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News Desk


www.bifa.org Ian Matheson, from Impress Communications, reviews some recent news that might impact on Members’ business


Container shipping reliability falls again


ON THE OCEAN Global container shipping schedule reliability dropped to 44.6% in December 2020, according to Sea- Intelligence, a decline of 31.7 percentage points compared with December 2019. This meant that for the fifth consecutive month, global schedule reliability was the lowest across all months since the benchmark was introduced in 2011. There was a similar trend in the average delay for late vessel arrivals, which reached 5.74 days in December.


Due to the problems besetting the container shipping sector capacity, some logistics groups are chartering their own tonnage to provide customers with guaranteed space in an ultra-tight sea freight market, especially from China to Europe.


Michelin Group has joined a growing number of global brands committing to using a sail-powered carbon-free shipping alternative for its products. It has signed a letter of commitment for shipping containers of its tyres with NEOLINE, a start- up planning to build two freighters


4


that will use sails for their main propulsion.


At the time of writing, freight forwarders predicted the usual slack in cargo transport demand during and just after the Chinese New Year holiday was unlikely to materialise this year. Backlogs in filling factory orders were keeping many Chinese factories in production despite the holiday.


GOING OVERLAND From March 1, Low Emission Zone (LEZ) emissions standards for most of Greater London became tougher for heavier vehicles, matching the standards that are already in operation in the central London Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ). Vehicles that do not meet the new Euro VI standards will have to pay a daily charge up to £300 to drive within the LEZ.


IN THE AIR The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has released data for global air freight markets showing that demand for air cargo decreased by 10.6% in 2020, compared with 2019. It was the


largest drop in year-on-year demand since IATA started to monitor cargo performance in 1990, outpacing the 6% fall in global trade in goods.


Global airfreight rates cooled sequentially over the course of January as a protracted and robust peak season wound to a close, according to the Baltic Exchange. However, year-to-year comparisons show global rates remain well above historical peaks, with the data showing unusual volatility and uncertainty exacerbating challenges for shippers and requiring new approaches to supply chain planning and budgeting.


When the deadline for applications closed in February for the UK government’s scheme to create at least 10 freeports, Heathrow Airport and an East Midlands consortium were among around 30 bidders that had applied.


ON THE QUAYSIDE The Port of Felixstowe has completed an upgrade to its infrastructure to accommodate larger ro-ro vessels, which includes the lengthening of No.3 ro-ro berth


and the replacement of the previous hydraulic ramp at No.4 ro-ro berth with a larger floating linkspan.


The Port of Southampton is upgrading and reinforcing over 400 m of quayside to support its project cargo and ro-ro operations, as well as the new cruise terminal.


The City of Antwerp and the City of Bruges have reached an agreement to merge their ports in an agreement that marks the start of a unification process that is expected to take a year to finalise. Once completed, the ports will operate under the name Port of Antwerp-Bruges.


IN BUSINESS End consumers in B2C and B2B environments now have Amazon-like expectations around the arrival of products, leaving shippers and their logistics service providers grappling with a new reality in which approximate delivery timeframes simply do not work in today’s “I want it yesterday” consignee mindset.


A £20 million SME Brexit Support Fund to help small businesses with changes to trade rules was announced in mid-February. Traders will be able to apply for a grant of up to £2,000 to pay for practical support for importing and exporting; it will also help businesses to prepare for the implementation of import controls which come into force from April and July.


March 2021


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