Newsletter – August 10, 2020

AIR FREIGHT UPDATES

Pressure on air cargo rates from China keeps increasing

freightwaves.com

Outbound airfreight rates from China continued to rise for the fifth consecutive week, with pricing the strongest out of Shanghai as shipments increased for electronics, e-commerce orders, and hospital gear. Read more here.

Payment platforms leverage data flow capabilities to battle airport congestion

theloadstar.com

Payment platforms see a role beyond their core function, and are helping alleviate congestion at busy air freight gateways.

Despite a double-digit drop in throughput against a year ago, airports have been struggling to cope; last month, forwarders reported delays in collecting cargo at Chicago, Los Angeles, New York JFK and Dallas/Fort Worth. Read more here.

OCEAN FREIGHT UPDATES

Montreal port strike enters its third week

splash247.com

The strike at Montreal port is continuing for a third week. The Montreal Longshoremen’s Union (MLU) has now provided details of a new strike, which starts at 7am local time today, without detailing when it might end.

Fractious negotiations between dockworkers and employers over working conditions have seen the port brought to its knees over the past month.

“Labor issues involving the MLU decision to implement an unlimited strike of its operations in Montreal are events well beyond our control,” German carrier Hapag-Lloyd stated in a note to clients. Read more here.

Wait times plummet as capacity tightens

freigthwaves.com

Shippers are struggling with a volatile freight market for the second time in three short years as carriers are rejecting load tenders at rates not seen since the middle of 2018, the mythical anomaly of a year. One of the side effects has been that carrier wait times have fallen in a near-perfect inverse proportion to national tender rejections. Read more here.

The Shipping Laws That Could Have Averted Two Catastrophes This Week

forbes.com

Bleak news this week has shone a light on the dark side of the shipping industry.

On Tuesday, Beirut was struck by the huge explosion of seized ammonium nitrate in the port, killing over 150 people, injuring 5000, with 300,000 made homeless, causing over $15 billion of damage including critical port infrastructure needed for food security. The explosion was estimated as having the equivalent explosive power as 10% that of the Atomic Bomb dropped on Hiroshima in WW2. The ammonium nitrate cargo had been confiscated from a Moldovan-registered vessel that had been in difficulty for several years prior. Read more here.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS – GOVERNMENT UPDATES

Logistics companies plan to use AI, data to ship goods ahead of purchase orders: survey

supplychaindive.com

Dive Brief:

More than 60% of logistics companies will use data and artificial intelligence to ship goods ahead of purchase orders in the next three to five years, according to an Ericsson survey of nearly 2,000 logistics professionals from China, Germany, Sweden and the United States. Of the individuals surveyed, 667 were in decision-making roles. Read more here.