from your mobile phones to your sundry items stashed in the fridge are either directly shipped to you in shipping containers aboard freight liners or some of the parts were and then assembled in your country. But almost always, they’re being shipped to you from inside shipping containers. According to Fast Company dot com, “today, an estimated 90% of the world’s goods are transported by sea, with 60% of that – including virtually all of your i...

According to data from Drewry’s World Container Index (WCI), container freight rates are remaining steady at $10,377.19 per forty foot equivalent unit (feu), the same level as the week before. However, due to the rising costs of shipping containers over a period of one year brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns disrupting business economies and bringing about port congestion paired with the high spending for goods from China, the stabilised prices are still up by 299% year-on-year. ...

In a bid to become less dependent on foreign shippers, boost trade capabilities and reduce transport costs, Thailand is planning to launch its own national shipping company in June 2022. Paired with the Strait of Melaka bypass open once more, the sovereign country has ambitions to become the biggest player in global logistics. Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, exports have been a bright spot for the Thai economy and according to Saksayam Chidchob, Transport Minister of Thailand told B...

Due to frustrations from delays and capacity shortages of shipping containers, City Zone Express (CZE), a transport and logistics company based in Penang has launched a 150-truck freight service as a land-based alternative, connecting Malaysia to Europe via Chongqing, China. Raj Selvarajoo, General Manager of CZE, said that the company was already moving around 500 containers a month between Shenzhen and Hong Kong to its offices in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar. ...

Not seven months after the incident of the first Suez Canal blockage in Egypt that another vessel was reported to have been grounded, momentarily blocking one lane of the crucial global waterway. In early September, a bulk carrier vessel became wedged in Egypt’s Suez Canal, briefly blocking traffic, Egyptian authorities said. In a statement, Suez Canal authorities mentioned that the Coral Crystal, hailing from Panama, ran aground within a double-lane stretch of the canal, forcing officia...

The Northern Michigan University (NMU) has deployed a state-of-the-art shipping container growing centre on its grounds in a bid to enhance its indoor agriculture program’s research, partnership and education opportunities. The shipping container comes equipped with cloud software to monitor water, nutrients and pH levels remotely via cell phone. It also comes with LED lighting that doubles as a heat source for the plants as well as an air-conditioning system for additional climate control....

Prior to the Coronavirus global pandemic, shipping containers were considered merely vessels for transporting goods across the sea and were regarded as little more than additional costs that could be easily passed on to consumers without affecting their bottom-line margin. However, a little more than a year into the battle against Covid-19, shipping containers have become the hottest product in the world. According to a report by CNN Business, before the Coronavirus hit, companies could rent ...

KLANG, 3 Sept 2021 – Malaysian couple Zaizul Azri Mohamad Mahayudin and wife Hamizah Baharudin have built a house in Meru, Klang made entirely out of repurposed shipping containers for RM120,000. Modular homes or shipping container homes might be the current housing trend overseas in countries like the United States, China and even Venezuela, but here in Malaysia, it’s still a slow growing alternative to traditional brick and mortar. In an interview with Says.com, Zaizul, a full-time p...

Birthed from the pure idea of simply wanting to reduce the cost of homes, a company based in Las Vegas, United States has created a new foldable modular home product that has now amassed $1 billion in pre-orders and a 100,000 person waitlist. These modular homes, which cost $50,000 (RM207,690 at time of writing), comes complete with a kitchen, living room, bedroom and bathroom and is cheaper to ship, allowing you to stack them on flatbed trucks and unfold them on site. According to Gal...

In a recent news report published by CNN, consumer goods producers are taking drastic steps to meet demand including changing where products are made and moving them by plane instead of boat. However, despite the contingency plans and alternative delivery strategies, these small enterprises are missing out on sales due to simply not having enough goods. Following the current shipping container crisis which hit the world in 2020, raw materials and goods are reaching producers at a slower rate ...

Due to the housing shortage in Kootenai County, Idaho, a family man has opted to build his home entirely out of shipping containers and urges the community to do the same. Matt Rowe has decided to undertake a large-scale, long term project by building a home for himself and his family out of 15 shipping containers. Once completed, the house is expected to have a build-up of 4,000 sq ft, measure three storeys high with seven bedrooms and five bathrooms. According to the article from krem.co...

