Newsletter – January 31, 2024

AIR FREIGHT UPDATES

Security Worker Strike Will Cause German Flight Chaos On Thursday
simpleflying.com
Verdi, the union responsible for airport security workers at major airports across Germany, has called for employees to strike on Thursday. The action, set to affect airports across the country, is expected to cause substantial flight cancellations, with some airports already writing off the whole day’s schedule.
While strike action has always occurred across the aviation industry, its prevalence seems to have increased since the COVID-19 pandemic. This week will be a big week for strikes in Germany and the aviation industry. Finnair has already had to cancel 550 flights due to local strike action, while those in Germany have just endured a 5-day train strike. Now, German airports are entering the mix. Read more here.

Airfreight rates on the up as January draws to a close
aircargonews.net
Airfreight rates in January climbed as the month progressed due to the approaching Lunar New Year holiday and anecdotal reports of a move from sea to air due to the Red Sea crisis.
The latest figures from the Baltic Exchange Airfreight Index (BAI) show that in the last full week of January rates from Hong Kong to North America climbed 8.4% on a week earlier to $5.15 per kg. Read more here.

IATA: Air cargo improves in December but declines for the full year
aircargonews.net
Air cargo demand surged in December last year but it was not enough to push overall figures for the year into positive territory.
IATA figures show that air cargo tonne kms (CTK) for December were up 10.8% year, but CTKs for the whole year were down 1.9% on 2022 levels and 3.6% behind 2019. Read more here.

OCEAN FREIGHT UPDATES

Weak demand and overcapacity adding to carrier Red Sea stress
theloadstar.com
Despite the considerable disruption to container shipping caused by the Red Sea crisis, consumer demand remains weak and, at the same time, the liner industry is heavily oversupplied with capacity.
Indeed, analysts believe the huge spikes in east-west spot rates since December have been driven, for the most part, by fears there could be a return to the pandemic supply chain crunch that choked the liner industry in 2021 and early 2022. Read more here (login required).

Red Sea crisis drove shipping rates up faster than Covid, but some are falling
theloadstar.com
The Red Sea crisis is resulting faster rate increases than the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, but the fallout will not last, as shippers become tired of opaque surcharges. Xeneta’s recent data shows shipping costs from the Far East to Europe spiked more than 200% in the first 52 days of the Suez crisis, outpacing the increase in rates seen during the first 52 days of the pandemic. Read more here (login required.)

GROUND AND RAIL FREIGHT UPDATES

Speed limiter rulemaking now expected in May
ccjdigital.com
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration now expects to publish its supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (SNPRM) on a motor carrier-based speed limiter mandate in May of this year, according to an updated Significant Rulemaking Report from the Department of Transportation.
The previous rulemaking report published in September, which first listed the maximum speed for the mandate at 68 mph before the agency backtracked to remove a specific speed, indicated the speed limiter proposal would be published in December 2023. Read more here.

French farmers block highways around Paris as protests swell
ajot.com
French farmers blocked highways around Paris using tractors to pressure the government into further concessions to ease the burden of rising costs and red tape.
At least five were closed at key points within 100 kilometers of the capital on Monday, while others were operating with reduced lanes, according to the government’s Bison Futé traffic website. Read more here.