Newsletter – June 10, 2021

AIR FREIGHT UPDATES

Air Cargo Up 12% Since Pre-COVID Thanks to North American Carriers

sdcexec.com
Global air cargo demand is up 12% since pre-COVID-19 levels, with North American carriers supporting that growth by making up 7.5% of that 12%, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
“Air cargo continues to be the good news story for the air transport sector. Demand is up 12% on pre-crisis levels and yields are solid. Some regions are outperforming the global trend, most notably carriers in North America, the Middle East and Africa. Strong air cargo performance, however, is not universal. The recovery for carriers in the Latin American region, for example, is stalled,” says Willie Walsh, IATA’s director general. Read more here.

OCEAN FREIGHT UPDATES

If You Thought The Ever Given Blocking The Suez Canal Was Bad, What’s Coming Could Be Worse

forbes.com
The container ship Ever Given blockage of the Suez Canal earlier this year attracted global attention to how disruptions to maritime trade routes could impact global supply chains. But recent Covid-19 outbreaks in southern China, Southeast Asia, and Taiwan are threatening to cause more pain as their effects ripple through supply chains over the next few week and months. Read more here.

Pearl River Delta jammed

splash247.com
The principle goods highway to the world’s consumers is jammed. In the wake of a Covid-19 outbreak at Yantian Port in eastern Shenzhen on May 25, vessels have backed up in the South China Sea, while others have sought alternatives in western Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Nansha to the south of Guangzhou. However, the Pearl River is now packed with anchored giant boxships waiting for berths to open up as the below enlargeable image taken by MarineTraffic at 4pm local time today clearly shows (green dots represent ships at anchor). Read more here.

Container shortage worsens as box ships avoid Chinese ports that need empties

theloadstar.com
The availability of containers at southern Chinese ports continues to deteriorate as carriers omit calls due to a wave of Covid outbreaks in Guangzhou province.
According to the latest data from Container xChange, the ports of Yantian, Shekou and Nansha have been hit worst by the box shortages. Read more here (login required).

Top 10 liners control 85% of market — and they’re not done yet

freightwaves.com
The extreme consolidation within the container liner sector is the kind of thing owners of tankers and bulk carriers can only dream of. The latest data from Alphaliner highlights the extent of liner consolidation, how soon the rankings will change, and how newbuilding orders will render the carrier arena even more concentrated than it already is.
The top 10 carriers now operate 85% of global shipping capacity. Four groups — Maersk, MSC, CMA CGM and COSCO — control more than half of capacity (58%). The top seven, including Hapag-Lloyd, ONE and Evergreen, control 78%. Read more here.

Shippers renew call for block exemption to be removed

lloydsloadinglist.com
The Global Shippers’ Forum has used the current disruption in supply chains to renew its call for the removal of the consortia block exemption regulation.
Chief executive James Hookham said that shippers were bearing the brunt of the broken supply chain.
“We are not happy is the bottom line,” he told a webinar following the release of the latest quarterly market review by the GSF and MDS Transmodal, which seeks to monitor the box shipping sector in order to inform regulators of its performance. Read more here.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS – GOVERNMENT UPDATES

White House readies supply chain disruptions task force

splash247.com
A report issued this week by the White House, Building Resilient Supply Chains, Revitalizing American Manufacturing, and Fostering Broad-Based Growth, recommends strengthening international trade rules and trade-enforcement mechanisms; working with allies and partners to decrease vulnerabilities in global supply chains; and monitoring near term supply chain disruptions through the creation of a Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force. Read more here.