The lack of container equipment at Asian origins is so severe that carriers are leaving export cargo on the quay, to ship empty containers back from Europe and the United States. The container shortages are so acute, particularly at the Chinese ports of Qingdao, Xiamen, Ningbo, and Shanghai, that some vessels are leaving Asia without …
Reuters report shows how global container shipping rates have surged to record levels due to spikes in restocking demand in the United States and Europe, container scarcity at export hubs, and changes in freight flows because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Freightos Baltic Global Container Index (FBX), a weighted average of 12 major global container …
With disruption at the Port of Felixstowe branded “a mess”, the national press is now also reporting on global port disruption, as retailers express concerns about product shortages in the run-up to Christmas. As Metro has been reporting regularly in recent weeks, the impact at Felixstowe along with other serious challenges is also having an …
With sea freight rates reaching some of the highest levels ever seen, along with equipment shortages, late vessels and still no guarantee of uplift, some shippers are starting to switch to air, driving up rates on a mode that had been enjoying some stability. The current lack of container line consistency and reliability, is unparalleled, …
Container ships, including the world’s largest, are skipping UK ports entirely, or leaving only partially discharged and without collecting export containers, in what is fast becoming a daily occurrence. COVID-safe working practices and extensive deep-cleaning at shift handovers, continues to cause huge issues at UK ports and in particular at Felixstowe, that have been struggling …
Sea freight rates and surcharges continue to rise on all the primary trade-lanes, up 10% from Asia in the last week, with no signs of softening in the coming weeks, or months. Even with some blanked capacity over Golden Week, capacity on the Asia-Europe trade increased 14% year over year and rates were double the …
The UK’s supply chains are facing unparalleled challenges and some links are buckling under the strain. The following is a transcript of a customer advisory issued by Metro Shipping on Tuesday…….. The COVID pandemic continues to impact global and domestic freight in the most profound ways, slashing air and sea carrier capacity and driving rates …
The start of the working week and the Port of Felixstowe is back in the news, for cancelling empty container restitutions (again), but the challenges facing shippers run much farther afield than Suffolk. The Taiwanese container shipping line Evergreen has issued a customer notice stating that the port (Felixstowe) announced on Sunday that it would …
We reported last week how shipping lines were diverting empty containers away from the Asia-Europe trade-lane, to ply the more lucrative trans-Pacific services, with all the signs that demand could continue well into 2021. With massive and unanticipated demand, the capacity crunch from China to North America has seen carriers sailing full, with shippers struggling …
Shippers through Sydney have faced significant disruption for several months, due to bad weather, congestion and continuing industrial action by longshore workers, which has caused extensive delays to other ports in Australia and further afield in New Zealand. The ongoing congestion has stranded about 50,000 TEU of empty containers in Sydney and shipping lines have …