Welcome Back to Freight Forwarding Weekly!
This humble newsletter is written by a shipping container named Boxy (and Michael, our chief news analyst). 🌱Singapore, LA-LB ports team up on decarbonization
📈 BY THE NUMBERS: Important numbers impacting freight and logistics
⛽ Diesel: $4.077/ gal (⬇️ from $4.116 last week) – Source: EIA
✈️ Air Cargo Index (Mar ‘23): 173.7 (⬇️ from 181 in Feb ‘23) – Source: FRED
🚢 Global Container Index: $1,599 (⬆️ from $1,406 last week) – Source: Freightos
🌍🌎🌏TOP NEWS HEADLINES: Singapore, LA, Long Beach agree on a green corridor
🌱Singapore, Los Angeles, and Long Beach ports sign MOU on a green corridor
In an international move to boost decarbonization and improve digital sharing, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, the Port of Los Angeles, and the Port of Long Beach – with support from the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group – signed a memorandum of understanding that would establish a green and digital shipping corridor between the twin San Pedro Bay terminals and the world’s second busiest port. This MOU supports decarbonization in the international maritime industry and improves trading efficiency through trade digitization. C40 will serve as the facilitator of the green and digital shipping corridor, according to a joint press release.
This would support the cities, ports, and stakeholders touched upon by this MOU. Gene Seroka, the executive director of Port of Los Angeles, said in the same press statement that “no single port or organization can tackle the challenge of decarbonizing the supply chain alone, no matter how innovative their technology or robust their efforts.” John Kerry, the U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, said, “today’s MOU is one of those pieces of good news!” Teo Eng Dih, the chief executive of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, also lauded the new efforts.
Joint press statement published at the Port of Los Angeles // The Maritime Executive report
🤝West Coast port employers reportedly reaches an agreement with ILWU Local 13
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 13 announced that it has reached a “tentative agreement” on what they call “certain key issues.” No final deal has been reached, according to media accounts on the news. The Pacific Maritime Association represents the employers at Pacific Coast ports from San Diego to Seattle-Tacoma in Washington. ILWU 13 and the PMA have been negotiating for over a year. 22.000 longshore workers are employed at 29 Pacific US ports, including the San Pedro Bay sister ports at Los Angeles and Long Beach.
S&P Journal of Commerce // hat tip to Cathy Morrow Roberson’s Freight Forward newsletter
🫣CA Rep. Garamendi introduces Ocean Shipping Competition Enforcement Act
Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA) introduced the Ocean Shipping Competition Enforcement Act, which grants the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) the right to block carrier agreements among foreign and domestic ocean carriers and the operators of marine terminals that would be viewed as potentially anti-competitive. Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD) is the bipartisan sponsor of the Ocean Shipping Competition Enforcement Act. Industry and trade organizations have said that they would support such legislation. Groups include the National Industrial Transportation League, the California Association of Port Authorities, the National Milk Producers Federation, and the US Dairy Export Council. FMC commissioners Max M. Vekich and Carl W. Bentzel said that they are in support of the proposal. “I commend Congressman Garamendi for taking a bold step,” Vekich said in a joint statement with Garamendi and fellow FMC commissioner Bentzel.
Press release from Garamendi’s office
✈️Ted Stevens Anchorage Int’l is now the third busiest in the world for air cargo
Earlier this month, Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport announced that it is now the third busiest airport in the world for air cargo volumes. The largest airport in Alaska surpassed Shanghai Pudong Airport (PVG) to claim the cargo slot. In 2022, a volume of 3,461,603 metric tons of cargo transited Anchorage’s runways. ACI World tracks volume cargo data regularly.
🚢Maersk blocks shipping to Sudan
Shipping giant AP Moller-Maersk announced that it is blocking shipments to Sudan amid a rise in violence impacting Africa’s third-largest country by area. Maersk told stakeholders in a public statement that “these current circumstances mean that we have stopped taking new bookings for now until the situation improves.” The news comes after the State Department evacuated the US Embassy in Khartoum, the capital city of Sudan. Sudan and the country’s people have fallen victim to extreme infighting between rival military factions – the government-based Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary force once tied to the government.
CNN on Sudan // Maersk report at NASDAQ
⚠️Other stories we’re reading, so read them…⚠️
- “Which Inflation Measures Matter?” – The New York Times
- “The IMO must win a consensus on carbon or shipping will face chaos” – TradeWinds
- “Samsung Electronics hits SM Line with FMC complaint” – Container-News.com
- “Buttigieg continuing push for rail legislation” – WTOV 9
- “Europe falls below pre-pandemic levels” – Port Technology International
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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.