Ningbo-Zhousan is one of China’s second busiest port, managing up to 29 million 20-foot containers annually. Recently, due to a staff member at the Ningbo-Meishan terminal testing positive for Covid19, the port had to be closed down, forcing more than 50 ships stranded in its waters waiting to dock. With no news of the terminal, which handles about one-fifth of the port’s total volumes reopening, many other ships have been forced to divert to alternative ports. News of Ningbo-Meishan’s ...

A lot of small retailers and enterprises worldwide, including in Canada, are now suffering profit losses because of product delays brought on by the current global shipping container crisis According to Julie Fass, a small business owner who has been running her online shop from her home in Toronto for the past 15 years, says that she has never had to deal with as many product delays as she is now. “I have some orders that were placed back in May or even before then and now I’m looking...

Since 2020, shipping container prices worldwide have surged past normalcy, spurred by the high volume of online purchases as well as restrictions placed on port authorities due in part to the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns sanctioned around the world. This has affected not only the Malaysian logistics industry, but a multitude of global corporations and commerce lines including ports, cargo shippers and small businesses. As of February this year, the freight rates have skyrocketed to a histor...

As prices for raw construction materials and land prices surge amid uncertain market conditions, scarcity of land and other economical impacts, it’s time for developers and niche contractors to be looking at modular homes instead of traditional brick and mortar. According to James Yeoh, Director of Solid Horizon Sdn Bhd, housing and construction industry players  must start looking to move forward with the times and seek out alternative forms of housing that are more sustainable and faster...

KUALA LUMPUR (23 July 2021) – The cost of freight containers have more than quadrupled since last year as global demand outstrips supply due to container shortages and port congestions in Europe, US and China, says Tan Kim Yong, deputy group Chief Executive Officer of Tasco Bhd. In a report by The Edge Markets, the average price world to ship a 40 foot container (FEU) has more than quadrupled from a year ago, to US$8,399 (MYR35,481.58) as at July 1, according to London-based Drewry Shipping...

KLANG (20 July 2021) – Solid Horizon Sdn Bhd is committed to reducing the output of carbon emissions through its main business modal and plans to become a zero-carbon emission company in the future. According to James Yeoh, Director of Solid Horizon Sdn Bhd, the company is slowly helping the country reduce steel waste and carbon emissions through its daily operations. “Our business operation involves recycling and repurposing steel shipping containers. For each repurposed steel contain...

MUAR (16 July 2021) – On 11 July, just past midnight, the Malaysian Coast Guard received a distress call from Zephyr Lumos, a shipping container transport vessel, after it had collided with the Galapagos, a bulk carrier merchant ship, off the port of Muar in the Strait of Malacca. The Malaysian Coast Guard received the distress call from Zephyr Lumos just three minutes after midnight while a second call from the badly damaged Galapagos came in via the Indonesian National Search and Relief A...

KLANG (9 July 2021) – Adopting the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) ethos of doing business is empowering Solid Horizon to become a better and more responsible company for the environment and the community. According to James Yeoh, Director of Solid Horizon Sdn Bhd, implementing ESG is not solely for the company’s revenue, but more towards contributing positively to the country. “Construction companies or any company that operate in Malaysia will at one point impact the env...

KLANG (7 July 2021) – Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) has always been a big part of Solid Horizon’s business model, but the company will be focusing extra efforts on the practice to become a more responsible company in Malaysia’s construction industry says James Yeoh, Director of Solid Horizon Sdn Bhd. ESG are three main factors when measuring a company’s sustainability and ethical impact. It is a term used in capital markets and commonly used by investors to evaluate the b...

KUALA LUMPUR (1 July 2021) – The tight supply of containers and high freight costs continue to negatively impact the industry as Tan Sri Dato’ Mahiaddin Yasin, Prime Minister of Malaysia extends the lockdown indefinitely until daily infections fall below 4,000 cases. According to an industry trader, businesses continue to see a negative impact and a slowdown in movement has affected the way business gets done in the country for industries like petrochemicals and oleochemicals. “Still...

