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<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">FedEx is holding billions of dollars worth of business &amp;ndash; and jobs &amp;ndash; over the heads of Congress and the Obama administration by conditioning future aircraft purchases on keeping its parcel </div>

FedEx is holding billions of dollars worth of business &ndash; and jobs &ndash; over the heads of Congress and the Obama administration by conditioning future aircraft purchases on keeping its parcel

<div>FedEx is holding billions of dollars worth of business &amp;ndash; and jobs &amp;ndash; over the heads of Congress and the Obama administration by conditioning future aircraft purchases on keeping its parcel drivers away from the National Labor Relations Act.The express carrier notes in its March 22 quarterly earnings report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission that an option exercised in January to purchase 30 Boeing 777 aircraft is contingent on &amp;ldquo;there being no event that causes FedEx Express or its employees not to be covered by the Railway Labor Act.&amp;rdquo; FedEx also holds an option to purchase another fifteen...

FedEx is holding billions of dollars worth of business &ndash; and jobs &ndash; over the heads of Congress and the Obama administration by conditioning future aircraft purchases on keeping its parcel drivers away from the National Labor Relations Act. The express carrier notes in its March 22 quarterly earnings report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission that an option exercised in January to purchase 30 Boeing 777 aircraft is contingent on &ldquo;there being no event that causes FedEx Express or its employees not to be covered by the Railway Labor Act.&rdquo; FedEx also holds an option to purchase another fifteen 777s from Boeing. The condition puts pressure on lawmakers to withdraw language currently in the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill requiring FedEx Express workers to be covered under the more union-friendly National Labor Relations Act. As part of the NLRA, FedEx parcel truck drivers could be unionized by the Teamsters union one terminal at a time, as opposed to all at once in a potentially more expensive nationwide campaign required under the RLA. Donald Broughton, an analyst with Avondale Partners, estimates the value of each aircraft at $225 million, putting the value of the investment at close to $7 billion, with an option to spend another $3 billion. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s one of the smartest political moves I&rsquo;ve seen in a long time,&rdquo; Broughton said of FedEx&rsquo;s investment contingency, pointing out that it would create thousands of jobs at Boeing, jet engine maker GE, and hundreds of subcontractors. &ldquo;We find it more than a bit intriguing that now Congressmen will have to vote against Boeing, GE, and the creation of thousands of unionized jobs for machinists (and several other trade unions) in order to change the labor law status of FedEx in an attempt to possibly help the Teamsters union.&rdquo;

FedEx: Labor Bill Endangers Plane Purchases

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The agreement was set in motion by Evergreen just weeks after Singapore experienced unprecedented congestion in May and June, with vessel delays of up to 10 days.</div>

The agreement was set in motion by Evergreen just weeks after Singapore experienced unprecedented congestion in May and June, with vessel delays of up to 10 days.

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<div class="phx-topic">Taiwan’s Evergreen Marine Asia and PSA Singapore on Tuesday signed a deal to form a joint venture terminal operation that will become Evergreen’s Southeast Asia transshipment center. Evergreen said the Singapore hub will strengthen its operational efficiency and bolster the competitiveness of its fleet. Evergreen will invest up to $57 million for a 49% stake in the venture, called Evergreen-PSA Terminal Ltd, the carrier said in a filing to the Taiwan stock exchange.Terminal operations are expected to start by the end of this year.Evergreen said the move will allow the carrier’s ships in Singapore to “obtain priority berthing rights [and] have exclusive loading and unloading resources to reduce waiting time for berthing operations.”The terminal is the first joint venture facility between Evergreen and PSA.”As the company’s business expands, we are always looking for like-minded partners to build high-efficiency terminals in important locations,” Evergreen Marine Chairman Chang Yan Yi said in the statement.The deal adds to PSA Singapore’s growing stable of similar joint venture terminals with other carriers, notably Cosco Shipping, CMA CGM, HMM, Mediterranean Shipping Co. and Ocean Network Express.Evergreen directors decided in August to set up a joint venture company with PSA just weeks after Singapore experienced unprecedented congestion in May and June, with vessel delays of up to eight to 10 days.At the time, Singapore’s Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) said the problems were the culmination of months of disruption as carriers curtailed or blanked services and discharged cargo in Singapore as vessels diverted around southern Africa to avoid the Red Sea. The situation was exacerbated due to strong east-west cargo volumes as shippers consigned cargo early to offset delays.Contact Keith Wallis at <a href="mailto:keithwallis@hotmail.com">keithwallis@hotmail.com</a>.</div>

