FBJ 4 FREIGHT BUSINESS JOURNAL


CONTACTS SALES


JOHN SAUNDERS - PUBLISHER Tel: +44 (0)151 427 6800 Fax: +44 (0)151 427 1796 Mobile: +44 (0)7932 102026 john.saunders@f j-online.com


RAY GIRVAN Tel: +44 (0)1691 718 045


EDITORIAL


CHRIS LEWIS - EDITOR +44 (0)7778 106433


chris.lewis@f j-online.com MIKE BRYANT PHIL HASTINGS


CIRCULATION


Tel: +44 (0)151 427 6800 circulation@f j-online.com


FBJ boasts the most informative and authoritative source of information with unrivalled in-depth knowledge of the rapidly changing freight business environment.


By Chris Lewis


The new Conservative Government, fresh from its landslide victory, may like to have us believe that Brexit is now a done deal and that it is only a matter of time before one is put in place. Things may appear to have gone quiet on the Brexit front, but the reality is that there is still everything to play for and we still have very little clarity on what Brexit will ultimately look like. Will the UK end up with a Canada-style deal in which its relationship with the European Union becomes more arms-length? Or will we aſt er all opt for close integration with the EU, a brexit so light that we scarcely notice it? Either route has political and economic pitfalls and it’s by no means clear what Boris Johnson’s intentions are. Even the timescale is open to doubt. The PM may huff and puff saying that the December 2020 deadline is not negotiable but he knows, just as the rest of us do, that such a tight deadline would leave a lot of unfi nished business.


Brexit hasn’t exactly gone away, but with a clear result from the election on 12 December the freight industry does at least have a reasonable idea of the future direction of travel. It can at last begin to think of some other important issues, not least of which is the new sulphur limits for shipping fuel that came into force at the beginning of this year. The sharp increase in fuel prices and the associated hike in ferry and freight rates is an unwelcome New Year present for shippers and truck operators. However, as the Global Shipping Forum points out, it should be no more than a blip as the shipping industry and fuel suppliers get their heads round the requirement for low-sulphur fuel. As with any new product, the cost of low sulphur fuel should start to come down as it becomes the market norm. That is, of course, if the shipping industry’s customers allow it. Extra vigilance will be needed to ensure that the recent spike in fuel prices and surcharges is not allowed to become the new normal.


ADVERTISEMENT PRODUCTION


LORRAINE CHRISTIAN Tel: +44 (0)151 427 6800 lorraine.christian@f j-online.com


ANDREA CAZZOLATO Tel: +44 (0)151 427 6800 andrea@f j-online.com


Meanwhile, it is back to business for the ports industry – or, at any rate, discussion in the industry need no longer be dominated by Brexit matters. As the British Ports Association said in its annual New Year’s message, sustainability could overtake Brexit as main focus for the industry in 2020, As BPA points out, 2020 is the year of the sulphur cap and the focus on air emissions from ports and shipping will continue to grow. Shipping doesn’t have the greatest reputation for cleanliness among the general public, despite the fact that it is by far the least carbon-emitting form of transport per tonne-mile of cargo shiſt ed. Perhaps it’s because the pollution that shipping does create tends to be visible, whereas the noxious gases emitted by planes, trucks, cars and even trains are out of sight, out of mind. Disasters such as the Exxon Valdez or even - if you’re of my generation - the Torrey Canyon, linger long in the memory. The general age and grubbiness of much of our port infrastructure probably doesn’t help either. Still, there is plenty of good work going on to cut the industry’s overall carbon footprint – not just the propulsion of the ships themselves but initiatives like the port of Dunkerque’s recently unveiled cold ironing scheme.


HEAD OFFICE


FREIGHT BUSINESS JOURNAL


Saunders Associates Ltd Station House Mersey Road Liverpool UK L17 6AG


Tel: +44 (0)151 427 6800 Fax: +44 (0)151 427 1796 Email: info@f j-online.com Web: www.f j-online.com


It is possible to read too much into headline fi gures and global reports – which do not always relate to what people are experiencing on the ground – or in the air, for that matter. IATA’s airfreight statistics have suggested for over a year now that capacity is outstripping demand by a considerable margin – but try telling that to many UK forwarders who are struggling to fi nd space on fl ights. Very oſt en, there is a time lag between capacity providers taking action and the market reacting and this appears to be happening now. Air services have been reduced, but meanwhile demand has picked up – or at any rate it is decreasing more slowly – and this now seems to be creating something of a squeeze, at least in the UK. Many forwarders in Ireland will tell of a similar situation, not least because many of the carriers in that market run reduced winter schedules. Looking on the bright side, a squeeze in airfreight demand is viewed by economists as one of the fi rst signs of a recovering world economy. Not much help for a forwarder trying to get an urgent shipment on its way, perhaps, but encouraging for the rest of us.


As the defi nitive publication within the sea, air, road and rail freight sectors, each issue includes regular news and analysis, in-depth coverage discovering the business decisions behind the news stories, shipper and exporter reports, opinion, geographical features, political and environmental issues.


If you have any stories or letters which should be of interest or any feedback on FBJ, please contact our editor Chris Lewis - +44 (0)208 6450666 chris.lewis@f j-online.com


next issue >> Project and Automotive.


circulation >> Our next issue will include features on: Ireland, Heavy Liſt &


For further details contact: John Saunders - +44 (0) 151 427 6800 john.saunders@f j-online.com


To guarantee your personal copy of FBJ please register by emailing


your details to circulation@f j-online.com or fax back the address cover sheet included with this issue.


Issue 1 2020 - Freight Business Journal From the Editor


///NEWS


FBJ is the only UK and one of the few pan-European Multimodal newspapers. The comments we have received prove there is still room for a hard copy publication within the freighting industry. You don’t have to look at a screen all day!


Perhaps it’s also because we’ve been measuring everything wrongly. As data analyst Clive has just pointed out, the real limitation on aircraſt capacity is volume, not weight. Yet the airfreight industry still persists in using a kilo-based metric for measuring cargo capacity.


A small piece of political good news from across the water – Northern Ireland’s Stormont Assembly has agreed to sit again, aſt er a hiatus of three years in the wake of the disastrous ‘Cash for Ash’ scheme. The move has been welcomed by the logistics industry. Vital concerns should get addressed and it could unlock much-needed investment in infrastructure. However, one has to be conscious of the fact that the sector will be joining a long queue of other industries and interest-groups with similarly pressing concerns. However, with just a few months in which to sort out a viable solution for Brexit on the Ireland of Ireland, the reconvening of the province’s government has come not a moment too soon.


We’ve said it before and no doubt we’ll say it again before 2020 is out – expect the unexpected. The New Year had scarcely begun before China found itself in the grip of the corona virus outbreak, centred on the major industrial and transport hub of Wuhan. And while some of the media and oil and stock market reaction has been a touch hysterical, there’s no doubt that it will have a signifi cant eff ect on global supply chains in the short term, at least. But the freight and logistics industry will take the problems in its stride and fi nd a workaround – as it always does.


However, a better illustration of the global supply chain occurred much closer to home than China. A container train derailment at Eastleigh, just outside Southampton, has severely disrupted freight and passenger services in and out of one of the country’s busiest ports – the situation hardly helped by the scheduled weekend closure of the city’s main motorway to allow a bridge to be demolished. It was apparently not possible to reschedule the bridge work without enormous expense – though one has to wonder if the knock-on eff ect of the closures to the UK’s supply chain has been fully- costed.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24