Newsletter – July 19, 2021

AIR FREIGHT UPDATES

India’s Second-Richest Man Is Now The Country’s Largest Airport Operator

forbes.com
Billionaire Gautam Adani’s Adani Airport Holdings Ltd. (AAHL) took control this week of Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, the second busiest airport in the country, after completing all formalities and obtaining necessary approvals.
AAHL had signed a deal with the Hyderabad-based GVK Group in August 2020 to acquire its 50.5% stake in Mumbai International Airport Ltd. (MIAL), that had built and was operating the Mumbai airport until now. Read more here.

Portugal Airport Strike Cancels 300+ Flights

simpleflying.com
A strike called for by the Union of Airport Handling Technicians (STHA) led to the cancellation of hundreds of flights in Portugal over the weekend. The strike began on Saturday with around 260 flights canceled, and then Sunday saw a further 327 flights canceled. Lisbon is the most several affected airport. Read more here.

Why Flair Airlines Disconnected Its Phone Lines For A Weekend

simpleflyin.com
Rather than have frustrated customers be put on hold for hours at a time on the telephone, Canadian budget carrier Flair Airlines has decided to close its phone line altogether – at least until Monday, July 19th. The airline has decided to take this abnormal approach in order to focus on its backlog of customer inquiries while at the same time working on boosting its customer service staff numbers. Read more here.

OCEAN FREIGHT UPDATES

This madness must stop’ – clients go bust as shipping lines pile on surcharges

theloadstar.com
Ocean carriers are becoming ever more creative with the names for huge surcharges they are loading on top of already colossal FAK rates.
The latest to land on the desks of embattled transpacific shippers is Hapag-Lloyd’s ‘value-added surcharge’ of $5,000 per 40ft, ex China to the US and Canada. Read more here.

Ocean rates continue to climb as peak season heats up

lloydsloadinglist.com
Demand for ocean freight capacity on key trades continues to outstrip supply as peak season heats up, pushing listed Asia-North Europe spot freight rates past the US$13,000/FEU mark, “and sending Europe to South America rates spiking more than 30% since last week”, the latest spot market figures and analysis from digital freight platform Freightos indicate. Read more here.

Huge fines for alleged intra-Asia shipping rate price-fixing incurs Beijing’s wrath

theloadstar.com
The Chinese government has protested to its South Korean counterpart over the imposition of hefty fines on 23 liner operators allegedly involved in collective freight price-fixing.
The group comprises 12 Korean companies and a few foreign ones, including some Chinese liner operators.
During a National Assembly session on 15 July, Korean lawmaker Lee Man-hee, of the conservative People Power Party, reported that after the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) imposed the fines in June, the Chinese government sent a letter expressing disagreement. Read more here.

GROUND AND RAIL FREIGHT UPDATES

CP says its trains did not cause Lytton fire

insidelogistics.ca
Canadian Pacific has responded to the Transportation Safety Board of Canada’s (TSB) rail transportation safety investigation (R21V0143) update concerning the fire in Lytton, B.C.
The TSB posted an update regarding its investigation of “potential train activity-related fire” in the vicinity of Mile 98.3 of Canadian National (CN) Ashcroft Subdivision around the time of the wildfire in Lytton, B.C. on June 30, 2021. Read more here.

UP temporarily stopping eastbound container service to Chicago

freightwaves.com
Union Pacific is temporarily suspending eastbound service from West Coast port terminals to its Global IV intermodal facility in Chicago to help ease “significant congestion” at inland terminals, especially Chicago, and at the ports. The suspension is aimed at helping ocean carriers reduce backlogs. Read more here.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS – GOVERNMENT UPDATES

Prologis sees logistics real estate markets tighten further in Q2, raises guidance

freightwaves.com
Prologis Inc. (NYSE: PLD) reported Monday that logistics real estate markets tightened further during the second quarter. The San Francisco-based logistics real estate investment trust posted core funds from operations (FFO) of $1.01 per share in the quarter before the market open, 2 cents per share ahead of forecasts.
“Demand for logistics space is robust and diverse, and operating conditions remain the healthiest in our 38-year history,” said Hamid R. Moghadam, chairman and CEO. “Vacancies in our markets are at all-time lows, contributing to record rent growth and valuation increases.” Read more here.