How can an exclusively trucking company turn to rail? What incentives need to be in place to experiment with combined transport? German rail association Allianz pro-Schiene has the answer-and it is simplified access via digitalisation. That is how the road logistics company Kroop & Co. Transport + Logistik GmbH transported its first container by rail in late December.

Kroop, based in Hamburg, has been a traditional road transport company with no rail experience. However, in late December 2022, it decided to give rail a chance. For the first time, it set up the transport of a container between the DUSS Hamburg-Billwerder terminal and Nuremberg by train instead of by truck.

“We booked the transport digitally and are very excited about the handling. Combined transport is an interesting alternative to truck transport for us because it is more environmentally friendly and saves us a good 20 per cent of the costs in this specific case,” commented Alexander Kähler, head of the local transport and container transport department at Kroop.

Ocean carriers do not expect consumer demand in North Europe to recover until at least March, when they hope container freight rates from Asia will also rebound.

Low rates, down to $750 per 20ft and $1,000 per 40ft from China to North European ports, are being touted in the market either directly through local carrier offices, or via forwarding agents, valid until 1 March.

Moreover, for the immediate period after the Chinese New Year, when cargo prospects are looking particularly soft, one of the biggest carriers is offering shippers an FAK rate of $550 per 20ft from Dalian to Felixstowe for a shipment window of 1 to 14 February.

To qualify for this rate, a booking must be made by 15 January.

The container spot market indices are still not reflecting the ‘market’ rates to North Europe, although Xeneta’s XSI was the closest this week, as its component slid by another 8%, to $1,885 per 40ft.

“The supply of shipping space was abundant and the marketing strategy of carriers was still based on soliciting cargo, therefore the market rate dropped,” says the Ningbo Containerized Freight Index (NCFI) weekly commentary.

However, there was better news this week for carriers serving the Asia-Mediterranean tradelane, where “increased demand” prompted 2M partners MSC and Maersk to reinstate a sailing on the AE11/Jade loop that had been voided.

Spot rates on the route, as recorded by Drewry’s WCI index, declined by 4% this week, but remain significantly higher than North European rates, at $2,821 per 40ft.

Meanwhile, on the transpacific, carriers will be encouraged by the easing of inflation, down to an annualised rate of 6.5%, which is expected to result in the Federal Reserve being less aggressive with its interest rate hikes and thus encourage consumers to start spending again.

Container spot rates from Asia to the US west coast appear to have bottomed out, at between $1,300 and $2,000 per 40ft, as carriers cancelled half their sailings on the route ahead of the CNY.

And on the more robust Asia-US east coast tradelane, spot rates seem to be levelling out at around $2,800 to $3,600 per 40ft.

On the transatlantic, the impact of carriers deploying extra capacity and the start of services by market entrants is, unsurprisingly, putting pressure on freight rates.

Hi everyone,I’m a freight forwarder in China.We’re professional in FCL,Break Bulk (also air freight) from China to Pakistan,southeast Asia and Middle East etc.Pls contact me if you have any inquiries.Below pic are our successful cases for you ref.

 My whatsapp:+86 13650691075

https://youtu.be/UfP6V7ObFIA

Flexport is to cut 20% of its jobs, with impacted people receiving emails in the next few hours in Europe and North America, and tomorrow in Asia.

A letter to employees from co-CEOs Dave Clark and Ryan Petersen began with: “We begin the new year with more optimism than ever about Flexport’s future.”

But it went on to say: “While we are looking forward to what’s to come in 2023, we must also make hard decisions necessary to set us up for long-term success.

“We are overall in a good position, but are not immune to the macroeconomic downturn that has impacted businesses around the world. Our customers have been impacted by these challenging conditions, resulting in a reduction to our volume forecasts through 2023.

“Lower volumes, combined with improved efficiencies as a result of new organisational and operational structures, means we are overstaffed in a variety of roles across the company.”

The letter added that the company would reduce in size, impacting about 20% of its global workforce, some 600 people, under the restructuring.

These are just a few examples of new requests of clients from across the world. To get more fresh inquiries and\or best quotes click here or push the «request management» button in the left menu. 

Ocean carriers are slowing-down their ships and deploying extra tonnage on more robust routes as they endeavour to soak up surplus capacity.

And the transatlantic tradelane, which has so far avoided the worst of the freight rate collapse contagion affecting export services from Asia, is seen as a good option.

Maersk advised today it would be adding three extra ships during the first quarter on the North Europe and Mediterranean to US east coast and Gulf coast loops it operates together with its vessel-sharing partner MSC within their 2M alliance agreement.

It said during Q1 it would add one ship to the 2M North Europe to US east coast and Gulf coast TA1/NEUATL1 and TA3/NEUATL3 loops, and one to the Mediterranean to US east and Gulf coast TA6/MSC Pearl string.

Mearsk said: “Slowing global demand has left us with extra capacity that we can use to improve the reliability of our services.

“With these changes we can reduce schedule gaps and slidings, boost weekly coverage and allow for more robust supply chain planning,” it added.

And the company was keen to emphasise the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from the slower service speeds of the ships. It said this would “help us meet our goal of achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions across our business by 2040”.

Nonetheless, extra capacity on the route will add to the downward pressure on freight rates on the transatlantic, which has begun to see weekly declines of up to 10% across the spot market indices, to levels of around $6,500 per 40ft.

In June last year, spot rates on the route were close to $10,000 per 40ft, with rates boosted by a combination of a capacity crunch, equipment shortages and port congestion in both North Europe and the US.

https://youtu.be/bPrbyA0SpNY

More than 150 foreign trade routes connect the global.Nansha port of China is to build an international shipping logistics hub.

Against a backdrop of an increasingly pessimistic cargo demand outlook, ocean carriers are said to be in talks with shipyards to defer delivery dates for some of the 2.3m teu of newbuild tonnage due this year.

Shipbuilding contracts usually incorporate a clause to facilitate the pushback of completion by six months or more, depending on the stage of construction and pressure from other orders.

But with the container liner industry facing several challenging quarters, the yards may be quite relaxed about rescheduling delivery dates and the postponements will focus on smaller sizes. These are now competing for employment with tonnage usurped by the arrival of newbuild 24,000 teu ULCVs on the Asia-North Europe trade.

And shipping line procurement officers have been instructed to halt orders for new containers and return as much leased equipment as possible to ease the huge storage costs from the empty-container mountains overwhelming depots around the world.

Indeed, container depots will remain overstocked in the first quarter, according to online shipping container platform, Container xChange. CEO Christian Roeloffs added: “There is just not enough depot space to accommodate all the containers.

“With the further release of container inventory into the market, there will be added pressure on depots in the coming months. This will be a key challenge for some and a competitive advantage for others in the business, especially in China because of the empty container positioning there.”