BIFA News
Ian Matheson, from Impress Communications, reviews some recent news that might impact on Members’ business
Air cargo rates still failing to reach pre-pandemic levels
One of the main conclusions from Drewry’s recently published Container Census & Leasing Annual Review & Forecast 2023/24 report is that the global telematics- enabled container equipment fleet will grow sixfold over the next five years and account for 30% of global box inventories by 2027, driven by wider adoption across the dry container fleet. Average demurrage and detention charges are experiencing a year-on-year decline of 25% in 2023, with a significant 14% decrease compared with the rates in 2020, according to Container xChange’s annual Demurrage and Detention Charges benchmark report for 2023. However, there are still 11 ports where demurrage and detention fees remain higher than in 2020: Antwerp, Jebel Ali, Ningbo, Port Kelang, Rotterdam, Shenzen, Singapore, Tianjin, Xiamen, Hong Kong and Guangzhou. A record 285,000 teu of new containership capacity was delivered in June, as a result of the orderbook boom of 2021- 22, according to consultancy Alphaliner. This was less than the 400,000 teu Alphaliner predicted, due to labour shortages in Asian yards and deliveries being pushed back due to the sluggish cargo market. The trend seen in June looks set to continue in the coming months as the orderbook stands at 7.6 million teu, some 28% of the current fleet on the water. IN THE WAREHOUSE As part of outline planning permission for over 2.3 million sq ft of logistics floor space at its Symmetry Park site in Kettering, Tritax Symmetry plans to develop a 500,000 sq ft cross dock logistics facility, built to net zero carbon in construction, with a minimum of BREEAM ‘Excellent’ certification (https://bregroup.com/ products/breeam/) and an EPC ‘A’ rating.
IN THE AIR Air cargo rates remain well below pandemic-era levels and, when adjusted for fuel, are close to 2018-19 levels, according to investment bank Stifel’s market update published last month and based on the latest data from the Baltic Exchange’s Baltic Air Freight Index. IATA reported that global demand in May, measured in cargo tonne-kilometres (CTK), fell 5.2% compared with the same month in 2022 (-6% for international operations). However, capacity measured in available cargo tonne- kilometres (ACTK) rose 14.5% compared with May 2022. This was driven primarily by belly
develop a strategic rail freight interchange supported by up to 3.6 million sq ft of modern, sustainable logistics warehousing, including ancillary B1 (office, light industrial, research and development) and B2 (general industrial) warehouses, with works expected to start this summer. Following several months of testing with Eurotunnel’s Le Shuttle Freight and “unaccompanied trailers” customers, Getlink is planning to launch Sherpass this autumn. This will provide a services platform to simplify border crossings for freight and the supply chain by providing a turnkey, one-stop solution that saves hauliers a significant amount of time by eliminating the need to enter information and centralising all the data flows required for cross-border exchanges. ON THE OCEAN P&O Ferries has extended the charters on its ships Norsky and Norstream, maintaining its presence on the Zeebrugge- Teesport and Zeebrugge- Tilbury routes for the long term. It has also reinforced its commitment to the Zeebrugge- Teesport route through the extension of a charter agreement with Finnlines for its ship Finnpulp, which will continue serving the route with two sailings per week. Schedule reliability for the global container shipping industry in May continued its rebound from the depths of the delays in 2021 and 2022 to reach a near three-year high, according to analytics firm Sea-Intelligence. It added that carriers have also increased capacity back into the markets reducing the number of sailings blanked from their schedules.
capacity which continues to increase as demand in the passenger business recovers, with capacity now 5.9% above May 2019 (pre-pandemic) levels. OVERLAND SEGRO plc has completed the acquisition of 419 hectares of land at the former Radlett Aerodrome in the Upper Colne Valley, Hertfordshire. It will now
4 | August 2023
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