Newsletter- January 11, 2022

AIR FREIGHT UPDATES

Another ONE vessel hit by container collapse

splash247.com
Japanese liner Ocean Network Express (ONE) has reported another container stack collapse on one of its ships. The accident happened onboard the 13,900 teu Madrid Bridge four days ago while the ship was passing through the North Atlantic en route to New York.
“Our immediate priorities are to ensure the safety of the crew, the vessel and the cargo on board. Delays to the vessel’s schedule are expected,” ONE stated in an update. Read more here. 

Air cargo demand in Asia remains resilient

aircargonews.net
The air cargo market in Asia remained resilient in November with volumes continuing to grow compared with 2019 levels.
The latest statistics from the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) show that during the month cargo demand at the region’s airlines increased by 16.5% year on year and stayed above volumes recorded in the pre-pandemic months of 2019. Read more here.

Heavy lift looks to recovery from pandemic pressures

aircargonews.net
The heavy lift sector is looking forward to getting back to normal post-pandemic, although there is a debate about what that future will look like.
On the positive side is Volga-Dnepr Airlines, which talks of recovery and revival as the world restarts following the upheavals of the past two years. Read more here.

India’s Gati bullish as air freight demand grows alongside e-commerce boom

theloadstar.com
As the Indian economy recovers from the headwinds caused by the Covid pandemic, logistics company Gati remains upbeat about the domestic freight market.
Gati’s chief commercial officer, Huafreed Nasarwanji, told The Loadstar domestic air cargo business logged healthy growth last year, inching close to pre-pandemic levels for the firm that was acquired by Mumbai-based Allcargo Group at the end of 2019.  Read more here.

OCEAN FREIGHT UPDATES

Taiwan’s major liner operators increase slots ahead of Chinese New Year

theloadstar.com
The Taiwanese government is following its South Korean counterpart by calling on domestic ocean liners to ensure sufficient container shipping slots for local exporters.
The island’s three largest liner operators, Evergreen, Yang Ming and Wan Hai, will make more capacity available this month to meet heightened demand as exporters rush to ship goods before the lunar new year holiday starts on 1 February. Read more here. 

Liner shipping in 2022

splash247.com
The opening days of the new year in the world of container shipping have been a continuation of the main themes that contributed to a record-breaking 2021. Covid-19-related delays, rates climbing to new highs and the general public increasingly conversant in all things shipping.
Can container shipping better its financial performance of last year where liners were tipped by consultants Drewry to have made a combined net profit in excess of $150bn? Read more here. 

GROUND AND RAIL FREIGHT UPDATES

Truckers to face icy roads in Pacific Northwest

freightwaves.com
Truckers will hit very slick conditions Tuesday as snow, sleet and freezing rain hit the Pacific Northwest.
The National Weather Service has winter weather advisories in place in central and eastern Washington as well as western Montana. There are no alerts for northern Idaho, but this may change as the day progresses. Read more here. 

Truckload rate increases have done little to improve carrier reliability

freightwaves.com
The national Outbound Tender Rejection Index (OTRI) that measures the percentage of electronic requests for truckload capacity from shippers that carriers rejected pushed back over 22% over the Christmas holiday period, despite the fact that contract rates have increased approximately 17% over last year. Simply put, these rejections cost a lot more than they did a year ago and it is unexpected to see them persist at this level this far beyond the holidays. Read more here. 

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS – GOVERNMENT UPDATES

COVID dominoes fall in China; air and sea shipments delayed

freightwaves.com
Import and export operations in Tianjin are slowing after a small cluster of COVID cases was discovered over the weekend, according to third-party logistics providers in China. Meanwhile, in Shenzhen, authorities are blaming a contaminated import shipment infecting a cargo worker, who then spread the virus to three other people.
The news comes as China reinforces its zero-tolerance policy toward COVID in the weeks leading up to the Beijing Olympics that begin Feb. 4. Shipping companies are feeling the knock-on effects. Read more here. 

U.S. industrial real estate numbers “unprecedented”

insidelogistics.ca
The U.S. industrial real estate market saw record-setting low vacancy rates in the last quarter of 2021.
Cushman & Wakefield’s Q4 U.S. industrial statistics show record-setting absorption exceeding 500 million square feet (msf), and vacancy dropping below four percent for the first time ever, at 3.7 percent. Read more here.