Taiwan’s Evergreen Marine Asia and PSA Singapore on Tuesday signed a deal to form a joint venture terminal operation that will become Evergreen’s Southeast Asia transshipment center. Evergreen said the Singapore hub will strengthen its operational efficiency and bolster the competitiveness of its fleet. Evergreen will invest up to $57 million for a 49% stake in the venture, called Evergreen-PSA Terminal Ltd, the carrier said in a filing to the Taiwan stock exchange. Terminal operations are expected to start by the end of this year. Evergreen said the move will allow the carrier’s ships in Singapore to “obtain priority berthing rights [and] have exclusive loading and unloading resources to reduce waiting time for berthing operations.” The terminal is the first joint venture facility between Evergreen and PSA. ”As the company’s business expands, we are always looking for like-minded partners to build high-efficiency terminals in important locations,” Evergreen Marine Chairman Chang Yan Yi said in the statement. The deal adds to PSA Singapore’s growing stable of similar joint venture terminals with other carriers, notably Cosco Shipping, CMA CGM, HMM, Mediterranean Shipping Co. and Ocean Network Express. Evergreen directors decided in August to set up a joint venture company with PSA just weeks after Singapore experienced unprecedented congestion in May and June, with vessel delays of up to eight to 10 days. At the time, Singapore’s Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) said the problems were the culmination of months of disruption as carriers curtailed or blanked services and discharged cargo in Singapore as vessels diverted around southern Africa to avoid the Red Sea. The situation was exacerbated due to strong east-west cargo volumes as shippers consigned cargo early to offset delays. Contact Keith Wallis at keithwallis@hotmail.com .

Evergreen sets up transshipment hub in Singapore with PSA terminal deal

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">NYSHEX is making a renewed effort to solve the fundamental problem of ocean container supply chains, promoting the use of index-linked contracts to build contract integrity and certainty. </div>

NYSHEX is making a renewed effort to solve the fundamental problem of ocean container supply chains, promoting the use of index-linked contracts to build contract integrity and certainty.

