Newsletter – January 22, 2024

AIR FREIGHT UPDATES

EVA Air Pilots Vote To Go On Strike Over Lunar New Year
simpleflying.com
EVA Air pilots, represented by the Taoyuan City Pilots Professional Union, have voted to strike. The union initiated the voting process on December 22, 2023, with it ending on January 21. By January 18, the union stated that it expected its members to approve the labor action, with the strike being confirmed a day after the vote had ended. The planned strike is going to happen around the upcoming Lunar New Year. Read more here.

Retail’s Red Sea move feeding airfreight volumes?
aircargonews.net
Signs are starting to emerge that retail shippers are sending more goods by airfreight as the Red Sea crisis continues, but the next few weeks will determine whether there is a real shift from ocean freight to airfreight, according to Xeneta.
Niall van de Wouw, Xeneta chief airfreight officer, said: “When the Red Sea crisis escalated in December we stated that, once the impact starts to be felt in airfreight, things could happen very quickly. Read more here.

Charter sector climbs high amid challenging aviation outlook
aircargoweek.com
The charter sector finds itself navigating a complex landscape marked by a confluence of challenges: global trade dynamics, geopolitical uncertainties, fluctuating fuel costs, and the persistent issue of overcapacity.
With this backdrop, rates within the charter market have experienced fluctuations over the past year, which was expected, although rates climbed higher than expected during the peak season. The surge placed pressure on customers, impacting their budgetary considerations and prompting a reassessment of their logistical strategies, although trade remained strong. Read more here.

OCEAN FREIGHT UPDATES

‘Nervousness’ as container shortage starts to impact Indian exporters
theloadstar.com
Apart from rocketing freight rates, Indian exporters face another supply chain challenge linked to the Red Sea crisis: equipment availability.
A shortage of empty containers is building at major container ports and hinterland locations, freight forwarder sources told The Loadstar.
They say equipment pressure is more pronounced at the ports of Nhava Sheva and Mundra, which together handle the lion’s share of India’s containerised ocean trade. Read more here (login required).

South Korea and Vietnam governments intercede for SME shippers
theloadstar.com
The governments of South Korea and Vietnam are intervening to insure domestic exporters have sufficient container shipping capacity as more tonnage is absorbed by the Red Sea crisis.
South Korea’s Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF) said today it had called on mainline operators to reserve slots for local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) which are finding it hard to obtain export slots for Europe. Read more here (login requied).

Cape diversions see shipping emissions soar
splash247.com
The extraordinary redrawing of the seaborne trading map between Asia and Europe over the past couple of months since the Houthis intervened in the ongoing war in Gaza is having a deleterious effect on shipping’s carbon footprint with one new report suggesting shippers might experience a more than five-fold increase in CO2 emissions per container shipped. Read more here.