Newsletter – April 27, 2021

AIR FREIGHT UPDATES

More air cargo carriers ban Vivo phone shipments as probe into HK fire begins

theloadstar.com
Increasing numbers of airlines are banning the shipment of Vivo mobile phones, following a pallet fire at Hong Kong Airport at the weekend.
This is likely to have a serious impact on Vivo, which is ranked number five in global smartphone shipments. Read more here (login required).

OCEAN FREIGHT UPDATES

Canada – Montreal – Port of Montreal Labor Action – Update

hapag-lloyd.com
On April 26th at 0700HRS, the CUPE 375, Syndicat Des Débardeurs, began an unlimited strike at the Port of Montreal, negatively impacting international container operations. The Federal government intends to table back to work legislation on April 27th and the bill is expected to be adopted in Parliament. It is unclear when this bill will be implemented once adopted.
Hapag-Lloyd is moving forward with contingency planning in an effort to minimize the impact of this work stoppage to our customers. Read more here.

Maersk doubles full-year net profit guidance amid ‘exceptional’ container market situation

splash247.com
Further evidence of the bumper profits global carriers will report this year emerged last night in Copenhagen with A.P. Møller – Mærsk, the owner of the world’s largest containerline, making a significant upgrade to its full year guidance.
With spot and contract rates in record territory for much of the year so far, Maersk’s preliminary Q1 figures are extraordinary with revenues of $12.4bn and a net profit of $3.1bn racked up in the first three months of 2021. Read more here.

The Suez Canal legal fight

splash247.com
As the saga of the Ever Given in the Suez canal rumbles on, one thing has struck me: why haven’t we heard anything about a class-action law suit against the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) from a collective of the frustrated shippers and receivers?
I haven’t seen the manifest but with around 20,000 TEUs on board, it stands to reason that many of the world’s leading corporations are likely to have been caught up in this – and while they may have a lot of power individually, they will have even more as a consortium. Read more here.

Flexport: Trans-Pacific deteriorating, brace for shipping ‘tsunami’

freightwaves.com
The number of container ships stuck at anchor off Los Angeles and Long Beach is down to around 20 per day, from 30 a few months ago. Does this mean the capacity crunch in the trans-Pacific market is finally easing? Absolutely not, warned Nerijus Poskus, vice president of global ocean at freight forwarder Flexport. “It’s not getting better. It’s getting worse,” he told American Shipper in an interview on Monday.  Read more here.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS – GOVERNMENT UPDATES

How the pandemic changed retail supply chains

supplychaindive.com
Retail supply chains have been on a roller coaster this past year. In 2020, dark stores and trapped inventory in March and April gave way to a summer and holiday season of surging e-commerce demand.
Whether sales were up or down, retail supply chain leaders knew one thing was clear: Strategies had to change. Omnichannel plans accelerated. Chatter around curbside pickup and ship from store ticked up. Read more here.