Freight and Logistics News and Market Update - Week of April 13, 2023

• Labor talks continue in West Coast Port negotiations with recent strikes shutting down the port and will likely continue to impact volume through the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach and other West Coast Ports.
• Mexican ports show increased volume in Q1 2023 compared to the previous year, showing progress in the nearshoring trend and could continue to show strong performance throughout 2023.
• Airport connectivity to and from Europe is expected to increase in the upcoming summer season. Bellyhold capacity and cargo flow is expected to gradually increase over the course of the coming months.
• New air services and increased routes should provide extra cargo capacity to and from the US, as the busy summer season approaches.

Air

• American Airlines has announced an extensive summer schedule, adding more than 400 widebody flights per month, compared to 2022. This includes increasing frequency to existing routes as well as adding new service routes. Increased cargo capacity is expected.
• JetBlue will be launching intenational routes from New York and Boston to Amsterdam’s Schipol Airport. This will be the American carrier’s third transatlantic destination following London in 2021 and Paris later this year. An increase in cargo capacity is expected.
• Qatar Airways Cargo has introduced a weekly direct freighter service from Bogota, Colombia to Dallas-Fort Worth Airport. The new freighter service will offer nearly 100 tonnes of cargo capacity as Qatar Airways continues to invest in the Americas region.

Ocean

• International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) workers withheld labor on Friday, April 7, causing the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach to shut down. This action took place as labor contract negotiations continue.
• According to the National Retail Federation, containerized cargo volumes hit bottom levels in February, but should steadily rise for the next few months, as retailers gradually increase their inventories to prepare for the holiday season. However, the increase shouldn’t reach pandemic levels.

Ground

• US Trucking providers saw substantial growth in 2022, with most of the top providers showing double digit revenue growth year over year. Longer contacts and a focus on dedicated services rather than LTL provides a strong foundation for 2023.

Air

• Mexico registers a 5.2% growth in air cargo in the first two months of 2023 compared to the same period of the previous year.
• Avianca Airlines added a new route Quito to Bogotá to Los Angeles to expand the shipment of flowers to the United States, which currently represents 80% of the volume exported by the company from Ecuador weekly.
• A new aircargo route has been launched betweenShenzhen and Sao Paulo with two weekly frequencies. The aim of this new route is to stimulate e-commerce between the two countries.

Ocean

• Maritime cargo from the port of Mazatlán (MX) increased by 20% in the first quarter of the year vs the same period in 2022. Much of the cargo imported was cars and steel.

Air

• Despite seeing cargo volume drop by 16.4% in 2022 due to covid and crew restrictions, Hong Kong International Airport remains the busiest cargo airport in the world with 4.2 million tonnes moving through the airport in 2022.
• China’s cargo-focused Ezhou Huahu Airport began operations in July 2022 and just launched its first international routes servicing two round-trip flights between China and Europe weekly. The airport expects to reach 40 domestic routes and four international routes by the end of 2023.

Ocean

• Hebei Port Group will be offering a new service to Southeast Asia through its Tangshan Hede Shipping branch. The new service will include weekly calls at Laem Chabang, Ho Chi Minh and Nansha.

Air

• The Dutch government is planning to appeal the court ruling which will prevent Amsterdam Schiphol Airport from reducing flights between November 2023 and October 2024 in aims to reduce noise pollution. IATA along with KLM and many other airlines dispute over the legality of the decision of the Dutch government by claiming that the government failed to consult them under the European Union regulations.
• Beginning July 12, Turkish Airlines will increase its daily flight frequency between Istanbul and New York’s JFK and New Jersey’s Newark Airport. While weekly flights frequency will reach 25 in July, two more are expected to be added in August. Cargo flow and increasing bellyhold capacity can be expected between the regions in the given period.
• The Slovenia Government called for airlines to increase connectivity to the country’s three international airports of Ljubljana, Maribor and Portoroz amid an EU-approved subsidy program.

Ocean

• DP World Antwerp Gateways new quay cranes, which will have the handling capacity of 26 container rows on a ship, are part of the terminal’s modernization, greening and capacity expansion investment plan worth $218.5 million. The new cranes are expected to be commissioned by summer 2023.

Ground

• Italy’s Port of Livorno, known to be a strategic point for the Ten-T Scandinavian-Mediterranean Corridor, is strengthening its connection to the Vespucci rail terminal with a 350 metre rail overpass avoiding the current infrastructure. With the new link there will be a direct line between the terminal and the port, with no interaction to the Tyrrhenian line, creating a line specifically focusing on rail freight exchanges between the port and the terminal.

Air

• Beginning April 20, Emirates Airlines will increase flights between Dubai International Airport and Toronto Pearson International Airport to daily with two additional services. With the scheduled additional flights, capacity is expected to increase by 40%.
• Beginning May 30, Etihad Airlines will increase its Abu Dhabi to Toronto flights to daily due to increase in demand and the codeshare agreement with Air Canada.
• Saudi Arabia’s national flag carrier SAUDIA will increase flights to many destinations in Asia and Europe including Thailand, South Korea, China, Malaysia Singapore, Indonesia, the UK, Turkey, Italy Switzerland, Spain, Austria and France. According to authorities, SAUDIA is expected to offer 56 weekly flights to the mentioned destinations by the peak summer season of 2023. An increase in cargo capacity is expected.

Ocean

• Beginning in May 2023, CMA CGM will launch its new call at Lekki Port, Nigeria on its WAX service which will provide land transportation solutions for cargo from and to many destinations including Asia, Bangladesh, East Coast of India to and from various inland destinations through Lekki.
• MSC’s weekly Malabar routing provides connectivity to all major ports in the Middle East, including Cochin now with a port rotation of Cochin, Mundra, Karachi, Jebel Ali, Abu Dhabi, Shuwaikh Port, Hamad Port, Colombo Port and Cochin again. The service will deploy four 2,400 TEU vessels. The service is expected to provide a more steady and reliable operation across the India-Middle East corridor.

• The United States has updated its legislation on topics including citrus products imported from China and the significance of the African Union:
• The US Citrus Protection Act prohibits the import of commercially-produces fresh citrus fruit from China.
• New legislation H.Res.261 declares the significance of the African Union as a strategic international partner to the US. The US sees value in the African Continental Free Trade Area that could create the world’s largest free trade area and lift 30 million people out of extreme poverty.

• Approved Section 232 exclusions will now be processed by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) based on weekly lists provided by the Department of Commerce. It then activates the approved exclusion IDs in Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) on a weekly basis.