Near-shoring boosted by supply chain disruption
The post-COVID environment, geopolitical uncertainty, protectionism, climate-change events and now the Red Sea crisis have all put pressure on global supply chains and as we discovered at TPM, companies are increasingly considering the evolution of their global supply chains to minimise risk and ...
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Sustainable business growth
Differentiation, innovation, technology, profitability, customer focus and partnership building are all key components in business growth and are all inherently linked to sustainable businesses, which underlines the value that environmental strategies can add to your business.
Sustainability i...
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Research uncovers scale of Red Sea disruption
New research by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has found that over half of importing manufacturers and retailers (53%) have been impacted by the disruption to shipping caused by the Red Sea crisis, with over half of exporters (55%) also experiencing increased costs and delays.
The issu...
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Driving road freight excellence
Into his second year Metro’s European Director, Richard Gibbs, updates us on his mission to develop the infrastructure, systems and services that will provide the best European transport solutions, for effectiveness and cost efficiency.
“Metro has expanded its European road freight platfor...
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US importers face inventory replenishment quandary
Many US companies, including big retailers, were successful over the course of 2023 in clearing out the stockpiles of inventory, that they built up during the pandemic to cope with shipping disruptions and changing buying patterns.
During the pandemic many retailers and manufacturers flipped f...
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Sea/Air growth undiminished
The latest air cargo data is showing a clear upswing in volumes at key sea/air hubs, as shippers from Asia seek to avoid the extended ocean freight transit that has resulted from the Red Sea shipping crisis.
Over the first two months of the year, volumes to Europe from Dubai, Colombo and Bangk...
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OCEAN Alliance seek stability
Although there was market speculation that a member of the OCEAN Alliance might be tempted to leave and join THE Alliance in 2027, a new agreement by the remaining members makes it very unlikely this decade.
Seeking to send a clear message of stability, after Hapag Lloyd’s defection to the G...
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Red Sea crisis; situation report
The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) is already reporting multiple new Houthi attacks on vessels, following two missile strikes on the British registered general cargo vessel “Rubymar” on Sunday, which the crew had to abandon on Monday.
The Rubymar attack was followed by a merchant ves...
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Bangkok and Dubai air cargo handling delays
The ramping up of air cargo demand in Asia has led to ground handlers in Bangkok and Dubai announcing temporary embargoes on imports, with delays still being experienced.
The unprecedented volumes of air cargo are largely due to modal shifts from sea to air and sea/air because of the Red Sea...
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Transpacific container shipping
If we were to try and define a single factor that defined transpacific container shipping (along with most other routes) in 2023, it would probably be shipper complacency brought about by the rebalancing and normalisation of supply chains, following the unprecedented disruption of the COVID years...
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China dumping fears growing
The United States is voicing increasing concerns that Chinese manufacturing overcapacity will hit world markets, while the EU launched an anti-dumping investigation into China’s EV industry last year.
Senior US Treasury officials told the Financial Times this week that a visiting US delega...
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Metro’s Business development Director
With over ten years in commercial management, we are very pleased to welcome our new Business Development Director, Emiliano Muco BSc (Finance). Since graduating from the University of Hertfordshire Emiliano has held a variety of roles with some of the biggest names in freight forwarding and brin...
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