<div class="phx-topic">From its origins over a decade ago, NYSHEX, founded and led by Gordon Downes, has always aimed to advance a simple yet stubbornly elusive concept in container shipping: integrity of contracts. Incomprehensible to outsiders, signed contracts — many pages long and vetted by lawyers — are unenforceable when confronted by the real-world forces of supply and demand and volatile pricing. “The big problem that prompted us to start NYSHEX is contracts in our industry don’t perform,” Downes told the Journal of Commerce. In many cases, the shipper or carrier fails to live up to the contract terms, whether that be a carrier unwilling to provide vessel space or a shipper steering cargo to other carriers or non-vessel-operating common carriers (NVOs) to obtain a lower rate, thus failing to deliver the agreed-upon volumes. Triggers for failed contracts occur when spot rates deviate significantly from contract rates and carriers blank sailings or omit ports on short notice due to changes in demand, creating shortfalls in available capacity. Downes said ocean container contracts have just a 65% fulfillment rate. Although such practices undermine trust and stress relationships to the breaking point, no scenario results in serious consequences for the offending party. Litigation or government enforcement remain rare outside of a tiny handful of highly publicized cases. Originally, NYSHEX, founded by Downes in 2015 “to solve the problem of poor contract fulfillment,” aimed to create an exchange whereby mutually committed — meaning enforceable — contracts could be executed by shippers, NVOs and carriers under full approval of the US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) and the auspices of the NYSHEX brand. To the limited extent the market availed itself of such contracts, they worked: in the vast majority of cases, both parties lived up to what they committed to. Still, the penalties meant to ensure compliance “can put a lot of strain on relationships, especially when the spot rates are so volatile,” Downes said. But while the concept found some uptake, demand was cyclical and could not overcome at scale the market forces that, in peculiar container shipping mentality, frequently lead each side to seek near-term pricing gain, if it is to be had, at the expense of longer-term certainty of space or volumes. Whether it’s an obsessively procurement-based mindset on the part of shippers in seeking to drive prices lower whenever possible, or carriers seeing better opportunities on the spot market, sacrifices in pursuit of certainty have yet to take hold on an industrywide level. If there was ever a moment for that mentality to be challenged, it was the pandemic, which showed shippers how quickly and painfully vessel space can dry up in a crisis. And yet the problem remains. <h3>New technology and products</h3>But NYSHEX persevered with its original vision, even if that meant applying it in new ways. The company developed technology that enables parties to monitor contract performance, drawing them into a real-time collaborative environment where issues can be identified and resolved on the spot, versus after the fact during increasingly infrequent quarterly performance reviews. In other words, if contracts can be mutually monitored in real time, the odds are better the parties will comply. Now NYSHEX is delving yet further into solving the fundamental problem: promoting the use of index-linked contracts as a way to build contract integrity and certainty into ocean container supply chains. In announcing a Series C funding round last week, NYSHEX made a strong statement that there is traction in the idea, however long it may have been around. The funding round attracted participation from existing investors, including Goldman Sachs, and new ones, including the Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE), a leading exchange operator which will calculate the new indices based on actual rates paid by shippers. Other container freight rate indices tend to be based on traditional price discovery performed by analysts. It said it will launch a new series of indices and tools to administer index-linked contracts. The question, then, is whether index-linked contracts are able to move the industry forward in addressing the continuing core problem of a lack of contract integrity. Linking pricing to an index means shippers’ rates face less risk of falling out of the range of prevailing rates and cargo being left behind at origin. But there is less budget certainty which clashes with annual budgeting cycles at beneficial cargo owners (BCOs). And while there are futures contracts traded, such as an active market of day traders on the Shanghai International Energy Exchange (INE China), which launched trading in a Containerized Freight Index Futures Contract in 2023, they haven’t built the liquidity or credibility to be of interest to BCO finance teams who would engage in hedging against adverse movements in ocean rates. And carriers have been outspoken about their declining interest in container freight futures. Index-linked contracts have a history of going in and out of fashion; they fell into fashion during the pandemic when shippers were desperate for space but fell out once the extremes of the disruptions were over. Also holding back index-linked contracts are shipper and carrier lawyers needing to come to agree on terms and conditions, frequently a difficult hurdle to overcome. Now, amid a continuing tight market fueled by Red Sea reroutings and robust 2024 volumes, there is more talk of using index-linked contracts. But just as it was before, that could just be cyclical. Contact Peter Tirschwell at <a href="mailto:peter.tirschwell@spglobal.com">peter.tirschwell@spglobal.com</a>.</div>

