Newsletter – May 5, 2020

AIR FREIGHT UPDATES

Air Canada sees long road to recovery after big Q1 loss

freigthwaves.com
Air Canada (TO. AC) said it will take three years to get back to 2019 revenue and capacity levels, and that it is accelerating the retirement of 79 older planes to make ends meet while it rides out the coronavirus crisis. That recovery timeline was echoed last week by executives at U.S. carriers. Read more here.

OCEAN FREIGHT UPDATES

OOCL cancels seven transpacific sailings in May and June

seanews.com.tr
HONG Kong’s Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) is withdrawing seven sailings on four transpacific services in May and June, the Pacific China South 1 (PCS1), East Coast China 2 (ECC2), Gulf Coast China 1 (GCC1) and India East Coast Express (IEX).
The shipping liner said the decision to cancel the sailings was prompted by expected low market demand. Read more here.

One on ONE with Jeremy Nixon

splash247.com
Jeremy Nixon, CEO of Ocean Network Express (ONE), the two-year old Japanese container shipping giant, is the latest big name in maritime to take the hot seat in the Maritime CEO Leader Series powered by Ocean Technologies Group.
In the nine-minute video, Nixon discusses how volumes have dropped thanks to the coronavirus and assesses just how bad things could get for liner shipping. Read more here.

How canceled sailings will impact US ports – and when

freightwaves.com
Container lines have “blanked” (canceled) an unprecedented number of sailings to bring capacity in line with coronavirus-stricken cargo demand.
Blank-sailings data is a key leading indicator for U.S. ports, cargo shippers, truckers and railways. A container ship that doesn’t depart from Asia equates to a container ship that doesn’t arrive on the U.S. West Coast two to three weeks later, or on the East Coast four to five weeks later. Read more here.

Blanking voyages holds ocean rates steady, but masks the real impact of Covid

theloadstar.com
Container freight rates have yet to see any significant erosion, despite the coronavirus pandemic’s stranglehold on demand.
But the aggressive blanking programmes of carriers is disguising the real picture, according to Bimco’s chief shipping analyst, Peter Sand.
Indeed, for spot rates the SCFI cumulative index is still some 10% higher than 12 months ago, while its longer-term CCFI contract component is 9% higher. Read more here.

FMC commissioners call for federal support for ‘struggling’ box terminal operators

theloadstar.com
The US federal government should consider stepping in to help container terminal operators stay in business, as volumes plummet as a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic.
Two FMC commissioners, Carl Bentzel and Louis Sola, have written to the department of transport urging it to look at ways of bringing financial relief to the sector. Read more here.

CANADA BUSINESS – GOVERNMENT UPDATES

Feds create supply council

insidelogistics.ca
OTTAWA – The federal government has named 17 Canadian supply chain leaders to a new COVID-19 Supply Council which will provide the government with advice on the procurement of critical goods and services required as part of Canada’s COVID-19 response and recovery. Read more here.