Newsletter – August 16, 2023

AIR FREIGHT UPDATES

Air Canada Cargo revenue drops nearly 25% in Q2

aircargonews.net
Air Canada’s cargo business saw second-quarter operating revenues drop 24% year over year.
Operating revenues for Air Canada Cargo in the three months ended June 30 were C$227m, down from C$299 in the same period in 2022. Read more here.

OCEAN FREIGHT UPDATES

US container imports still on the decline, but the slope is easing

theloadstar.com
Containerised imports into the US are expected to break through the 2m teu mark this month, for the first time since last October.
But according to the monthly Port Tracker, published by the National Retail Federation (NRF) in collaboration with maritime consultancy Hackett Associates, monthly volumes should slip back below that threshold for the remainder of the year. Read more here (login required).

Shippers will live with blanked sailings – so long as rates are held

theloadstar.com
Blanked sailings and vessel slidings, departures pushed to the following week to enable better utilisation, are not causing shippers too much trouble, other than extra admin.
The most important factor, they say, is that agreed rates are honoured on the alternative sailing – even if shipment falls outside the validity period. Read more here.

Container volume shrinks in Long Beach

container-news.com
Port of Long Beach (POLB) said that adjusted trade routes, full warehouses and a shift in consumer spending to travel, entertainment and other experiences caused a significant drop in July container volumes.
The Californian port handled 578,249 TEUs last month, translating to a 26.4% decrease over the record July 2022. In particular, imports declined 27.9% to 271,086 TEUs, exports decreased 17.6% to 90,134 TEUs and empty boxes moving through the port were down 27.7% to 217,030 TEUs. Read more here.

Maersk aims to handle all cargo by means of artificial intelligence

shippingwatch.com
In the coming years, the shipping and logistics group will let artificial intelligence (AI) take over many more tasks in the shipping of goods around the globe based on the goal of ”zero touch logistics,” Maersk CTO Navneet Kapoor tells Børsen.
”It’s not just hopeful thinking. We believe it’s possible to digitize almost the entire supply chain. It takes time, but we are working on an AI engine. When it becomes fully functional, it will be possible to integrate data automatically, and that’s where the magic happens,” says Navneet Kapoor. Read more here.

CANADA BUSINESS – GOVERNMENT UPDATES

Inflation quickens to 3.3% but core measure shows progress

bnnbloomberg.ca
Inflation ticked back above the Bank of Canada’s control range in July, but progress on underlying price pressures leaves room for policymakers to pause interest-rate hikes.
The consumer price index rose 3.3 per cent from a year ago, the first reacceleration since April, Statistics Canada reported Tuesday in Ottawa. That was faster than the median estimate of 3 per cent in a Bloomberg survey of economists. On a monthly basis, the index rose 0.6 per cent, double their expectations. Read more here.