State of the air freight market
The effective closure of the Red Sea and the Suez Canal to container ships is adding around two weeks to supply chain transit times and creating a backlog of manufacturing components, late shipments and inventory replenishment, with critical consignments reliant on air solutions. While Iran's att...
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Red Sea, garments and eCommerce among factors driving up airfreight rates
Traditionally airfreight rates would soften at this time, as the start of the airline passenger summer season adds significant amounts of belly-hold airfreight capacity on long-haul routes, but pockets of high volumes are pushing rates up.
Globally, the air cargo market is experiencing rising ...
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Strengthening global partnerships: India
Metro’s main board recently completed a multi-city tour across India, as part of a strategy to fortify existing partnerships with key suppliers and to carve out new avenues for growth, by direct engagement with prospective customers.
The visit spanned several major cities including Mumbai an...
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Red Sea update
The last three months of 2023 were some of the worst for liner shipping’s finances in recent years, while early volume indications for this year suggest the coming months could bring stronger trading conditions for shipping lines, especially with the Red Sea diversions and capacity management t...
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TPM and US review
Organised by the Journal of Commerce, TPM (Transpacific Maritime Conference) is the premier global shipping and supply chain conference, attracting senior executives from all areas of the industry.
Held annually in the port city of Long Beach, California, TPM brings together shippers, carriers...
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Air freight’s promising 2024 start continues
The global air freight market’s positive start continued last month with significant growth in demand and a corresponding rise in global spot rates, especially from the Indian Subcontinent, which is out of step with traditional market trends.
Traditionally, air cargo demand and spot rates te...
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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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Red Sea impact on time-critical modes
Shippers’ concerns about Red Sea supply chain delays, plus an early Lunar New Year, pushed up air cargo volumes by 10% in January, but the availability of capacity has kept a lid on spot rates on most routes.
While there has been no definitive immediate increase in air cargo demand due to th...
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Freight industry award finalists
The British International Freight Association (BIFA) is the trade association for the freight, logistics and supply chain management sector. Their annual Freight Service Awards are the industry’s most contested and highly sought trade awards, because peer recognition is the ultimate accolade.
...
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Economic impact of Suez Canal diversions
For the UK and Europe fears are growing that any prolonged denial of access to the Suez Canal could impact faltering economies and derail plans to start cutting interest rates later this year.
Despite the confidence of European and UK central banks, uncertainties about the Red Sea crisis' impa...
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General Red Sea Update
The US and UK carried out eight strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen on Monday, as the Iran-aligned armed group continues to target commercial shipping in the Red Sea, with no sign that the conflict will de-escalate anytime soon.
While many hoped that the situation in the Red Sea might be a shor...
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Red Sea Crisis; Situation Report, Wednesday 17th Jan
Despite coalition military action, Houthi rebels continue to attack commercial shipping and with container shipping line’ schedules showing Cape of Good Hope routing for vessels into early February and beyond, it is clear that they do not expect short-term access through the Suez Canal and Red ...
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