Newsletter- August 17, 2022

OCEAN FREIGHT UPDATES

 UK’s Liverpool Port Could ‘Grind to a Halt’ After Workers Vote to Strike

gcaptain.com
More than 500 port workers at the Port of Liverpool are set to strike, bringing another one of the UK’s busiest ports to ‘grinding to a halt,’ the Unite trade union announced Monday.
The strike, the timing and duration of which have not yet been determined, comes after workers at Peel Ports-owned Mersey Docks and Harbour Company (MDHC) voted overwhelmingly in favor of the strike in response to an “inadequate” 7% pay raise offer. Read more here.

Capacity size gap between the largest carriers and the rest of the field now bigger than ever

splash247.com
The capacity size gap between the largest carriers and the rest of the field is now bigger than ever, according to data carried in the latest weekly report from Alphaliner.
Today, the top 10 carriers operate 21.8m teu, versus 2.5m teu for the next 20 ranked lines, a far cry from the fragmented liner line-up a decade ago (see charts at bottom for 2012 rankings). Read more here.

Yang Ming: Revenue up nearly 50% — end of story

freightwaves.com
Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp. released a brief financial statement Thursday in which it announced net profit for the first six months of 2022 totaled $4.04 billion.
Yang Ming does not typically share wordy earnings reports, but Thursday’s news release was even briefer than usual — only one paragraph long, about 150 words and numbers. Read more here.

GROUND AND RAIL FREIGHT UPDATES

Used truck prices continue upward push: Ritchie Bros.

trucknews.com
Ritchie Bros. continues to report tight transaction volumes, with 27% fewer deals in July 2022 than July 2021, and that continues to drive retail prices higher.
“July pricing increased 2% versus the prior month, in line with the rate of increase we’ve observed for most of 2022,” the auctioneer says in its August Market Trends Report. Read more here.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS GOVERNMENT UPDTES

Walmart cancels billions of dollars in orders to right-size inventory levels

freightwaves.com
Walmart Inc. said Tuesday that it has canceled billions of dollars in orders as part of a continued effort to align inventory levels with projected demand and to reduce its exposure to certain products that have fallen out of favor with budget-conscious consumers.
The nation’s largest retailer (NYSE: WMT) said its U.S. division reported a 26% increase in fiscal second-quarter 2023 inventory levels compared with the same period in fiscal 2022. Read more here.