News & Insights

Our alerts, news and guides embrace all transport modes and explore global developments across all aspects of the supply chain, to keep you informed and guide decision making.

Global ocean freight trade second half of 2020

The coronavirus pandemic is severely disrupting global supply chains and in the process, laying the foundation for permanent changes to international trade. We’re still seeing the jump in sea freight volumes that was the catch-up from the earlier China shutdown and now we’ve entered the pe... Read more

The next supply chain

Pandemic triggered lockdowns and the collapse in economic activity have had profound impacts on global supply chains, with transport operators slashing supply, while some infrastructure providers have struggled to maintain supporting operations. The Coronavirus pandemic has stalled global econ... Read more

Why we lead on technology

The Coronavirus pandemic is forcing businesses to adapt and technology is critical to the success of those adaptations and evolutions, accelerating the digitalisation of the entire freight sector. Metro believe that Blockchain, machine-learning and emerging technologies are the future of inter... Read more

Airports congested in China

On the 20th April we highlighted the new Customs controls that the Chinese government had imposed on exports of PPE and medical equipment into Europe. The danger of congestion has unfortunately been borne out. Shortly after the new regulations were imposed we saw customs brokers raising rates ... Read more

Creating a safe Coronavirus workplace

In a first tentative step out of the lockdown the prime minister has said that those who could not work from home should be "actively encouraged to go to work” from yesterday, in England. Safety of our people and serving our customers effectively is Metro’s primary concerns at this time and w... Read more

The Metro team talk: Andy Brooks

With the UK and continental Europe’s demand for critical medical supplies and equipment to combat COVID-19 likely to persist well into the second half of the year, efficient air freight solutions have never been more vital. Andy Brooks leads Metro’s air and PPE task team. Andy has been wit... Read more

PPE supply chains critical for months

The critical flow of PPE, medical supplies and equipment to combat COVID-19 likely to persist well into the second half of the year, from China, the United States and across Europe. The continuous flow of PPE, medical equipment and products, particularly from China, is set to continue for at l... Read more

World’s largest containership en-route to London

Shipbuilding remains a core national industry for South Korea and the country’s shipping sector is a key supporter of its shipyards, with container shipping line HMM one of the biggest, as the yards support HMM’s aggressive expansion plan, to more than double vessel capacity. HMM’s vesse... Read more

The ‘lockdown’ impact on European transport

Despite the continuing movement of trans-European freight, the lockdowns, border restrictions and economic uncertainty is forcing profound changes in the road freight market that are difficult for many to follow. Mirroring what we’ve seen on the sea and in the air, demand for road transport ... Read more

No sign of China air boom busting

With the UK’s hospitals and care workers just beginning to receive their much-need PPE and medical equipment supplies, we are likely to see the current air freight demand persist for several months, possibly into quarter three, as hospital demand diminishes and requirement for civilian use of t... Read more

Coronavirus highlights need for visibility

The Coronavirus pandemic has illustrated, like no prior crisis, the critical need of end to end visibility for supply chain agility, risk management and contingency planning. While business may endeavour to provide the highest quality (or at least optimum) products at the lowest cost, their gl... Read more

V is for recovery

Container ships move the vast majority of manufactured goods sold globally and shipping executives anticipate volumes declining more than 10% this year due to the continuing Covid-19 crisis, which is a greater decline to the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. Metro work very closely in pa... Read more