Category: Supply Chain

Demand for imports from Asia and the Indian subcontinent (ISC) continues to outstrip shipping line capacity, in a sign that with inventories low, second-half volumes are unlikely to let up, keeping pressure on a global supply chain infrastructure that is already buckling. The UK’s primary co... Read more

Driver hours have been temporarily legally extended and the government launches secret visa talks for foreign lorry drivers, amid a staff shortage that threatens to undermine supply chains. Over 45,000 HGV driver tests are outstanding at DVSA as a result of the COVID-19 lockdowns, while 79... Read more

The early start of the sea freight peak season and its likely extension through 2021 and possibly up to the Lunar New Year in 2022 means the chance of current market rates softening significantly are slender, particularly as disruption in any region creates more congestion and... Read more

Containers continue to be in short supply - particularly in the places where they’re needed most - with wait times varying region to region, country to country and port to port. And even the world’s biggest shipping lines are not sure when their containers will be available, or where. Desp... Read more

The Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), the official body responsible for representing and assisting Indian exporters, has submitted a formal request to the Indian government to invest in developing its own shipping line, in response to ‘exorbitant’ freight rates. As we have ... Read more

Economists are convinced that global sea freight demand will continue to outstrip container shipping capacity for the rest of this year and into next year, which is good news for the shipping lines’ bottom line, but not so much for shippers, who continue to pay premiums in order to get their pr... Read more

Lithium-Ion (Li-ion) batteries are a type of rechargeable battery that’s used commonly in electronic devices such as smartwatches and mobile phones, with demand for larger Li-ion batteries to power electric vehicles, but there are significant challenges in transporting these hazardous products.... Read more

While air freight demand from Asia and the Far East to the US has remained high, buoyed by eCommerce and inventory replenishment, demand into Europe has not been so strident in June, but even so rates are now beginning to rise. May and June are normally a slack period and the air freight marke... Read more

Vessel schedule reliability continues to struggle, falling to 38.8% in May, with the lines blaming congestion for the average 5.86 day delay of late vessels The latest schedule reliability statistics continue to reflect an ocean freight infrastructure that has struggled under the weight of inc... Read more

There cannot have been many weeks when we were either warning of impending rate increases, highlighting recent increases, or explaining why further rises were likely. And while we have protected our customers from the worst excesses of the lines, this article by Mike Wackett for The&nbs... Read more

Global supply chains have been under pressure since the outbreak of COVID-19 at the beginning of last year, highlighting deficiencies that have resulted in disruption, delays and rising costs. Along with a roller coaster journey from start to finish. In time, most of the congestion and di... Read more

The new containership order-book has been in decline since 2008 but, driven by new carrier confidence, activity increased significantly in the fourth quarter of 2020, with a further surge of nearly two million teu of orders in early 2021, meaning that new ships on order equal 18% o... Read more