From its origins over a decade ago, NYSHEX, founded and led by Gordon Downes, has always aimed to advance a simple yet stubbornly elusive concept in container shipping: integrity of contracts. Incomprehensible to outsiders, signed contracts — many pages long and vetted by lawyers — are unenforceable when confronted by the real-world forces of supply and demand and volatile pricing. “The big problem that prompted us to start NYSHEX is contracts in our industry don’t perform,” Downes told the Journal of Commerce. In many cases, the shipper or carrier fails to live up to the contract terms, whether that be a carrier unwilling to provide vessel space or a shipper steering cargo to other carriers or non-vessel-operating common carriers (NVOs) to obtain a lower rate, thus failing to deliver the agreed-upon volumes. Triggers for failed contracts occur when spot rates deviate significantly from contract rates and carriers blank sailings or omit ports on short notice due to changes in demand, creating shortfalls in available capacity. Downes said ocean container contracts have just a 65% fulfillment rate. Although such practices undermine trust and stress relationships to the breaking point, no scenario results in serious consequences for the offending party. Litigation or government enforcement remain rare outside of a tiny handful of highly publicized cases. Originally, NYSHEX, founded by Downes in 2015 “to solve the problem of poor contract fulfillment,” aimed to create an exchange whereby mutually committed — meaning enforceable — contracts could be executed by shippers, NVOs and carriers under full approval of the US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) and the auspices of the NYSHEX brand. To the limited extent the market availed itself of such contracts, they worked: in the vast majority of cases, both parties lived up to what they committed to. Still, the penalties meant to ensure compliance “can put a lot of strain on relationships, especially when the spot rates are so volatile,” Downes said. But while the concept found some uptake, demand was cyclical and could not overcome at scale the market forces that, in peculiar container shipping mentality, frequently lead each side to seek near-term pricing gain, if it is to be had, at the expense of longer-term certainty of space or volumes. Whether it’s an obsessively procurement-based mindset on the part of shippers in seeking to drive prices lower whenever possible, or carriers seeing better opportunities on the spot market, sacrifices in pursuit of certainty have yet to take hold on an industrywide level. If there was ever a moment for that mentality to be challenged, it was the pandemic, which showed shippers how quickly and painfully vessel space can dry up in a crisis. And yet the problem remains. New technology and products But NYSHEX persevered with its original vision, even if that meant applying it in new ways. The company developed technology that enables parties to monitor contract performance, drawing them into a real-time collaborative environment where issues can be identified and resolved on the spot, versus after the fact during increasingly infrequent quarterly performance reviews. In other words, if contracts can be mutually monitored in real time, the odds are better the parties will comply. Now NYSHEX is delving yet further into solving the fundamental problem: promoting the use of index-linked contracts as a way to build contract integrity and certainty into ocean container supply chains. In announcing a Series C funding round last week, NYSHEX made a strong statement that there is traction in the idea, however long it may have been around. The funding round attracted participation from existing investors, including Goldman Sachs, and new ones, including the Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE), a leading exchange operator which will calculate the new indices based on actual rates paid by shippers. Other container freight rate indices tend to be based on traditional price discovery performed by analysts. It said it will launch a new series of indices and tools to administer index-linked contracts. The question, then, is whether index-linked contracts are able to move the industry forward in addressing the continuing core problem of a lack of contract integrity. Linking pricing to an index means shippers’ rates face less risk of falling out of the range of prevailing rates and cargo being left behind at origin. But there is less budget certainty which clashes with annual budgeting cycles at beneficial cargo owners (BCOs). And while there are futures contracts traded, such as an active market of day traders on the Shanghai International Energy Exchange (INE China), which launched trading in a Containerized Freight Index Futures Contract in 2023, they haven’t built the liquidity or credibility to be of interest to BCO finance teams who would engage in hedging against adverse movements in ocean rates. And carriers have been outspoken about their declining interest in container freight futures. Index-linked contracts have a history of going in and out of fashion; they fell into fashion during the pandemic when shippers were desperate for space but fell out once the extremes of the disruptions were over. Also holding back index-linked contracts are shipper and carrier lawyers needing to come to agree on terms and conditions, frequently a difficult hurdle to overcome. Now, amid a continuing tight market fueled by Red Sea reroutings and robust 2024 volumes, there is more talk of using index-linked contracts. But just as it was before, that could just be cyclical. Contact Peter Tirschwell at peter.tirschwell@spglobal.com .

NYSHEX keeps core vision while evolving in volatile container shipping market

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Carrier compliance with European regulations targeting the reduction of carbon emissions will increase in 2025, and the rising costs that result will be passed on to customers through higher surcharges, liners say.</div>

Carrier compliance with European regulations targeting the reduction of carbon emissions will increase in 2025, and the rising costs that result will be passed on to customers through higher surcharges, liners say.

