Industry News
Ian Matheson , from Impress Communications, reviews some recent news that might impact on Members’ business. Don’t miss Ian’s weekly news round up on BIFAlink TV, which can be seen on our You Tube channel. Subscribe by scanning the QR code.
Everstream highlights global supply chain risk
challenges in container shipping in the near term as carriers seek to plug gaps in their services, even though the container fleet increased by nearly 3 million TEU last year, or by 10.6%. February 1 sees the new container shipping alliances come into effect, with carriers beginning to shift their vessels into new service networks during the seasonal demand slump after Chinese New Year. Vespucci Maritime said prioritisation of the phase-in of new ships may cause some short-term overcapacity problems in early February, which could lead to temporary rapid drops in spot rates. OVERLAND Network Rail is pleading with HGV drivers to know the height of their vehicle, after a bridge in Birmingham was struck three times in one week in early January. It said drivers need to get to grips with the height of their vehicles, proper route planning, and should never rely on sat-navs or map apps to be up-to-date for bridges and height restrictions. New measures announced by the government that target the bank accounts and assets of people smuggling gangs have been welcomed by the RHA, which said it hoped they would stop stowaways ending up in lorries. OVER THE BORDERS The Welsh government is to set up a multi-stakeholder taskforce to help deliver a new strategy for the future of Holyhead Port, a key Irish Sea gateway, following its closure for over a month as a result of storm damage on 7 December. The taskforce will consider the resilience of sea connections between Wales and Ireland more generally, so that critical transport links can
IN BUSINESS Climate change, geopolitical instability, cybercrime and challenges in sourcing rare metals are among the top risks expected to disrupt global supply chains in 2025, according to a recent report released by Everstream Analytics. IN THE AIR The International Air Transport Association (IATA) revealed in mid-January that during November, total demand measured in cargo tonne- kilometres (ctk) rose for the
16th consecutive month, increasing by 8.2% compared with November 2023 levels (+9.5% for international operations). However, according to the latest figures and analysis released by WorldACD Market Data in early January, worldwide air cargo finished 2024 at its lowest year-on-year full-month growth, with global tonnages in December around 6% higher than in the final month of 2023, although they were already at relatively high levels back then. This means tonnage growth for both November and December
softened to single-digit figures, possibly indicating the beginning of a new more moderate growth trend. The global air cargo market cruised into 2025 on the back of 14 consecutive months of double-digit demand growth as volumes climbed 11% year- on-year in December and average spot rates finished the year 15% higher, according to Xeneta. While it is also forecasting demand growth of 4-6% in 2025, it also says “cautious optimism remains tempered by susceptibility to geopolitical tensions, a subdued manufacturing outlook, and political interventions in an increasingly volatile world”. ON THE OCEAN The containership orderbook at the end of 2024 was a record 8.3million TEU, according to BIMCO, with 4.4 million TEU contracted during 2024, the second highest volume ever. Making up 92% of the orderbook capacity were ships of 8,000 TEU or larger, with the biggest segment, at 46% of the orderbook, consisting of ships in the 12-17,000 TEU range. Global shipping schedule reliability showed a marked improvement in November, recording a 4.1 percentage increase to 54.8%, according to Sea-Intelligence, its highest point in 2024 to date. Despite reliability stayed largely within the 50%-55% range in 2024. Alphaliner has forecast that there will be no overcapacity the month-on-month improvement, schedule
better withstand the challenges expected.
4 | February 2025
www.bifa.org
Made with FlippingBook Annual report maker