Newsletter #26/2024: Actual situation in international transport

Cucumber season in logistics? The past! Get ready for changes in air, rail and sea transport. Golden Week in China, problems in Bangladesh and other challenges ahead. Get the latest on rates, capacity and potential delays.

The holidays are experienced by everyone as the cucumber season. In English-speaking countries, they have thrown vegetables aside and are talking about silly season. But in our country, we base ours on the German Sauregurkenzeit, i.e. pickle time. Which in turn is a misunderstanding or a corruption of córes-jókres-cajt, "time of repentance and sorrow" in Yiddish.
 
Nor do certain segments of logistics avoid the pickle season, although at sea, for example, summer has always been marked by the build-up to the Christmas season. This year it has come and gone a little earlier, but there can be no question of calm waters.
 
Which nation has better captured the spirit of the summer months we leave to you.

AIR TRANSPORT

While the Christmas season is virtually over on the sea, at least in terms of boarding in Asia, the air travel season is yet to take off. With available capacity and still low demand, current import rates from China are at a low level. Clearly, this will not last long. The Golden Week in China is upon us, specifically from October 1 to October 7. The period before the Chinese holidays is guaranteed to bring increased demand, as it does every year, both because of the week off and production shutdowns, and because of the ever-delayed production in Asian markets and the "catch-up" of Christmas. Then, regularly at the end of September, new Apple handsets are also introduced, which then take over the cargo space of airplanes bound for Europe and the USA and prices skyrocket.
 
So take advantage of the favourable rates, space and low demand sooner rather than later.

Because we understand that air freight is the least attractive option for most products in terms of cost, we are always looking for new solutions. One of them has now bubbled under the hood and we are ready to offer you an interesting alternative in the form of a combined economy service, which in terms of the length of transport (7-10 days) and price (about 65% of the air price) could be attractive just in case you are in a hurry, but classic air transport solutions are simply expensive.

RAIL TRANSPORT

FROM CHINA

BATTERY : TEMPORARY STOP CONDITION

NEW SERVICE : VIETNAM

FROM TURKEY

OCEAN TRANSPORT

NORTH GERMAN PORTS

FAR EAST

BANGLADESH

Textile importers in particular felt the full impact of the situation in Bangladesh, where riots raged, the government declared a forced holiday, and the Internet did not work. We reported on the situation in a previous newsletter.  Unfortunately, there has been no major change since then.

The good news is that we have not let you down , we are not closing shop and despite the unreadable situation we are trying to ship and deliver every item you expect. It's a difficult job, shippers change their positions, offers and options to suit the situation and force us to treat each shipment individually. Both in terms of price and shipping solutions. However, let us hope that with the arrival of the new interim government, the situation will no longer escalate and stability will come. However, as we know from other markets, this does not come immediately, especially at sea.

EXPORT:

PSS and the looming union strike on the US East Coast

The export lines started to get more expensive. It's not going in any direction. Price adjustments have been recorded in the Far East. To the USA, Africa and Latin America, shippers have announced PSS (Peak Season Surcharge). The reasons for this are not being disclosed by the shipowners, but it appears to be a combination of the following factors. Shipowners are shifting capacity according to peak demand, which is, after all, from the SC. Then on the East Coast, there is a threat of a union strike from 1 October to negotiate a new contract. And as we know from history, US unions are not afraid to simply shut down ports and terminals. So shippers are preparing for possible increased demand with reduced capacity. And last but not least, it is simply an effort by the shipowners to reverse the trend of falling rates.

YM Mobility explosion in Ningbo and consequences

You may have seen a report of an incident on a YM Mobility ship in Ningbo. According to official reports, it was an explosion of a Class 5.2 dangerous goods container. Unofficial reports say that this temperature-controlled shipment was loaded into a reefer container, but it was not plugged (active). Fortunately, this was a ship serving on another service (specifically between the Middle and Far East), however the first shipowner has already responded by banning the acceptance of said IMO class and requiring MSDS in both Chinese and English. Other shipowners will surely follow. According to available reports, it seems that despite the huge explosion, no one was hurt and the situation may serve as a reminder of the importance of declaring goods correctly and, especially for ADR shipments, of taking due care throughout the transport chain.

The picture is also a link to the video