Services Customised For Pharma

The pharmaceutical industry is steadily expanding its sea freight volume owing to lower fares and availability of stricter and more reliable control of temperature. The Port of Antwerp is ideally positioned to leverage on this air to ocean trend.

- Deepika Amirapu

The world is looking for cheaper drugs and India has proved it has the capability to deliver. The export of generic medicines is one of India’s strengths and in the last two years India has stepped far ahead for China. To most continents and regions where generic consumables are higher such as Latin America, the US, the Middle East and Northern African (MENA) region, Indian exports are significantly higher than its Asian counterpart’s.

In fact, India leads China in exports to the EU as well. In 2016, India’s exports were worth $1.56 billion as against China’s $1.36 billion. If India has to remain ahead of China even in the American and South East Asian and Australian regions, it would require more than the manufacturers’ effort to make the drugs available to patients across the globe. A majority of the bulk drug and active pharmaceutical industry that functions out of Hyderabad reckons that logistics - both at the port and inland play a crucial role in cutting raw material supply time and export time.

While most ports such as Chennai, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust and Visakhapatnam Port ship exports out of India, Indian pharmaceutical firms ask for better value-added services to ensure their cargo is ready for consumption to destinations where the vials and tablets are shipped to.