Newsletter – November 10, 2023

AIR FREIGHT UPDATES

October air cargo demand sub-seasonal

aircargoweek.com
Global air cargo volumes and spot rates edged up marginally in October, but overall demand remained muted, diminishing hope of a traditional year-end revenue boost for airlines and freight forwarders, according to Xeneta’s latest weekly market analysis. Read more here.

OCEAN FREIGHT UPDATES

Panama Canal queue grows 13% in the space of 24 hours

splash247.com
The number of ships waiting to transit the Panama Canal has leapt by 13% in the space of just 24 hours as drastic transit cuts kick in at the drought-hit waterway that accounts for 3% of all global maritime trade.
Following the driest year on record, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) has been cutting both daily transit volumes as well issuing draft restrictions across the canal, a waterway that requires 52m gallons of freshwater on average per vessel transit. Further significant transit cuts were announced last week that will over time see the number of voyages cut to just 18 a day by February, down from a maximum of 40 during normal times. Read more here.

$4 Million Lets Shipper Cut to Front of Line at Panama Canal

ttnews.com
A shipper has paid nearly $4 million to jump to the front of the line at the congested Panama Canal waterway, a record high.
Japan’s Eneos Group paid $3.975 million in an auction Nov. 8 to secure the crossing, bidding documents show. That comes on top of the regular transit fees companies pay, which can be hundreds of thousands of dollars more. Read more here.

Ocean carriers are driving the rates race to the bottom – ‘they’re all at it’

theloadstar.com
Carriers are themselves driving the rates ’race to the bottom’ they warned would lead to a “dire situation” in 2024 – Maersk singled out as one of the worst offenders.
Announcing the group’s third-quarter flop last week, the Danish carrier’s CEO, Vincent Clerc, told investors that without an uptick on the spot market in the final three months, the coming year would prove difficult for ocean shipping. Read more here (login required).

The Loadstar explains: methanol-powered ships

theloadstar.com
So what is all this noise about methanol-powered ships? The last time I saw anything powered by methane it was Barter Town, in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, where the main energy source for the post-apocalyptic settlement was basically the combined flatulence of a huge herd of pigs… so are we talking about ships powered by farts? Read more here (login required).

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS – GOVERNMENT UPDATES

What’s going ‘higher for longer’: interest rates or air freight rates? Or both?

theloadstar.com
The outlook for inflation and interest rates continues to generate debate in markets.
Central banks, led by the US Federal Reserve, hit the pause button after a long and steep series of interest rate hikes in September – leading to suggestions we may be near the top of the hiking cycle. Read more here.