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Newsletter – January 24, 2020
AIR FREIGHT UPDATES
Pakistan International Airlines Announces Direct New York Flights
simpleflying.comPakistan International Airlines (PIA) looks like it might be heading back to New York. The Karachi based airline is tentatively planning to start flying direct between Islamabad and New York later in 2020. Read more here.
American Airlines sees steep drop in cargo revenue, volume
freightwaves.comSuffering the same cargo malaise as its competitors, American Airlines (NASDAQ: AAL), which saw its cargo revenue top $1 billion in 2018, retreated from that benchmark in 2019 and is forecasting further declines for early 2020.The airline’s fourth-quarter 2019 cargo revenue fell 18.3% from the same period in 2018 to $216 million, mostly due to a 15.6% decline in cargo volume. Cargo yield per ton mile, the average rate paid per mile, fell 3.3% in the quarter. Yield and volume were weighed down by trade concerns and macro economic weakness outside the U.S., company officials said Thursday in a conference call with analysts. Read more here.
OCEAN FREIGHT UPDATES
New dangerous goods packing guidelines published in fight against boxship fires
splash247.comIn the latest bid to fight the scourge of containership fires, insurance mutuals UK P&I and TT Club have published guidelines under the title Book it Right and Pack it Tight.2019 was especially bad for containership fires with more than one major incident a month. Read more here.
Trans-Pacific box volumes contract first time in decade
freigthwaves.comContainer research firm Alphaliner said trade on the trans-Pacific dropped in 2019 for the first time in a decade, the victim of the ongoing U.S.-China trade war and shippers deciding not to move boxes ahead of implementation of the new marine fuel standards in 2020. Read more here.
Laem Chabang expansion continues despite hiccup in container throughput
theloadstar.comContainer volumes at Thailand’s Laem Chabang port remained flat last year, despite a big uptick in US-bound cargo.According to Alphaliner, Thailand recorded a 17.8% increase in export volumes to the US in 2019, reaching 620,000 teu. This increase was second only to Vietnam, where volumes jumped 34.8% to 1.5m teu. Read more here.
Seafarers face increased checks as coronavirus spreads across the world
splash247.comSeafarers who have called in China in recent weeks and are seeking shore leave at ports across much of Asia are coming in for increased scrutiny as the world takes action against the growing spread of a coronavirus originating from the central Chinese province of Hubei. Read more here.
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS – GOVERNMENT UPDATES
Chinese food will determine spread of pandemics
bangkokpost.comWith the world’s largest high-speed rail network, a payments system that’s largely conducted via phone apps, and half the world’s solar-power plants, China often looks like a country at the technological frontier. When you consider how it feeds itself, though, it’s still just catching up. Read more here.
Reverse Logistics are costing supply chains a fortune
sdcexec.comReturns are costing supply chains $50 billion each year, and that number is only expected to increase as e-commerce continues to grow.According to the Reverse Logistics Association, returns are costing supply chains $50 billion each year, and that number is only expected to increase as e-commerce continues to grow. Read more here.