<div class="phx-topic">Carriers are warning shippers to expect significant increases in their <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/european-parliament-approves-shipping-ets-but-stakeholders-wary-5202492">Emissions Trading System</a> (ETS) surcharges in 2025 as the European Union carbon tax is expanded to cover 70% of all carrier emissions. The rise in ETS surcharges will come on top of the new fuel intensity regulation <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/container-carriers-to-shoulder-bulk-of-europe-fuel-intensity-rule-5192246">FuelEU Maritime</a> that from Jan. 1 will force carriers to increase their use of more costly lower-emission fuels. “We expect the ETS surcharge to roughly double due to regulatory updates,” Hapag-Lloyd told customers in an advisory Tuesday. “We will expand our existing ETS surcharge to cover the ETS enhancement as well as the costs arising from fuel bunkering for FuelEU Maritime.” CMA CGM is expecting an increase of about 75% in its current ETS surcharge amounts and will publish its revised ETS surcharges on Dec. 1. “Starting in 2025, the ETS regulation will evolve to account for 70% of our emissions, compared to the current 40% in 2024,” the carrier said in a recent customer advisory. “This substantial increase in the percentage of emissions covered by the ETS will have a direct impact on our cost structure.” Maersk noted in a recent advisory that the cost of complying with Europe’s regulatory requirements was expected to rise significantly with the phased implementation of ETS, Fuel EU and other potential regulations from various jurisdictions in the coming years. “We expect the [ETS] emission surcharge in 2025 to be nearly double that of 2024,” Maersk said. “The actual surcharge for Q1 2025 will be published in December, about 30 days before it takes effect.” Maersk also noted that the price of European allowances was expected to increase due to supply cuts. <h3>‘Cap-and-trade’ principle </h3>Shipping was included in the ETS from 2024 and under the “cap-and-trade” principle in which ship operators are required to buy and surrender ETS emission allowances, known as EU Allowances, for each ton of CO2 emissions reported under the scope of the system, with penalties levied for noncompliance. The ETS covers CO2 emissions of journeys starting and ending in the EU and the intra-Europe trade. Voyages that start and end at ports in the EU will be required to pay for 100% of emissions, with journeys either starting or ending in the EU required to pay for 50% of emissions. Carriers will pay for 40% of emissions in 2024, 70% in 2025 and 100% from 2026 onward. “This regulation’s costs will roughly increase by 75% from this year to next, depending on the price of emission allowances,” Hapag-Lloyd said. FuelEU Maritime is part of the EU’s Green Deal environmental policy that has set an intermediate green objective of cutting at least 55% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030, also known as “Fit for 55.” From Jan. 1, ships trading in the European Union or European Economic Area (EEA) will need to reduce the annual average GHG intensity of energy used on board by 2% relative to a 2020 baseline, increasing gradually every five years to 80% by 2050. The regulation will apply to 100% of energy used on voyages and port calls within the EU or EEA and 50% of voyages into and out of the bloc. Vessels will be hit with a penalty of €2,400 per metric ton of fuel that fails to meet the initial 2% target in 2025. “To achieve this target, we must use fuels with a lower emission footprint than traditional marine fuel, such as biofuels, within EU waters,” Hapag-Lloyd noted in the advisory. Several carriers offer services operating on biofuel, and although they are priced at premium levels, the lower emissions allow carriers to exempt shippers from ETS surcharges. Contact Greg Knowler at <a href="mailto:greg.knowler@spglobal.com">greg.knowler@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

