News & Insights

Asia’s economic bounce back continues to show strong growth, driven by new manufacturing orders and the ensuing increase in export sales, which is putting more pressure on supply chains, leading to increased lead times, shortages of aircraft space and rising prices. Purchasing managers data ... Read more

Shippers from Asia to Europe continue to see increases in container spot rates, as cargo-rolling become ever more commonplace and carriers begin to cancel sailings in an effort to restore schedule reliability. Space on vessels from Asia is effectively ‘sold out’ for May and June, with a su... Read more

We have been providing outsourcing services since our inception 40 years ago and this critical service has grown over four decades, with the development of our UK and two international business process outsource (BPO) operations. Metro has spent 40 years managing and transforming the outsource... Read more

The government is creating four regional trade and investment hubs to boost economic growth across the UK, but post-Brexit trade agreements with 23 different countries include clauses that exclude manufacturers in the Freeport’s from the deals. Whoops-a-daisy Liz Truss! The hubs will be... Read more

Rules of origin determine where goods originate from and which are covered in preference agreements. It is not just where goods have been shipped or bought from, with the potential for multiple origins to consider and there can be severe financial penalties for getting it wrong. The origin is ... Read more

2021 should be a year of celebration for Metro, as it was officially our 40th birthday since commencing trading, but unfortunately, it also sees us dealing with the COVID pandemic and all its associated challenges. The continued home-working of many colleagues and the unprecedented supply chain d... Read more

Container shipping rates from China to the US and Europe continue to rise, as reduced capacity, high consumer demand and equipment shortages across China and Southeast Asia escalate. While container freight rate increases on the transpacific trade from Asia h... Read more

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed key differences between “fit” and “fragile” supply chains, says advisors Gartner, and how businesses deal with the disruption may provide competitive advantage across market verticals and specific industries. While the most fragile focu... Read more

Spot market shippers have seen continued rate spikes this week and the shipping lines are preparing for further rate elevation, as excess demand leads to cargo-rolling increases at many origin and transhipment ports. Shippers using the spot market for consignments from Asia to Euro... Read more

This stunning article from The Grocer highlights the massive impact that the post-Brexit free trade agreement has had on one of our most vital business sectors. Food exporters have spent a total of 58 years filling out export health certificates so far this year as a result of the new post-Bre... Read more

China's exports have surged, driven by post-lockdown demand from the US and Europe, while factory gate pricing has risen at the steepest rate for more than three years. China's economy grew 18.3% in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the same quarter in 2020, in its biggest GDP jump si... Read more

European container ports survive the post-blockage Suez surge, but container equipment is out of position and remains scarce. Europe’s container terminals have been struggling to handle increased import volumes since Q3 2020. Keeping recurring congestion at bay has been their biggest chal... Read more