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News Desk
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Ian Matheson, from Impress Communications, reviews some recent news that might impact on Members’ business
Zinc Media Group which will be released in partnership with Freight Industry Times this autumn. It will take viewers on a cinematic journey exploring who and what is driving change, via a series of short-form documentaries featuring stories from across the rail freight sector. Eurotunnel said that its freight service moved 139,283 trucks in March, up 13% compared with March 2021, which was due partly to the shutdown of P&O Ferries in mid-March. It added that since 1 January, nearly 375,000 trucks have crossed the Channel aboard its shuttles. IN THE WAREHOUSE The UK warehousing sector has almost doubled in size over the past decade, fuelled by Brexit, the pandemic and the rise of online shopping, according to a report by the Office for National Statistics. However, some observers flagged concerns that the data did not include retail players and wholesale logistics users such as Amazon, Tesco and DHL. IN BUSINESS More than one third of businesses believe that the move to online shopping seen during the COVID- 19 pandemic is now a permanent shift, according to research from supply chain and logistics consultancy SCALA. It found that 36% of companies believe that e-Commerce will now remain at the inflated levels seen during the COVID-19 pandemic. Take a look at the news area of the BIFA website to find out more about how you can help support the Lancaster Environment Centre, based at Lancaster University, with its short research project running until the end of June. The project is trying to understand the current challenges faced by haulage/freight businesses, focusing on traffic in and out of the port of Liverpool to give it some specific place and infrastructural focus.
Box shipping spot rates have peaked, say analysts
ON THE OCEAN Analysts reported in early April that container shipping spot rates are on the decline in 2022 due to lower consumer demand, full inventories at the start of the post-Chinese New Year lean period, and COVID- 19 related shutdowns in China. This suggests that rates have peaked even before the industry’s newbuilding efforts begin to provide the expected dramatic increases in capacity from late in 2023. MSC may have a larger overall container fleet capacity than Maersk, but the latter retains its number one position when ranking shipping lines by their potential reefer carrying capacity, according to Alphaliner. It also reported that final operating profits for the top-10 carriers under its survey of shipping operations reached US$115 billion last year. The global inactive containership fleet has exceeded 700,000 teu in terms of overall capacity, Alphaliner reported at the end of March. This was the highest level recorded since late 2020. Alphaliner added that this reflects the typical upswing
in vessel drydocking commonly observed prior to the summer peak season. Skyrocketing demand for container capacity along with pending environmental regulations, which are ageing out older segments of the industry, have been driving strong order volume for containerships. BIMCO says that the containership orderbook has now surpassed 6.5 million teu for the first time in 15 years. IN THE AIR Global air cargo market demand in February, measured in cargo tonne- kilometres, was up 2.9% compared with the same month in 2021 (2.5% for international operations), according to data released by IATA. This was a result of manufacturing activity being ramped-up quickly after the early February Lunar New Year holiday, whilst capacity was positively influenced by the general
The Court of Justice of the European Union has upheld multimillion-euro fines against several major airlines, including Air
France-KLM, Cargolux and Singapore Airlines, for their
participation in an international air cargo cartel that first started more than two decades ago and was active for just over six years. ON THE QUAYSIDE Peel Ports Group, has entered into a partnership with the University of Liverpool’s Management School to improve its newly formed Innovation Forum, which aims to answer some of the port operator’s most challenging questions in its efforts to reduce carbon emissions. In response to growing customer demand for container storage, Maritime Transport has established a long-term agreement with ABP to operate a 6-acre loaded container storage facility at the port of Ipswich. OVERLAND The Rail Freight Group is producing ‘Rail Freight: Fit for the Future’, a documentary series produced by
and progressive relaxation of COVID-19 travel restrictions,
reduced flight cancellations due to Omicron-related factors (outside of Asia), and fewer winter weather operational disruptions.
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May 2022
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