Category: General

Global demand for ocean freight container shipping has surged to unprecedented levels, surpassing even the peak during the Covid pandemic and comes when available capacity is already strained due to diversions around Africa, leading to concerns that any peak season demand could be calamitous. ... Read more

On Friday, a faulty update to Microsoft software by cyber-security firm Crowdstrike, saw global supply chain operations significantly disrupted, with the fallout expected to take weeks to fully resolve. Thousands of flights were grounded or delayed at major air freight hubs in Europe, Asia, an... Read more

Container shipping lines have announced significant rate hikes on all ex-Asia trade lanes, due to increased demand and increasing equipment challenges in more origins and it would be prudent to expect more of the same. Effective capacity to North Europe has decreased by 5% compared to a year a... Read more

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... Read more

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... Read more

2023 was supposed to be the year that global supply chains bounced back from pandemic lockdowns and factory shutdowns, trade wars, tariffs and war in Europe, but now container shipping is disrupted by attacks in the Red Sea and restrictions on the Panama Canal. The COVID pandemic and its after... Read more

UK manufacturers continue to face a challenging operating environment, with stretched supply chains, disrupted production schedules and increasing component and raw material prices. The manufacturing sector saw growth slow down last month, with surging material costs and staff shorta... Read more

After a break of more than two years the UK freight industry’s only dedicated conference and exhibition - Multimodal - has returned to Birmingham’s NEC centre and, as it is just down the road, we’ve popped in for a look around. While the various COVID lockdowns and restrictions played ou... Read more

Sixty five years ago saw the beginning of containerisation, with the inaugural voyage of the first container ship, the Sea Land Ideal X on the 26th April 1956. Today, despite its best efforts, the container shipping industry is swamped by the continuing deluge of pandemic and lockdown related ... Read more

In a recent survey, reported by the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS), 41% of firms said that they have found “new and better” suppliers to work with as a direct result of coronavirus. The survey also found that 57% found the outbreak an “incentive” to ma... Read more

Attracting talented young people to start a career in logistics is an industry wide issue, which Metro has addressed by engaging directly with regional universities and introducing the logistics and supply chain sector to annual cohorts of undergraduates. With the opportunity to experience a wide... Read more

Metro’s outsourcing services ensure that we can take care of the supply chain so you can focus on your business, with Ben and the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) team being a crucial component in these operations.   Graduating with a degree in geography, Ben worked in the custom... Read more