Due to a decrease in freight rates and the recent dissolution of the 2M alliance between Maersk and MSC, concerns have arisen regarding the stability of existing alliances. At the TPM Conference last month, there were reassurances that existing alliances will remain unchanged. Hapag-Lloyd CEO has also recently issued an announcement saying, “Our alliance is pretty strong and stable, and we have a contract together until 2030.” All this means that shipment services to North American will remain as is.

Air cargo demand has continued to plummet, falling for 11 consecutive months. Experts from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) are projecting a 5.6% drop in air shipment demand for this year, following an 8% decline in 2022. Other market reporting groups indicate that demand has fallen even further, with January’s figures showing a year-over-year drop of 10% to 20%.

Negotiations have started for a new contract between clerical office workers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and the shipping lines and terminal operators, but there are concerns over potential disruptions of cargo flow if talks do not go well.

At the TPM 2023 conference in Long Beach last month, one topic of conversation was for ocean carriers to transition from fossil fuels to decarbonized green fuels. Jeremy Nixon, CEO of Ocean Network Express (ONE), said that the cost of using green fuels will be $2000-3000 per forty-foot container. The average cost of fossil fuel is about $1000 per forty-foot container, so the green fuels will be two to three times more expensive.

The Georgia Port Authority (GPA) discontinued its evening truck hours at the Port of Savannah in February as a result of reduced utilization of evening gate hours as well as decline in volumes. GPA also closed several temporary inland storage yards.

CN Unifor Local 100 and Unifor Council 4000 represents roughly 3600 clerical, mechanical, intermodal, and facility management employees, and they have voted in favour of strike action as early as March 21, 2023.

Workers across France have been protesting all week against pension reforms that would raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. There were 1.28 million people protesting on Tuesday, which was the sixth day of protest this year. Our partners in France are reporting that ports are impacted. Some empty container depots and logistics warehouses are blocked and inaccessible. Some blockades may also limit access routes to the terminals.

The nine ocean carriers that are members of the Digital Container Shipping Association (DCSA) have committed to 50% adoption of an electronic bill of lading (eBL) within 5 years and 100% by 2023. Their commitment accelerates the digitization of original bills of lading.

Zim is adding larger ships to their Southeast Asia to US East Coast expedited ocean service next month. Zim’s eCommerce Baltimore Express (ZXB) started as a fortnightly service last year, but will now become a weekly service by the end of February. This comes as Asian imports to the US East Coast in 2022 have seen modest gains, up 6.2% from 2021.

The Global Liner Performance (GLP) report shows that vessel schedule reliability continues to trend upwards. The report includes data from 34 trade lanes and over 60 carriers.

Global air freight levels for 2022 were 1.6% lower compared to 2019 pre-pandemic levels, according to data released by International Air Transport Association (IATA). 2022 levels were down 8.2% compared to the extraordinary demand in 2021. Capacity in 2022 was 4.5% above 2021, but 9.0% below 2019.

The union locals that represent workers from 36 ports from Maine to Texas have started contract talks with employers before the September 30, 2024 expiry date. Both sides are eager to work on a new contract in the midst of difficult labour-management relations across industries, which includes the U.S. West Coast ports that have been without a contract for 7 months and counting.

Air France-KLM Group continues to invest in fleet renewal by placing a firm order with Airbus for four new A350 freighter aircraft. The new aircraft will replace the airline’s current Boeing 747 freights in 2026.

The continued robust demand for industrial construction in North American has driven up overall costs and material lead times. The construction industry is still feeling the lingering effects of the pandemic.

MSC (Mediterranean Shipping Co.) and Maersk announced that their 10-year 2M Alliance will end in January 2025. The two carriers currently have a complex partnership that covers 30 loops and strings on all major trade lanes.

The ILWU are sending a message to West Coast terminals by taking targeted job actions that disrupt terminal operations. As negotiations enter their ninth month, the longshoremen are strategically limiting the level of disruption to avoid the attention of media and the Biden administration.

According to Dewry’s cancelled sailings tracker, 131 blank sailings have been announced between between Jan 30 – Mar 5 (week 5 to week 9). This is out of a total of 693 scheduled sailings across the major trade routes of Transpacific, Transatlantic and Asia-North Europe & Med.