News & Insights

Data from April gave the container shipping industry its first glimpse of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, with April 2020 global volumes plummeting 16.9%, compared to April 2019. And while the financial implications of such a drop are serious for the lines, their effective volume reductio... Read more

When airlines grounded passenger services as the Coronavirus spread, they removed almost 50% of the world’s air freight capacity. Responding to the global need for PPE, many airlines subsequently redeployed passenger (PAX) aircraft to boost belly-hold cargo capacity, while others ripped out the... Read more

In June 2020, an EU Select Committee report found that frictionless UK-Ireland border through the use of technology may not be possible, as they only have the capacity to mitigate rather than to eliminate friction arising from customs checks and processes. The new customs declaration system (C... Read more

From 1st July duty deferment users, and EORI-registered importers who pay cash or an equivalent and do not hold a duty deferment account, will need to make payments of customs duties and import VAT by the relevant due date. As part of the package of measures put in place to support businesses ... Read more

Head of Finance, Laurence Burford, joined Metro directly from academia, graduating in Law and Biomedical sciences from Staffordshire and Durham Universities. Failure to comply with regulatory requirements can have financial, legal and reputational consequences for businesses. Laurence joine... Read more

With six months to go before the U.K. finally breaks its ties with the European Union, and hardly any progress made in the trade negotiations business is preparing for the possibility that the UK will leave the EU without a deal. For manufacturers, this includes rebuilding stockpiles. With ove... Read more

In spite of fears that container carriers could suffer catastrophic losses and go bankrupt en-masse, because of the Coronavirus pandemic impact on global trade, shipping lines are now enjoying the highest spot rates in 5 years on some trade lanes and could well end the year with big profits. J... Read more

Responding to the UK’s plan for light-touch customs processes for importing EU goods, post-Brexit, the European Union confirmed it will enforce full customs and regulatory checks. We review the steps that will need to be conducted to export goods to mainland EU from 1st January 2021 - It’â... Read more

The Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent global lockdown has stalled and frozen international transport and the infrastructure that supports it, exposing vulnerabilities in the supply chains of raw materials, components and finished goods. The current global supply chains of many businesses are fr... Read more

The UK car industry's trade body says one in six jobs are at risk of redundancy without help from the government in restarting production. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) says that one in six jobs are at risk, without help from the government including emergency funding, ... Read more

Extensive business continuity plans are our bulwark against business interruptions, in a whole host of guises. In many ways the coronavirus outbreak is the test for which our team has been planning and preparing for years. Unlike any crisis we may have considered, though, this one has new e... Read more

Sea freight rates have held up strongly on the Asia–Europe trade in both directions despite weak volume, with export prices performing especially well for the shipping lines. Carriers have tightly managed capacity through the coronavirus pandemic, blanking an extensive number of sailings on ... Read more