Newsletter – October 18, 2023

AIR FREIGHT UPDATES

Pakistan International Airlines Unable To Pay Fuel Bills And Cancels Flights
simpleflying.com
Pakistan International Airlines, commonly known as PIA, has hit the spotlight this week after canceling several domestic and international services due to the inability to cover its fuel bills. The state-owned carrier has long been accused of poor management and burdening the Pakistani Government with debt. Read more here.

OCEAN FREIGHT UPDATES

Maersk takes over box ship chartered by Yang Ming as sub-lets increase
theloadstar.com
Yang Ming has sub-let one of the quintet of 12,690 teu vessels it took on a 10-year charter in 2020-21 to rival ocean carrier Maersk.
According to broker reports, Maersk will take charge of the Costamare-owned vessel in Q1 or Q2 next year for 12 months, at a daily rate of $57,000. Read more here (login required).

Idle tonnage passes a million teu as bigger box ships go into lay-up
theloadstar.com
The amount of containership capacity idled has surged again, the latest survey from Alphaliner reporting 315 vessels (1.18 million teu) in lay-up, representing 4.3% of the global fleet.
In its fortnightly review of the inactive container vessel fleet, the consultant recorded a big jump from the 271 ships, for 942,035 teu, shown as idled two weeks previously. Read more here (login required).

GROUND & RAIL FREIGHT UPDATES

CN Brampton Update
ciffa.com
After Tuesday’s derailment, CN Brampton’s intermodal yard is passable again as of Wednesday morning. The CN team is working to catch up with the backlog; delays of 24 to 36 hours should be expected.

CANADA BUSINESS – GOVERNMENT UPDATES

Canada’s inflation cools more than expected, easing pressure on the Bank of Canada
financialpost.com
Canadian consumers got something of a reprieve in September, with inflation moderating to a 3.8 per cent annualized pace, down from four per cent a month before.
That 3.8 per cent figure was also below the estimates of economists, whose consensus view was that price pressures would hold steady at four per cent for the month.  Read more here.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS-GOVERNMENT UPDATES

US warehouse construction starts to plummet, but rents remain at lofty levels
theloadstar.com
One by one, sectors in the US logistics industry have watched prices slump from the peaks of 2022.
Ocean carriers and truckload operators led the downward charge, followed by air cargo carriers and LTL providers – even parcel rates have come under pressure. Read more here (login required).