German international shipping and container transportation company Hapag-Lloyd announced recently that it was temporarily suspending import shipments to East Malaysian ports including Kuching, Sibu, Bintulu, Kota Kinabalu, Labuan, Sandakan and Tawau due to a limitation in feeder space. In a statement on the company’s website, Hapag-Lloyd apologized and said it regretted the inconvenience that these circumstances may cause and that the company will keep the public informed of any further dev...

KUALA LUMPUR (22 June 2021) – According to a news report by Focus Malaysia, Datuk Isham Ishak, Secretary General of the Ministry of Transport Malaysia (MoT) has expressed commitment to resolve issues on shipper shortages in areas within the ministry’s purview following MNSC’s urgent plea for government support and intervention. Due to the global shortage of containers and vessels that continue to impact Malaysian cargo ships, the Malaysian National Shippers’ Council (MNSC) has asked t...

Datuk Dr Andy Seo, Chairman of the Malaysian National Shippers Council (MNSC) is requesting that the Ministry of Transport (MoT) intervene with the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MITI) to change the non-essential classification of shippers to essential so that shippers can carry out logistics and warehousing during the current Movement Control Order (MCO). According to Seo, in order to ease congestion at ports and airports, operators need a window for activities involving logistic and wareho...

Report Linker has released its latest market report on shipping containers titled, “Shipping Container Market Research Report by Type, by Size, by Region – Global Forecast to 2026 – Cumulative Impact of Covid-19”. In its report summary, it mentions that the global shipping container market size was estimated at USD$14.08 billion in 2020 and expected to reach USD$14.88 billion in 2021, at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.03% from 2020 to 2026 and to reach USD$20.02 billion by 2...

There is always a risk when transporting shipping containers over open waters, whether it is rough weather conditions or pirates, logistic companies have to shoulder an immense amount of danger each time a cargo ship leaves port, especially nowadays when the volume of items being transported has increased due to an influx in online spending amid the Coronavirus pandemic. According to a news report from MoreThanShipping.com, overboard containers - containers that have fallen into the ocean whi...

Nowadays, with the shortage of land, companies that rely on permanent structures for their businesses must get creative with their operations. However, ever since the pandemic, companies have loosened their standard operating procedures and are slowly opening up to the possibility of allowing their employees to work from home. But what about businesses, like hospitals, that require on-site observation and treatment? Shipping container medical clinics. Built from modular shipping container...

KLANG (25 May 2021) – Solid Horizon is actively advocating the use of medical modular (Medmod) containers to provide additional space for hospitals and healthcare centres to comfortably treat its Covid-19 patients. With the rising number of positive cases daily and the shortage of beds at one of Malaysia's main Coronavirus treatment centres, Solid Horizon Sdn Bhd, a Malaysian manufacturer and supplier of shipping containers, is currently promoting its Medmod products as alternative infrast...

As consumer demands increase, so too do shipping containers and logistics technologies grow and innovate to cater to the needs of the industry. The seaborne transportation segment, a method of transporting large amounts of goods using carrier ships, have been developing a new technology for cold chain logistics like reefer containers, to be able to transport items that require temperature control over long periods of time on the sea. What is a reefer container? A reefer container or ref...

KUALA LUMPUR (19 May 2021) – AmInvestment Bank Bhd maintains their ‘Overweight’ recommendation for the transportation and logistics sector due to ports across South-East Asia, including Malaysia, being well-positioned to gain from the shifting sourcing patterns accelerated by the pandemic, as manufacturing bases of multinational companies relocate outside of China. According to the research house, they believe that the seaport segment is poised to grow further in 2021. “It has the ...

SUNGAI BULOH (18 May 2021) – Due to the increasing rate of deaths in the state of Selangor directly related to Covid-19 and its variant strains, Sungai Buloh Hospital has resorted to using shipping containers as makeshift morgues to house the dead due to a lack of space and amenities. As the Covid-19 death toll hits a record high of 80 over the weekend, Sungai Buloh Hospital has been forced to convert shipping containers into makeshift morgues with the first one set up to house 16 bodies. ...

