BIFA News
ABP buys land to target commercial opportunities Ian Matheson, from Impress Communications, reviews some recent news that might impact on Members’ business
Exporting Excellence, a new report on the UK’s exporting businesses commissioned by Heathrow Airport, has found that a “shortage of exporting skills” and the complexity of Customs procedures are limiting the nation’s potential. It concluded that putting sustainability “at the heart of trade and export policy” should be part of a strategy to “maximise the UK’s strengths and counter its weaknesses” on global markets. Freight insurance specialist TT Club is urging procurement managers to be more vigilant in ensuring that they are not unwitting receivers of stolen property. It said they should check the provenance of all incoming goods and ensure that documentation such as bills of sale, invoices and shipping records are present. In early December, risk management solutions company Overhaul released its 2024 predictions on cargo theft trends, following a year marked by a significant increase in global strategic theft. It suggested that while cargo thefts increased 57% year over year in the second quarter of 2023, strategic thefts tripled, an indication that the number of thefts will continue to climb. OVERLAND Freightliner, one of the UK’s largest movers of containers by rail, has called on the government to set a target to treble rail freight volumes by 2050. It claims that, if achieved, this would result in over 20 million HGV journeys being removed from the motorways each year. IN THE AIR The air cargo market has undergone a “fundamental shift” to e-commerce over the last few months, which has helped support increases in airfreight rates, said Neil Wilson of airfreight rate data provider TAC Index, with general cargo volumes remaining soft.
ON THE QUAYSIDE Associated British Ports (ABP) has exchanged contracts on the purchase of the freehold of a 227.5-acre site known as Stallingborough Interchange next to the A180. Located two miles from the port of Immingham and six miles from the port of Grimsby, it is earmarked for commercial port opportunities including automotive, bulk warehousing, distribution and logistics uses, advanced manufacturing and green energy initiatives. ON THE OCEAN Media reports suggest that Hapag-Lloyd has unveiled a newbuilding concept design of a ship with a capacity of 4,500
Hapag-Lloyd’s sail containership concept
teu featuring eight sails with a total sail area of 3,000 sq m. The six rear sails are extendable and the front two retractable. The chief executives of leading global shipping lines issued a joint declaration at COP28
calling for an end date for fossil-only powered newbuilds. They urged the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), the global regulator, to create the regulatory conditions to accelerate the transition to green fuels. Hong Kong consultancy Linerlytica suggested late last year that container shipping lines were struggling to achieve the General Rate Increases (GRIs) that they had tried to impose amongst the increase in capacity and persistent low demand. This led the consultancy to predict that there will be greater capacity management and more cancelled sailings. The International Transport Intermediaries Club (Itic) has raised concerns about the financial impact of the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) on the shipping industry, predicting that costs could According to Straits Research, the global freight forwarding market was valued at USD210.07 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach USD314.88billion by 2031 – a compound annual growth rate of 4.6% during the forecast period (2023-2031). reach billions. IN BUSINESS
4 | January 2024
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