Newsletter – August 17, 2018

AIR FREIGHT UPDATES

Air France-KLM appoints Air Canada Exec As CEO

source: news.airwise.com

Air France-KLM has selected Air Canada executive Benjamin Smith as its new CEO, the first time a non-French candidate has been appointed to the position.

Smith, who is currently Air Canada’s chief operating officer, will start work at the airline group by the end of September. Read more here.

OCEAN FREIGHT UPDATES

Surging box revenues fail to save Maersk’s bottom line

source: lloydsloadinglist.com

Maersk Group saw profits tumble in the second quarter despite significant revenue gains by its ocean and logistics divisions.

The Danish shipping giant, which last week issued a profit warning cutting its full year-year guidance, saw underlying net profit slump 57% year-on-year to $88m in the second quarter. Read more here.

DP World posts a strong first half as its customers wallow in an ocean of red ink

source: theloadstar.co.uk

DP World saw revenue jump 14.4%, year on year, in the first six months to $2.6bn, as the company’s core container terminal business benefited from the upswing in global trade.

Net profit for the period was $593m, 2.1% down on the year before, which it attributed to the “illegal” seizure of its Doraleh terminal by the Djiboutian government, and the consolidation into the accounts of its Santos facility, previously treated as an equity-accounted investee. Read more here.

Freight rates into US driven by capacity reductions and port call shifts

source: seanews.com

SEA freight rates into both the US east and west coast have been rising on the back of strong import activity, regional trade shifts, tighter vessel supply, fuel price hikes and the threat of higher tariffs. Read more here.

CANADA BUSINESS – GOVERNMENT UPDATES

Hyperloop at five and sci-fi transport quickly becoming more sci than fi

source: cnet.com

Hyperloop has been with us for half a decade now, but it’s still hard to separate the hype from the reality.

In the five years since Elon Musk published his open-source concept for a supersonic floating tube-train, some very real progress has been made. But promises have also been broken, and the dream of a new revolutionary mode of transport remains at least a few years off. Read more here.