Newsletter – May 1, 2023

AIR FREIGHT UPDATES

Cargojet CEO says softening market forcing cost assessment

insidelogistics.ca
Cargojet saw a relatively stable first quarter of 2023, but CEO Ajay Virmani says the company is “realigning” its cost structure to meet current market declines.
“Cargojet is not immune to the softening industry trends as well as the macro factors of slower economic growth, higher interest rates and persistent inflation. Therefore, our team is focused on realigning every aspect of our cost structure with the current demand levels, including realigning our network, significantly improving productivity in our maintenance and operational areas and cutting all discretionary expenditures while maintaining industry best on-time-performance,” Virmani said in a statement. Read more here.

OCEAN FREIGHT UPDATES

Soft demand pushes ocean spot rates to ‘their lowest sustainable level’

theloadstar.com
Weak demand in the three major ocean trades, coupled with the expected flood of new tonnage, will feed declining rates, according to the latest report by Maritime Strategies International (MSI).
And ONE CEO Jeremy Nixon said today: “Demand in the last quarter [Q1 23] has been significantly weaker than the previous two years’ first calendar quarters.” Read more here.

Evergreen lines up multi-billion dollar boxship orders

splash247.com
Huge containership orders show no signs of easing, despite the recent slide in earnings for global liners.
According to Maersk Broker, Taiwan’s Evergreen has released a tender for twenty-four 16,000 teu methanol dual fuel ships, spending some of the billions it has earned over the past couple of years. Read more here.

Trans-Atlantic shipping rates keep sinking as imports from Europe fall

freightwaves.com
The trans-Atlantic westbound trade has been a star performer for container lines over the past year, a bright spot amid a global slide. Europe-to-U.S. rates have been an outlier, staying far higher than those in the trans-Pacific trade and — until recently — far exceeding pre-COVID levels.
That premium is still there, but it’s shrinking fast. Europe-East Coast spot rates continue to steadily decline, following the same pattern previously seen in the other mainline trades. The only difference is a time lag. Read more here.

GROUND AND RAIL REIGHT UPDATES

Trucking bloodbath snares fleets large and small

freightwaves.com
America’s $875 billion trucking industry is struggling.
The number of authorized interstate trucking fleets in the U.S. declined by nearly 9,000 in the first quarter of 2023, according to federal data analyzed by Motive, a fleet management technology company. Several midsized fleets have already shuttered this year, including Florida’s Flagship Transport and North Carolina’s FreightWorks Transport. And major freight brokerages have laid off 1,000 employees in 2023 alone. Read more here.

CANADA BUSINESS – GOVERNMENT UPDATES

Hiring index shows big jump in advertised jobs

insidelogistics.ca
The Conference Board of Canada has launched a new Canadian Hiring Index. It tracks changes in the volume of online job postings across provinces and cities, industries, and occupations over time. It also includes a new measure of labour market tightness.
The index increased 6.7 percent month-over-month in March, the highest increase since July 2022. Although the index increased month-over-month, job postings nationally decreased 5.1 percent compared to March 2022. Read more here.

After economy posts strong start to 2023, new data suggests slowdown has begun

ctvnews.ca
OTTAWA – The Canadian economy’s strong bounce back at the start of the year appears to have been short-lived, as new data suggests growth is on a downward trajectory.
Statistics Canada said Friday that the economy grew by 0.1 per cent in February. Its preliminary estimates suggests real gross domestic product grew at an annualized rate of 2.5 per cent in the first quarter, and contracted in March. Read more here.