Carriers are warning shippers to expect significant increases in their Emissions Trading System (ETS) surcharges in 2025 as the European Union carbon tax is expanded to cover 70% of all carrier emissions. The rise in ETS surcharges will come on top of the new fuel intensity regulation FuelEU Maritime that from Jan. 1 will force carriers to increase their use of more costly lower-emission fuels. “We expect the ETS surcharge to roughly double due to regulatory updates,” Hapag-Lloyd told customers in an advisory Tuesday. “We will expand our existing ETS surcharge to cover the ETS enhancement as well as the costs arising from fuel bunkering for FuelEU Maritime.” CMA CGM is expecting an increase of about 75% in its current ETS surcharge amounts and will publish its revised ETS surcharges on Dec. 1. “Starting in 2025, the ETS regulation will evolve to account for 70% of our emissions, compared to the current 40% in 2024,” the carrier said in a recent customer advisory. “This substantial increase in the percentage of emissions covered by the ETS will have a direct impact on our cost structure.” Maersk noted in a recent advisory that the cost of complying with Europe’s regulatory requirements was expected to rise significantly with the phased implementation of ETS, Fuel EU and other potential regulations from various jurisdictions in the coming years. “We expect the [ETS] emission surcharge in 2025 to be nearly double that of 2024,” Maersk said. “The actual surcharge for Q1 2025 will be published in December, about 30 days before it takes effect.” Maersk also noted that the price of European allowances was expected to increase due to supply cuts. ‘Cap-and-trade’ principle Shipping was included in the ETS from 2024 and under the “cap-and-trade” principle in which ship operators are required to buy and surrender ETS emission allowances, known as EU Allowances, for each ton of CO2 emissions reported under the scope of the system, with penalties levied for noncompliance. The ETS covers CO2 emissions of journeys starting and ending in the EU and the intra-Europe trade. Voyages that start and end at ports in the EU will be required to pay for 100% of emissions, with journeys either starting or ending in the EU required to pay for 50% of emissions. Carriers will pay for 40% of emissions in 2024, 70% in 2025 and 100% from 2026 onward. “This regulation’s costs will roughly increase by 75% from this year to next, depending on the price of emission allowances,” Hapag-Lloyd said. FuelEU Maritime is part of the EU’s Green Deal environmental policy that has set an intermediate green objective of cutting at least 55% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030, also known as “Fit for 55.” From Jan. 1, ships trading in the European Union or European Economic Area (EEA) will need to reduce the annual average GHG intensity of energy used on board by 2% relative to a 2020 baseline, increasing gradually every five years to 80% by 2050. The regulation will apply to 100% of energy used on voyages and port calls within the EU or EEA and 50% of voyages into and out of the bloc. Vessels will be hit with a penalty of €2,400 per metric ton of fuel that fails to meet the initial 2% target in 2025. “To achieve this target, we must use fuels with a lower emission footprint than traditional marine fuel, such as biofuels, within EU waters,” Hapag-Lloyd noted in the advisory. Several carriers offer services operating on biofuel, and although they are priced at premium levels, the lower emissions allow carriers to exempt shippers from ETS surcharges. Contact Greg Knowler at greg.knowler@spglobal.com .

Tightening Europe decarbonization measures will raise shipper costs: carriers

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Average spot rate levels on the Asia to Europe trade lanes have continued to increase through November as an early start to the Lunar New Year pushes up bookings, forwarders say.</div>

Average spot rate levels on the Asia to Europe trade lanes have continued to increase through November as an early start to the Lunar New Year pushes up bookings, forwarders say.

<div class="phx-topic">Rate levels on the Asia to North Europe and Mediterranean ocean trades spiked this week ahead of significant rate increases to be rolled out on Dec. 1, but remain far below the pricing levels sought after by carriers. Ocean carriers are moving to capitalize on demand ahead of an early Lunar New Year and strengthen their negotiating positions in annual contract talks, according to forwarders. If the Dec. 1 freight-all-kinds (FAK) increases are successful, average spot rates on both Asia to North Europe and Asia-Mediterranean trade routes will increase more than 30% compared with current prices. Carriers have set Asia-North Europe FAKs at $6,300 per FEU and Asia to East and West Mediterranean rates at between $6,400 and $6,600 per FEU. Markus Panhauser, CEO of the Germany and Switzerland units at DHL Global Forwarding, said the Asia-Europe rate increases set for Dec. 1 were the result of “very strong bookings” during November and December. “Several blank sailings in December are fueling the space constraints, but the main reason is the high booking volume by all industry sectors,” Panhauser told the Journal of Commerce. “We see very strong bookings for January as well, therefore we believe the short-term market will see further rate increases.” Other forwarders, however, had a different view of the market. “We see the booking forecasts being fairly soft with no indication that the increases will stick,” said Marc Meier, managing director for Europe, Middle East and Africa/air and sea logistics at Dachser. However, Meier noted that some carriers could be expecting disruption around the launch of the new <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/gemini-says-will-use-london-gateway-for-shared-network-vessel-calls-5819415">Gemini Cooperation alliance between Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd</a> in February. Gemini will operate a hub-and-spoke network, while at the same time Mediterranean Shipping Co. will <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/decentralized-sourcing-plays-into-mscs-point-to-point-plans-ceo-5745884">launch a standalone network</a>, with blank sailings, vessel delays and the carriers reshuffling fleets as they prepare for the changes. <h3>No sign of discounted rates </h3>The ocean freight head for a global forwarder also highlighted the restructured carrier alliances as potentially influencing rate levels, but said so far there was no evidence of discounted rates being offered to fill ships. “The Gemini Cooperation between Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd will need to meet their loading targets before they launch in February and MSC will have to fill all its ships, yet the carriers are still able to raise rates,” the source said. “Still, it is giving them a good platform to take into the 2025 annual contracts on Asia-Europe.” The forwarder said the current high rate levels were leading to difficult discussions with carriers over the 2025 fixed-rate agreements, with customers balking at the high prices. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="5ef8f3e3-3eaf-40c5-8991-7f3dcf9d47ec"></dynamic-object></div>Average Asia-North Europe rates this week rose to $4,700 per FEU while Asia-Mediterranean rates hit $4,900 per FEU, both routes rising $620 compared with the previous week, according to Platts, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&amp;P Global. “The outlook for Europe is not great and some of our customers are taking a wait-and-see approach in the hope that rates come down,” the global forwarder said, adding that he was surprised the carriers were able to push up rates as they prepared for the revised vessel-sharing agreements. Contact Greg Knowler at <a href="mailto: greg.knowler@spglobal.com">greg.knowler@spglobal.com</a>.</div>

