BIFA News
Global air cargo volumes slip back 6.7% in 2022 Ian Matheson, from Impress Communications, reviews some recent news that might impact on Members’ business
IN BUSINESS The organisers of Multimodal 2023 have published the shortlist for the show awards, with voting for the finalists now open and a deadline of 26 May for all votes to be cast. Winners will be announced at the awards dinner, hosted by TV personality Vicki Butler- Henderson, on 13 June 2023 at the NEC’s the Vox. Criminals are adapting to inflation and lessened port congestion and evolving more fraudulent methods of targeting specific goods, says a new report from partners TT Club, the Transported Asset Protection Association’s Europe, Middle East & Africa region (TAPA EMEA) and BSI SCREEN. Intelligence shows an overall decline in global incidents over the previous year, but with an increasing emphasis on basic goods, food and beverages, fuel and auto parts linked to the inflationary effect on the value of such items. At the Sustainable Supply Chain Conference, which takes place on the 10 May at 30 Euston Square, London, attendees will learn how they cav ‘go green’ throughout their end-to-end operations, from procurement, operations, retirement and data and communication, considering the environmental and human impact of their products’ from cradle to grave, say the organisers. Correction Despite multiple proof-reads, errors do still occur and BIFA would like to apologise for any confusion caused by the headline on page 10 of the April printed version of BIFAlink that introduced a brand new initialism by merging NCTS5 with ICS2. The error came to light after printing had commenced but the online digital version has been corrected.
IN THE AIR According to the latest estimates from Airports Council International World, global air cargo volumes decreased by 6.7% year over year in 2022, reaching a total of 117 million tonnes. Hong Kong International Airport remained in the top position for international freight loaded and unloaded in tonnes. April saw the cargo division of International Airlines Group (IAG) restart daily cargo services between London- Heathrow and Shanghai Pudong International Airport, after almost two years. As China reopens its borders to tourists, services between
London-Heathrow and Beijing Daxing Airport are set to resume at the start of June, with four flights each week. ON THE OCEAN Uncertainty over space on the Asia-Europe container shipping trade in 2022 has given way to uncertainty about demand in 2023. Those involved in the European import markets are divided over when an expected inventory recovery will occur, with some seeing the problem being ocean schedule reliability on the Asia-Europe trade. This stood at just 52% in January, up significantly from the low levels of the past year, but was still below a level
where shippers would feel comfortable about reducing buffer stocks. The expected tsunami of container vessels sold for demolition is evaporating, international media reported in mid-April with liner operators seemingly intent on chasing market share, despite the correction in freight rates. They are continuing to charter boxships, pushing up charter rates and dissuading owners from scrapping more ships. Five shipping bodies – the Cargo Incident Notification System (CINS), Confidential Human Factors Incident Reporting Programme (CHIRP), Container Owners Association (COA), International Cargo Handling Coordination Association (ICHCA), and Ship Message Design Group (SMDG) – have joined forces in a bid to make the transport of lithium-Ion batteries more safe. They say they will take advantage of unified information and data sources to bring greater awareness and understanding of issues with the goal of producing preventative output. OVERLAND Intermodal freight transport in the EU still cannot compete on an equal footing with trucks, says a report published by the European Court of Auditors (ECA). It states that regulatory and infrastructure barriers need to be addressed if the EU is to achieve its green ambitions, as road remains the most flexible and often the fastest and cheapest way to deliver goods within the EU, despite the fact that trucks are major polluters. A shift to rail or inland waterways could play a key role in greening freight transport, it says.
4 | May 2023
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