News & Insights

In two days we have gone from the EU insisting the UK needed to remove part of its controversial Internal Market Bill that breach the withdrawal treaty in order to get the trade deal done, to UK business secretary Alok Sharma insisting the EU and UK “have made progress” and that an agreement ... Read more

After suffering an expected defeat in the House of Lords on Monday over proposed laws which could breach Britain’s EU exit treaty, the government has affirmed its intention to re-table the contentious plan, that has been explicitly criticised by U.S. President-elect Joe Biden. Despite the Pr... Read more

Container ships, including the world’s largest, are skipping UK ports entirely, or leaving only partially discharged and without collecting export containers, in what is fast becoming a daily occurrence. COVID-safe working practices and extensive deep-cleaning at shift handovers, continues t... Read more

Logistics UK, the revamped Freight Transport Association (FTA), has warned that a No-Deal Brexit could have a significant effect on the price of all imported goods and could drive inflation up as a result. “Everyday household items we import will become more expensive under World Trade Organ... Read more

Singles' Day is an unofficial Chinese holiday celebrating people who are not in relationships, with the unmarried commemorating the occasion by treating themselves to gifts, making Singles' Day the largest online shopping day in the world, by quite some margin. With 1.9bn products ordered in 2... Read more

While government minister Michael Gove fielded questions on Brexit IT system release dates from a parliamentary committee, name changes and uncertainty about systems preparedness is making the logistics industry nervous. Mr Gove told the Future Relationship with the EU parliamentary select com... Read more

Sea freight rates and surcharges continue to rise on all the primary trade-lanes, up 10% from Asia in the last week, with no signs of softening in the coming weeks, or months. Even with some blanked capacity over Golden Week, capacity on the Asia-Europe trade  increased 14% year over year... Read more

We reported last week how shipping lines were diverting empty containers away from the Asia-Europe trade-lane, to ply the more lucrative trans-Pacific services, with all the signs that demand could continue well into 2021. With massive and unanticipated demand, the capacity crunch from China t... Read more

Even as England enters a four-week lockdown and the rest of the UK operate under strict restrictions, consumer activity will continue to be strong, driving further air freight demand. Air freight rates from China continue to rise, as the peak season continues and distressed sea freight is incr... Read more

The start of the working week and the Port of Felixstowe is back in the news, for cancelling empty container restitutions (again), but the challenges facing shippers run much farther afield than Suffolk. The Taiwanese container shipping line Evergreen has issued a customer notice stating that ... Read more

The UK’s supply chains are facing unparalleled challenges and some links are buckling under the strain. The following is a transcript of a customer advisory issued by Metro Shipping on Tuesday…….. The COVID pandemic continues to impact global and domestic freight in the most profound way... Read more

The US Presidential race could change Brexit dynamics, with Mr Trump commenting favourably on Britain's decision to leave the EU, while Mr Biden, who has Irish heritage, has indicated he would not favour any action that threatened the Good Friday agreement. As the latest round of EU/UK trade t... Read more