Rate levels on the Asia to North Europe and Mediterranean ocean trades spiked this week ahead of significant rate increases to be rolled out on Dec. 1, but remain far below the pricing levels sought after by carriers. Ocean carriers are moving to capitalize on demand ahead of an early Lunar New Year and strengthen their negotiating positions in annual contract talks, according to forwarders. If the Dec. 1 freight-all-kinds (FAK) increases are successful, average spot rates on both Asia to North Europe and Asia-Mediterranean trade routes will increase more than 30% compared with current prices. Carriers have set Asia-North Europe FAKs at $6,300 per FEU and Asia to East and West Mediterranean rates at between $6,400 and $6,600 per FEU. Markus Panhauser, CEO of the Germany and Switzerland units at DHL Global Forwarding, said the Asia-Europe rate increases set for Dec. 1 were the result of “very strong bookings” during November and December. “Several blank sailings in December are fueling the space constraints, but the main reason is the high booking volume by all industry sectors,” Panhauser told the Journal of Commerce. “We see very strong bookings for January as well, therefore we believe the short-term market will see further rate increases.” Other forwarders, however, had a different view of the market. “We see the booking forecasts being fairly soft with no indication that the increases will stick,” said Marc Meier, managing director for Europe, Middle East and Africa/air and sea logistics at Dachser. However, Meier noted that some carriers could be expecting disruption around the launch of the new Gemini Cooperation alliance between Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd in February. Gemini will operate a hub-and-spoke network, while at the same time Mediterranean Shipping Co. will launch a standalone network , with blank sailings, vessel delays and the carriers reshuffling fleets as they prepare for the changes. No sign of discounted rates The ocean freight head for a global forwarder also highlighted the restructured carrier alliances as potentially influencing rate levels, but said so far there was no evidence of discounted rates being offered to fill ships. “The Gemini Cooperation between Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd will need to meet their loading targets before they launch in February and MSC will have to fill all its ships, yet the carriers are still able to raise rates,” the source said. “Still, it is giving them a good platform to take into the 2025 annual contracts on Asia-Europe.” The forwarder said the current high rate levels were leading to difficult discussions with carriers over the 2025 fixed-rate agreements, with customers balking at the high prices. Average Asia-North Europe rates this week rose to $4,700 per FEU while Asia-Mediterranean rates hit $4,900 per FEU, both routes rising $620 compared with the previous week, according to Platts, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global. “The outlook for Europe is not great and some of our customers are taking a wait-and-see approach in the hope that rates come down,” the global forwarder said, adding that he was surprised the carriers were able to push up rates as they prepared for the revised vessel-sharing agreements. Contact Greg Knowler at greg.knowler@spglobal.com .

Asia-Europe ocean rates up sharply ahead of carriers’ Dec. 1 price hikes

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The move effectively allows both sides to avoid having to agree to a deal brokered by Ottawa, as had been ordered by the country’s labor minister. </div>

The move effectively allows both sides to avoid having to agree to a deal brokered by Ottawa, as had been ordered by the country’s labor minister.