KUALA LUMPUR (15 May 2021) – Due to the computer outage on 27 March at the Senari port in Kuching, Sarawak, shipping associations have suffered losses in both operating costs as well as sailings and revenue. According to a joint statement from four shipping associations, namely the Malaysia Shipowners’ Association, Shipping Association Malaysia, Sarawak and Sabah Shipowners Association and Sarawak Shipping Association, their shipping service qualities to the business community were also a...

Shipping containers have always flown under the radar for a lot of people that aren’t part of the logistics or import/export industry, but shipping containers actually play a pivotal role in our daily lives. They’re the unsung heroes (apart from the men and women behind the actual shipping, import and export processes itself) of the consumer market. Shipping containers have also been the reason behind the evolution of commerce, making it a historic invention in the consumer industry. Below a...

Despite the recent news of shipping container prices easing since the pandemic, there still exists a shortage in the global supply of intermodal containers for logistical purposes spurred by the global shortage of transport ships, DW.com reported in an article. According to Rolf Habben Jansen, Chief Executive Officer of Hapag-Lloyd to German weekly magazine Der Spiegel, there are hardly any reserve ships left. “Many shipowners invested little in their fleets in recent years because they ...

According to a report from Hellenic Shipping News, global merchants have begun witnessing the prices of shipping containers start to ease off since April. However, prices will remain higher than pre-pandemic rates and will most likely stay that way for the foreseeable future. Based on data from ICIS, a petrochemical, energy and fertilizer market information website, traders in Europe reported container rates to fall by about USD$400 to USD$700 (RM1,641 t0 RM2,873) while other traders are seei...

DENGKIL (27 April 2021) – Solid Horizon Sdn Bhd, a Malaysian manufacturer and supplier of shipping containers, has successfully completed and handed over phase 1 of Gamuda Land Sdn Bhd’s Gamuda Cove Centralised Labour Quarters (CLQ). Phase 1 comprises five clusters of 32 cabins each which are able to accommodate 150 workers per cluster, translating to an overall 750 pax. According to James Yeoh, Director of Solid Horizon, they were able to not only solve Gamuda Land’s worker congesti...

Shipping containers have been considered the invention of the century that revolutionised the manufacturing, retail and logistics industries of the world. However, through the innovation of human beings who regularly find new and exciting alternative purposes for products, shipping containers have been transformed into more than just a storage vessel. When people found alternative uses for the shipping container, it revolutionised other industries as well, cementing the product in the annals ...

COLORADO (23 April 2021) – For the past three years, FarmBox Foods, a company based in Sedalia, Colorado, has been growing vegetables in shipping containers to provide sustainably sourced food to areas that do not have enough land to plant good, clean and nutritional food. These Vertical Hydroponic Farms (VHF) grown in shipping containers are the brainchild of Rusty Walker and Jake Savageau, the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer of FarmBox Foods respectively. Their aim is ...

In an article by Charles B. McKenna that was published in Security Magazine, he stated that he subscribed to the view that shipping containers made more of an impact to the world than the internet. According to him, the shipping container has shaped the face of the world much like the simple invention of barbed wire. “Prior to the invention and adoption of a standardized shipping container, boats were loaded and unloaded by hand, merchandise was often damaged in transit, stolen and the p...

KUALA LUMPUR (6 April 2021) – Solid Horizon Sdn Bhd was one of the small medium enterprises (SME) and local non-listed companies to receive recognition for their business achievements at the Star Outstanding Business Awards (SOBA). Held at the One World Hotel in Bandar Utama on 17 March this year, the SOBA awards 2020 recognised and celebrated the SMEs and local non-listed companies over two tiers - with a turnover of up to RM25 million and above RM25 million. James Yeoh, Director of Sol...

KUALA LUMPUR (6 April 2021) – As Cabinet recently gave its approval to proceed with the construction of the third Klang Valley Mass Rapid Train (KVMRT) line dubbed the “circle line”, this boasts good news for the Malaysian construction industry. According to James Yeoh, Director of Solid Horizon Sdn Bhd, the resurrection of KVMRTs line three will likely reinvigorate the local construction industry. “KVMRT has always been a mega project for Malaysia,” he says. “It will bring con...

