Welcome Back to Freight Forwarding Weekly!
This humble newsletter is written by a shipping container named Boxy (and Michael, our chief news analyst). Onward…
Today’s issue is sponsored by the FFS Load Board.
TODAY shippers are looking for quotes for:
🚢 2019 Dodge Ram 1500 – Lisbon to Toronto (40′ sea shipping container)
🚚 50 iPhone 13 Pro maxs – Centreville, VA to Karachi, Pakistan
✈️ Gas melting furnace – Shanghai to Cambridge, ON (19,600 kg)
🚢 Camping accessories – South Korea to Penang, Malaysia (5 tonnes)
Can your company service these quotes? See the details on the FFS Load Board here
📈 BY THE NUMBERS: Important numbers impacting freight and logistics
⛽ Diesel: $4.018 / gal (⬇️ from $4.077 last week) – Source: EIA
✈️ Air Cargo Index (Mar ‘23): 173.7 (⬇️ from 181 in Feb ‘23) – Source: FRED
🚢 Global Container Index: $1,576 (⬇️ from $1,599 last week) – Source: Freightos
🌍🌎🌏TOP NEWS HEADLINES: NATO afraid of China’s dominance in European ports
😭NATO rep announced concern for China’s dominance in European container ports
An unnamed NATO official recently said that China’s dominance in Europe’s critical economic infrastructure, including container ports and cargo terminals, could threaten Western security. In the same report from UK-based The Times, a ‘Western intelligence source’ said that “the threat is the control China has over infrastructure that can be used for espionage purposes, such as communications networks, but also to restrict trade via control over shipping.” This is big due to the fact that some of the largest ports in Europe have received heavy financial investment from Chinese companies, including the state-owned shipping firm COSCO and huge private carriers.
Read the story at The Times (archived to get around the paywall)
🔍Q1 2023 Freight Forwarding Market Overview & Outlook by Cathy Morrow Roberson
Logistics Trends & Insights LLC’s Cathy Morrow Roberson has released the Freight Forwarding Market Overview & Outlook for the first quarter of 2023. The outlook is for a continued decline in volumes and pressure on yields for the rest of the year. “Many forwarders are optimistic that a pick-up in demand will occur during the second half of the year, but that depends on how much inventory replenishment is needed,” Roberson wrote. “Forwarders will focus on cost-cutting measures and will include adjusting headcount to volumes and higher yielding cargo.”
Q1 2023 Freight Forwarding Review and Outlook by Logistics Trends & Insights LLC (PDF DOWNLOAD)
🚨 For more supply chain news, you should absolutely be following Cathy @cmroberson06 on Twitter and subscribe to her substack for longer form news and updated versions of the reports.
🦾Canada House of Commons adopts anti-forced labor in supply chains proposal
The Canada House of Commons passed Bill S-211 mandates large companies to report to the Canadian government on parts of their supply chains where modern slavery and forced labor might occur. The legislation will also require companies to report their due-diligence procedures connected to forced labor, including from supply chains tied to the Chinese government’s forced labor among Uyghur Muslims in the Xinjiang autonomous region. Congress in the United States adopted the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which directly targets Xinjiang-based goods.
Wall Street Journal with the story
🛬International air cargo volumes continue to decline, citing March IATA data
The International Air Transport Association announced that air cargo volumes in the month of March 2023 have continued to decline. IATA characterized this month’s decline as “moderate.” Measured in cargo tonne-kilometers (CTKs), IATA reports that global demand fell by 7.7 percent compared to March 2022 (-8.1 percent for int’l operations). This was a slight improvement over the performance in previous months, including in February, and a strong drop in January and December. “Air cargo had a volatile first quarter. In March, overall demand slipped back below pre-COVID-19 levels and most of the indicators for the fundamental drivers of air cargo demand are weak or weakening,” said IATA director general Willie Walsh in a statement on this data.
IATA statement on declining volumes
🤠Surface Transportation Board directs three Class I rails to report till the year’s end
The U.S. Surface Transportation Board has directed three of the four Class I rails in the United States to continue submitting biweekly rail service progress reports to regulators for the rest of 2023. These progress reports are to provide tangible evidence of improvements in rail service. The railroads impacted include BNSF, Union Pacific, and Norfolk Southern. CSX is no longer to do so because the new mega rail system connecting all of North America has met its service targets for the one-year mark. This is noteworthy because the United States is dealing with the aftermath of the East Palestine derailment and the controversy surrounding Norfolk Southern.
Freight Waves report on the STB ruling
🌱California Air Resources Board approves banning new diesel trucks at ports
California Air Resources Board (CARB) approved a proposal called “Advanced Clean Fleets” as a means to prevent further environmental harm surrounding ports. This new proposal now bans new diesel trucks from ports and railyards moving on from 2024. The air resource regulation is a rule that applies to local, state, and federal government vehicles, including fleets owned by a set of a firm that allows annual revenue of about $50 million or more that additionally own, operate, or direct at least one vehicle in California and have a total of 50 ore more vehicles in their fleets.
⚠️Please read these other stories…⚠️
- “Fed hikes interest rates 0.25 percentage point…” – USA Today
- “Californian ports join forces to push data flow between stakeholders” – The Loadstar
- “Labor win could force South Carolina port workers to join union” – The Center Square
- “The Mediterranean ports, magnet of global trade” – We Build Value
- “West Coast Ports Went from Congested Chaos to Alarming Quiet” – Barron’s
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Freight Forwarding Weekly’s chief news analyst Michael McGrady reports this awesome weekly newsletter. Do you have a tip? Feedback? Email us: michael@freightforwarderservices.com.