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 BIFA TV, which can be seen on our You Tube channel. Subscribe by scanning the QR code.
Air cargo spot rates fall again as capacity grows
just weeks after the council refused a similar scheme close by. OVERLAND The sector has welcomed the government’s announcement in early July that key road projects in the Midlands and north of England will be given funding as part of a raft of measures to improve transport routes to boost growth. The projects earmarked include the A66 Northern Trans-Pennine, the M60/M62/M66 Simister Island, and the A46 Newark Bypass, as well as the M54-M6 Link Road in Staffordshire and the A38 in Derby. IN BUSINESS Singapore has emerged for the 12th consecutive year as the world’s top maritime centre in the 2025 Xinhua- Baltic International Shipping Centre Development (ISCD) Index report. This annual report ranks the world’s leading shipping centres based on a comprehensive evaluation of port factors, professional business services and the general environment. Kuehne+Nagel (K+N) retained its position as the top airfreight forwarder last year as the market grew at a rapid rate, led by the e-commerce sector, according to figures provided by consultant Armstrong and Associates. The report showed that K+N saw its airfreight volumes increase by 5.5% last year to 2.1 million tonnes, despite what it described as challenging market conditions. JUST GIVING Nick Blaxill, who has designed and laid out every issue of BIFAlink for the last two decades, is busy preparing to take part in the Transaid Cork to Dublin challenge, cycling 200 miles over three days. Anyone willing to sponsor his fundraising for Transaid can do so at the following url: https://www.justgiving.com/p age/nicholas-blaxill-1
IN THE AIR A Xeneta report in July stated that global air cargo spot rates fell for the second straight month in June, dropping 4% year-on-year as available capacity outpaced demand for the first time in more than a year and a half. Xeneta said the decline has fuelled concerns over a weakening market outlook for the second half of 2025 amid growing uncertainty around international trade. ON THE OCEAN Sea Intelligence reported that global ocean carrier schedule reliability improved by 7.4
percentage points to 65.8% in May, compared with the previous month, to the highest level recorded since November 2023. On a year- on-year measure, schedule reliability was up 10.0 percentage points.
The World Shipping Council (WSC) Containers Lost at Sea 2025 report revealed that 576 containers were lost at sea in 2024, an increase from 221 containers lost in 2023, but remains below the 10-year average of 1,274 containers lost annually. The latest Alphaliner data suggests the global container shipping industry is becoming increasingly concentrated, Company (MSC), now control more than 80% of the world’s total container capacity. The return of a significant number of container shipping services through the Suez Canal from the Southern showing that shipping alliances, together with Mediterranean Shipping Africa route in the near future vanished following two Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea in early July, including one that killed several seafarers. IN THE WAREHOUSE North Northamptonshire Council planning committee has approved IM Properties’ proposals for a 1.9 million sq ft industrial and logistics scheme in Thrapston, which includes detailed consent for a 1.07 million sq ft flagship distribution centre for a global transport and logistics company. The decision came
4 | August 2025
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