Category: Supply Chain

China to Europe rail freight services have grown massively since the advent of the COVID pandemic, with volumes surging 29% last year. But with services transiting Russia and Belarus sanctioned and the Ukraine route halted, the equivalent of 1.46 million TEU needs alternative solutions.... Read more

The container shipping lines have been increasing their capacity out of Asia, based on strong demand expectations through 2021 and while the increase of deployed capacity has extended, at least through the first few months of 2022, lines are now reacting to short-term demand fluctuation with canc... Read more

Despite key Chinese ports, including Shenzhen and Shanghai, operating normally, land-side logistics disruption, in the wake of the latest Covid-related lockdowns is inevitable and vessel queues are growing. Queues of container ships outside major Chinese ports are lengthening, despite por... Read more

Following their seven-day lockdown, Shenzhen has reopened for business, but it could take weeks for cargo flows to recover, with vessels queuing and Yantian port throughput down 40%, amid concerns that COVID surges in other regions will affect supply chains, as strict controls, restrictions... Read more

Fuel prices were already on the way up before Russia decided to invade its neighbour and the additional volatility and uncertainty created by the conflict in Ukraine are significant enough to drive oil and fuel prices to levels not seen before. Or at least since the 1970’s relatively. ... Read more

Earlier today authorities in Langfang, which borders Beijing and Dongguan in the southern province of Guangdong imposed immediate seven-day lockdowns, joining Shenzhen, which started a seven day lockdown on Sunday, while the entire province of Jilin has been placed in complete lockdown and Hong K... Read more

Capacity from Asia has shrunk by 22% in a week, as cargo planes that provided much needed capacity and capable of transporting heavy goods, are either sanctioned, grounded or destroyed, while airlines consider longer and more expensive cargo flights from Asia. The European Union joined the Uni... Read more

Effective planning for the receipt of inbound ocean cargo, requires accurate arrival dates, but with schedule reliability at all time lows, the effective management of imports has never been more challenging. Metro’s new ‘Vessel Tracking’ tool links directly with transceivers on b... Read more

Low-sulphur fuel container ship bunker prices have increased by a third since Russia’s move on Ukraine, with bunker surcharges rising around 15% and expected to spike further with crude oil hitting new highs of more than double the price at the beginning of the year. Expect the carriers to c... Read more

From the 1st April 2022, importers, will be expected to pay tax on any plastic packaging over 10 tonnes, that does not contain at least 30% recycled plastic, with penalties for those that fail to pay, declare, or register for the tax. Not a lot of people know that. But there is a potentially h... Read more

When global supply chains finally start to return to some form of normality, which many hope to see in the second half of the year, carriers face more headaches, with an avalanche of empty containers predicted to cause chaos. Who would have thought it? Full year 2021 demand for sea freigh... Read more

The Felicity Ace - which has not sadly sunk - was en-route from Germany to the USA, with 4,000 Volkswagen AG vehicles aboard, when it caught fire near the Azores islands in the Atlantic Ocean last week. The  Portuguese Air Force were the first to arrive at the stricken vessel, air-lifting of... Read more