Newsletter – April 3, 2023

AIR FREIGHT UPDATES

China’s first cargo-focused airport launches international flights

aircargonews.net

China’s first cargo-focused airport has launched its inaugural international route with a Belgium-bound flight.

The all-cargo aircraft, loaded with some 100 tonnes of freight, departed Ezhou Huahu Airport in Hubei Province on April 1, according to China’s state press agency Xinhua. Read more here. 

Air France KLM Martinair and CMA CGM air cargo partnership takes off

aircargonews.net

Air France KLM Martinair Cargo (AFKLMP) and CMA CGM Air Cargo have launched the capacity partnership announced last year.

The tie-up, first announced in May 2022, will see the two carriers jointly operate the full-freighter aircraft capacity of their respective airlines, initially including CMA CGM’s six freighter aircraft and AFKLMP’s six freighters. Read more here. 

SATS completes acquisition of WFS

aircargonews.net

Singapore-based aviation services company SATS has completed the acquisition of cargo handler Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) for Ђ1.3bn.

SATS struck a deal last September to buy WFS from an affiliate of asset investor Cerberus Capital Management. The transaction has an enterprise value of Ђ2.25bn. Read more here. 

OCEAN FREIGHT UPDATES

Box scrap candidates find new trading owners

splash247.com

The predicted wave of boxships heading for demolition is proving to be a trickle. Ships are still making money, whatever their age, and demo candidates are finding new owners rather than the blow torch.

Around the start of the year many of container shipping’s top analysts were predicting hundreds of thousands of teu worth of vintage boxships to be scrapped.  Read more here. 

Liner shipping forecast to make $43.2bn profit in 2023

splash247.com

A usually reliable source of container financial forecasts has made a call on 2023 fortunes for the liner industry, suggesting this year could be the third-best combined annual results in the history of the sector.

John McCown, whose Blue Alpha Capital quarterly liner profit reports have become essential reading during box shipping’s record earnings run since 2020, has forecast liner shipping will make a combined net income this year of $43.2bn on revenues of $327.bn. While this would mark an 80% drop over last year’s record profits, it would still prove to be another sensational year of earnings, helping to explain carriers’ continued amassing of tonnage in the first three months of 2023. Read more here. 

Ship fuel cost way down from war peak, but ‘green’ fallout looms

freightwaves.com

The price of ship fuel is now down to around half the post-Ukraine-invasion peak. Second-quarter fuel surcharges for containerized cargo shippers promise more savings ahead.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that if shipping ultimately switches from fuel oil to LNG or methanol as part of its much ballyhooed energy transition, future fuel costs will likely skyrocket back to levels seen after the invasion — or worse.  Read more here. 

Carrier anger as Nhava Sheva terminal operators hike tariffs

the loadstar.com

Ocean carriers operating out of India’s Nhava Sheva port (JNPT) have voiced serious concerns over tariff hikes by the dominant private terminal operators.

In addition to PSA Mumbai (BMCT) announcing a near 7.5% hike in its service rates from this month, APM Terminals Mumbai, also known as Gateway Terminals India (GTI), has won agreement for a rate increase from May.  Read more here (login required).