COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc on the world, and its most recent victim is none other than Shanghai Pudong International Airport.  With the newest COVID-19 outbreak and 5 cargo workers testing positive, authorities have put a screeching halt to freight operations at China’s largest cargo airport. Cancelled flights and disrupted customs clearance processes have resulted in higher freight rates and even more pressure on still recovering supply chains.  According to health authorities, 143 close contacts and 942 secondary contacts of those infected have been quarantined and tested. W ..read more

Global container shipping companies generated a staggering 1500% YoY of 2020 According to Drewry Maritime Research, the container shipping companies will collectively make $100 billion in operating income in 2021, nearly as much as Apple Inc in a typical year,  provided that the freight rates are still surging. Furthermore, AP Moller-Maersk, the world’s biggest shipping line, was expected to make ~$14.5 billion in operating profits, stated by the recent company’s financial report. Due to extremely high freight rates and severe port congestion, the serious shortage of containers has put a ..read more

The international shipping market share of non-alliance services on the transpacific is higher than both THE Alliance and 2M. It is the greatest change in the international shipping market that has taken place in recent years. In the past decades, large international shipping groups, 2M, Ocean Alliance and THE Alliance, controlled the market. 2M is the grouping of Maersk and MSC, Ocean Alliance is made up of CMA CGM, Cosco and Evergreen, while The Alliance consists of Hapag-Lloyd, HMM, ONE and Yang Ming. All three international shipping alliances have experienced a decrease in market share sin ..read more

The time of producing a shipping container is insignificant due to the highly automated procedure including assembling the steel walls and drying the paint. According to the data from Drewry, factories have produced 3,368,000TEU worth of equipment in the first half of the year; that is, manufacturing ~18,700 shipping containers per day. Who makes shipping containers? Shipping containers are virtually manufactured in China, and 8 out of every 10 shipping containers are made by the main manufacturers, CIMC, Dong Fang and CXIC. In China, due to the support of the policy, the Chinese factories are ..read more

It’s the second year of experiencing extreme external disruption and unpredictability in the freight market! As consumer spending habits are still heavily online, the transportation network has had no time to rest.  Combine an influx in volume with the already overwhelmed shipping industry, and it turns into more congestion and extended delays. And Chicago is just one of the cities experiencing this as this peak shipping season begins.  Chicago’s Rail Congestion  Railroads are experiencing severe congestion: UP had 25 miles and BNSF had 22 miles of trains just stuck and sitting ..read more

Congestion is a problem all forwarders know is plaguing current supply chains, but with peak season and Christmas a few months away, everything is pointing to more bad news to come.  The Port of Los Angeles has reached its limits and then some throughout these few months, now, it looks like the major port has hit its breaking point. Conditions for anchorages, terminal yards, railways, and warehouses are deteriorating across the board. Average waiting time and cargo dwell time has lengthened, contributing to more delays and congestions for the port.  In July, container throughput for ..read more

Shanghai Pudong Airport (PVG), the largest cargo airport in China, has experienced an unprecedented crisis with widespread delays and flight cancellations due to the counter-attack of the pandemic.  Shanghai International Airport Service (SIAS) suspended ramp operations after a positive case was detected, and all staff were sent for testing or into quarantine. “But Shanghai Pudong Airport is not closed, all terminals and flights remain operating,” according to the concerned authority. “In view of the spread of the pandemic, we’re temporarily restricting the acceptance of all cargo in Shan ..read more

Losing contact with a shipment’s location has proven to be detrimental in the shipping process. The shipment may be stuck at a port, unable to leave. Or it may be stuck in an unmoving boat for 106 days. Even worse, it might have just gotten lost. That’s why being able to track freight shipment is so important.  Why is freight tracking important?  The short answer: people want to know where their shipments are. The shipping process can be unpredictable, and anything can happen. Being able to track shipments can alleviate worries and allow shippers to prepare contingency plans.  H ..read more

Maersk, one of the world-famous freight shipping companies, introduced a new contract product that avoids the reliance on the accurate forecasting of weekly and monthly allocation in the international freight shipping market, challenging the long-held belief that accurate forecasting from shippers leads to better capacity utilization for the international freight shipping market. Uptaking the new product helps Maersk reach 10 percent of the total international freight shipping contract volume and also gives shippers a way to secure the capacity within a higher price than the amount paid under ..read more

As the days of China’s upcoming Golden Week holiday in early October come closer, shippers need to prepare for another week of struggles. Similar to Lunar New Year, various companies and factories will close for the week, and only resume business the following week.  Like Lunar New Year, importers will try to speed up production and ship their containers out of China before manufacturing factories shut down. The rush usually begins 3-4 weeks before Golden Week, and the surge in demand tightens space capacity and increases rates.  Blank sailings, or void sailings, are common occurrenc ..read more