BIFA News
Boluda and Samskip launch UK-Spain service Ian Matheson, from Impress Communications, reviews some recent news that might impact on Members’ business
According to a report in Supply Management magazine, based on a recent study of one-hundred and twenty FTSE 350 firms, excluding financial services, the percentage of FTSE 350 companies with at least one board member listing supply chain or procurement among their skills increased from 11% to 20% between 2018 and 2022. Built on the foundations set by the UK Electronic Trade Documents Act (ETDA) and Facilitated by the British Chamber of Commerce in Singapore (Britcham), October saw the pilot of the world’s first digitalised cross- border movement of goods, shifting the gear towards transforming global trade to be more cost-effective, efficient, resilient and environmentally conscious, and marking a significant step forward in ensuring a fully digitalised process across the entire cargo supply chain. ON THE QUAYSIDE The main approach channel and Berths 8 & 9 at the port of Felixstowe have been deepened to 16 m and 18 m below chart datum, respectively, increasing the maximum size of vessel the port can handle. This also extends berthing windows for the biggest vessels and increases the number of ultra-large vessels that can enter or leave the port on each high tide. IN THE AIR Global air cargo data for August 2023, released by IATA in October, showed that year- on-year demand grew for the first time in 19 months by 1.5%, compared with the levels of August 2022 (with international operations showing a 2% increase). Capacity, measured in available cargo tonne- kilometres (ACTK), surged by 12.2% compared with August 2022 (11.8% for international operations).
ON THE OCEAN Boluda Lines and Samskip have launched a shortsea container service operated by the 803 teu capacity Lucía B, which leaves the port of Santander every Saturday for a three-day transit to Dublin, then Liverpool two days later, before returning to Spain. Sea-Intelligence’s global liner performance, providing schedule reliability data up to August 2023, showed that globally, schedule reliability slightly dipped to 63.2% in August, with minor fluctuations since March. However, year- on-year reliability improved by 17%, whilst late vessel arrivals saw a small monthly
increase of 0.07 days, but remained 1.23 days better than the previous year. Container shipping lines will no longer enjoy a decades- long exemption from EU rules against anti-competitive agreements because this derogation does not boost competition any more, the European Commission said in October. It will allow the Consortia Block Exemption Regulation (CBER), which was extended in 2014 and 2020, to lapse in April next year. According to Clarksons Research, ships in the containership sector have travelled at record slow
speeds this year, with average containership speeds between January and August down 3% on the 2022 average. Average speeds reached a record low of 13.7 knots in February and despite subsequently ticking up to 13.9 knots in Q3, remained below the lowest level on record prior to this year. Shipping lines will implement carbon emission surcharges in 2024 to comply with new European Union regulations aimed at reaching carbon neutrality. See the article on page 8 of this issue for further information. OVERLAND Freightliner launched 25 additional weekly rail services in the UK on 2 October, including a Felixstowe to Daventry connection, which is traditionally a competitive short-haul route for freight logistics. Other new services included Southampton to Cardiff, Grangemouth to Daventry, Southampton to Leeds, Felixstowe to Manchester, Manchester to Birmingham, Birmingham to London Gateway and Birmingham to Felixstowe. IN BUSINESS Transport Intelligence (Ti) said in October that it was seeing increased sell-side activity in the small and medium-sized logistics service provider (LSP) sector, experienced by most LSPs in 2021 and 2022, enabling many business owners to accelerate their exit strategies. Buyers, having experienced the same recent windfall, are in a strong financial position, enabling them to execute their M&A growth strategies. attributing this to the exceptional windfall
4 | November 2023
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