Newsletter – September 30, 2021

AIR FREIGHT UPDATES

Fraud risk warning as air freight desperation builds

lloydsloadinglist.com
Rising prices and a growing scarcity of aircraft in the air cargo market in the coming weeks as peak demand kicks in are likely to increase the risk of fraud by bogus intermediaries, a leading air charter broker has warned. Read more here.

‘Mad rush’ as Indian shippers beat a path from ocean to costlier air freight

theloadstar.com
Indian forwarders are seeing a “mad rush” from ocean freight to air cargo, but overloaded carriers are giving priority to better-paying Asian origin cargo.
Ashish Asaf, CEO of SA Consultants & Forwarders, said the market was suffering from the continued lack of bellyhold capacity. Read more here (login required).

OCEAN FREIGHT UPDATES

New port opens on the upper stretches of the Yangtze

splash247.com
Sizeable ships are able to get further and further up the Yangtze, China’s largest river, opening up vast hinterlands for exports and imports.
The People’s Republic opened a new 10,000 dwt port at Zhongxian, a county of Chongqing Municipality yesterday. Read more here.

Pick your bottleneck: Ports, chassis, containers, labor

freightwaves.com
The most recent metrics from the Port of Los Angeles show supply chain constraints are still hovering near record levels, a trend that is expected to carry into 2022.
During a monthly update, Gene Seroka, the port’s executive director, said dwell times for containers remain at or near all-time highs, with “significant volume headed our way throughout this year and into 2022.” Read more here.

Container congestion spreads to US east coast

lloydsloadinglist.com
The congestion that has plagued the major US west coast ports is starting to spread to east and Gulf Coast terminals, as a backlog of ships builds up on the eastern seaboard.
Figures from Lloyd’s List Intelligence’s vessel tracking service show a build-up of the number of containerships waiting for berths off a number of east coast ports. While the numbers are not as high as those on the west coast, they still show that the congestion issue is spreading rather than easing. Read more here.

Ocean carriers sail in to take charge on intra-Asia trades as demand soars

theloadstar.com
Soaring demand and booming freight rates on intra-Asia trades is encouraging ocean carriers to launch dedicated services rather than relying on a network of overwhelmed commercial feeders.
In the latest development, THE Alliance members ONE and Yang Ming have teamed up with regional carriers Korea Marine Transport and SITC Container Lines to provide a weekly service between South Korea…Read more here (login required).

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS – GOVERNMENT UPDATES

Global supply chains ‘close to collapse’ – transport workers must move freely

theloadstar.com
A coalition of transport associations has warned world leaders that supply chains face “collapse” if they can’t end a crisis that has left hundreds of thousands of workers stranded by Covid.
In an open letter to the United Nations, the IRU, International Air Transport Association (IATA), International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) made an urgent plea for a reinstatement of freedom of movement for transport workers. Read more here (login required).

Santa’s toy bag may be light this year

insidelogistics.ca
Ahead of the release of the Paw Patrol movie this summer, Toys “R” Us Canada and toy maker Spin Master Corp. did something rarely seen before in the toy industry.
They air freighted Liberty toys – the latest member of the animated search and rescue team – from China to Canada to get the new pup on store shelves in time for the film’s premiere. Read more here.