KUALA LUMPUR (31 March 2021) – Despite the volatility in steel prices throughout 2020 and the first half of 2021 that continues to affect companies with a core business in steel trading, Solid Horizon remains optimistic of its performance in the local Malaysian market due to its effective hedging against uncertain market conditions.  According to James Yeoh, Director of Solid Horizon Sdn Bhd, they haven’t experienced any losses from the effects of the volatile steel prices because the comp...

KUALA LUMPUR (31 March 2021) – With the Ever Given container carrier finally unwedged from the Suez Canal riverbank, as of Tuesday morning, it is estimated up to 140 ships are now able to pass freely through the water-based superhighway. However, despite the resounding chorus of joy from the global logistics and consumer markets, shipping container prices will still take months to stabilise, says James Yeoh. On 23 March 2021, while traveling through the Suez Canal in Egypt, the Ever Given, a ...

We’re sure the thought of owning your very own shipping container for various purposes sounds appealing, but here’s why renting is a better option for you....

Modular and prefabricated construction is becoming a more sought after method of building homes and various countries, including Malaysia, have already started adopting this approach as a cleaner, greener alternative....

KLANG (28 Jan 2020) – With many shipping container suppliers and manufacturers coming into the market, existing companies should take this as a positive and work together to promote sustainable modular products to the public, says James Yeoh, Director of Solid Horizon Sdn Bhd....

With last year’s announcement that BoKlok will be expanding its modular home business model to the UK, Hong Kong and New Zealand have also announced exciting sustainable construction activities in their respective territories. In 2020, BoKlok, a 50:50 joint venture partnership between Swedish companies IKEA and Skanska providing low-cost modular homes In Sweden have earmarked 400 units of modular homes to be built across three sites in the south and southwest of England, mainly in Worthing,...

KLANG (18 Jan 2021) – Even before the implementation of the second Movement Control Order (MCO), Solid Horizon Sdn Bhd has made sure its employees, corporate governance and business practices adhere to the strict Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) set by the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) post Covid-19 pandemic. According to a spokesperson from Solid Horizon, they have made arrangements since the first MCO to follow SOPS that were set by both CIDB and the Ministry of Health...

On 14 January 2021, the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) released an updated version of the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for the country’s construction industry. The new SOPs cover all construction work stated in Act 520, consulting or professional services on construction sites and services in the construction industry supply chain. There are 15 items covered in the activities and protocols column of the updated SOP. These include approval, information & documen...

KUALA LUMPUR (12 Jan 2021) – Following the recent announcement of a new Movement Control Order (MCO), the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) issued a press release identifying five essential economic sectors that were allowed to operate during the lockdown. The two-week limited lockdown that was announced by Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Prime Minister of Malaysia, starts from 13 January 2021 to 26 January 2021 in the hopes to further contain the spread of Coronavirus infection...

KLANG (8 Jan 2021) – Going into the year 2021, Solid Horizon Sdn Bhd, a Malaysia manufacturer and supplier of shipping containers will be channelling its energy into increasing the awareness for modular construction in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) under the United Nations’ (UN) 2030 Agenda. The SDG or Global Goals are a collection of 17 interlinked goals that are part of a blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. Set during the United Nations...

  KLANG (Dec 17) – As companies from various industries weather the effects of the recent enforcement of the Minimum Standards of Housing, Accommodation and Employee Facilities Act 1990 (Act 446) by the Department of Labour Peninsular Malaysia (JTKSM), James Yeoh, Director of Solid Horizon Sdn Bhd says that this is the perfect time for Act 446 to take effect. “Act 446 being enforced in the time of the Covid-19 pandemic is a good thing for our industry,” he says. “Previously, d...

On 1 September of this year, the Department of Labour Peninsular Malaysia (JTKSM) announced that it would start to heavily enforce the Minimum Standards of Housing, Accommodation and Employee Facilities Act 1990 (Act 446). During an official event, Datuk Seri M. Saravanan, Minister of Human Resource stated that the application and compliance of Act 446 is important with standards of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) where local and foreign workers should be provided with basic accom...