<div class="phx-topic">Maritime employers at the Port of Montreal will try yet again to reach a deal with dockworkers on a new contract with a mediator’s help, heading off a government-brokered deal that aims to end the coast-to-coast strife hitting Canada’s major ports. The Maritime Employers Association (MEA) said in a statement Monday that it and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 375 mutually agreed to engage in a 90-day mediation process in a bid to come to terms on <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/canadian-shippers-urge-ottawa-to-act-as-montreal-port-talks-hit-impasse-5241393">a new collective bargaining agreement covering 1,300 longshore workers at the port</a>. The MEA said the process will be led by Gilles Charland, “an experienced mediator with a good knowledge of the industry.” The decision to engage with a mediator comes after <a href="">Labor Minister Steve MacKinnon ordered the MEA to end a lockout of Local 375</a> stemming from <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/bc-montreal-ports-set-to-reopen-under-orders-from-canadas-labor-chief-5792214">its ongoing work stoppages</a>. The mediation process means both sides won’t have to submit to a government-appointed arbitrator, also ordered by MacKinnon. Whether mediation succeeds is far from certain, however. The MEA said last month that it has engaged in 35 mediation meetings with Local 375 since mid-2023, with no resolution. Montreal’s port effectively reopened on Nov. 16 following MacKinnon’s back-to-work order. MacKinnon’s order also covered the ports in British Columbia where longshore foremen have been in protracted contract talks with maritime employers over a new contract and work rules following a semi-automation project at a Vancouver-area marine terminal. Local 514 of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, the foremen’s union, said <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/bc-ports-to-reopen-but-longshore-union-plans-challenge-to-back-to-work-order-5810473">it plans to challenge the constitutionality of MacKinnon’s request</a>. Yet its members also followed the return-to-work order, allowing the ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert to reopen. Contact Michael Angell at <a href="mailto:michael.angell@spglobal.com">michael.angell@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

Maritime employers at the Port of Montreal will try yet again to reach a deal with dockworkers on a new contract with a mediator’s help, heading off a government-brokered deal that aims to end the coast-to-coast strife hitting Canada’s major ports. The Maritime Employers Association (MEA) said in a statement Monday that it and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 375 mutually agreed to engage in a 90-day mediation process in a bid to come to terms on a new collective bargaining agreement covering 1,300 longshore workers at the port . The MEA said the process will be led by Gilles Charland, “an experienced mediator with a good knowledge of the industry.” The decision to engage with a mediator comes after Labor Minister Steve MacKinnon ordered the MEA to end a lockout of Local 375 stemming from its ongoing work stoppages . The mediation process means both sides won’t have to submit to a government-appointed arbitrator, also ordered by MacKinnon. Whether mediation succeeds is far from certain, however. The MEA said last month that it has engaged in 35 mediation meetings with Local 375 since mid-2023, with no resolution. Montreal’s port effectively reopened on Nov. 16 following MacKinnon’s back-to-work order. MacKinnon’s order also covered the ports in British Columbia where longshore foremen have been in protracted contract talks with maritime employers over a new contract and work rules following a semi-automation project at a Vancouver-area marine terminal. Local 514 of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, the foremen’s union, said it plans to challenge the constitutionality of MacKinnon’s request . Yet its members also followed the return-to-work order, allowing the ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert to reopen. Contact Michael Angell at michael.angell@spglobal.com .

Montreal port employers, union agree to mediation in talks for new contract

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The world of LTL is slow to embrace change. Business anachronisms permeate current supply chain processes. These vestiges of the way things used to work define the LTL freight transportation procurement process of many modern shippers.David Knuth, logistics specialist at IEWC, a global supplier of cable and wire based in Wisconsin, is happy to have modernized the RFP process, automating the entire LTL bidding procedure with Bid$ense, SMC³’s automated truckload and LTL freight transportation sourcing solution. But when prompted, he can still recall what once was.In his previous job, a large part of his duties were consumed by creating an intermodal bid package for carriers. In a spreadsheet, Knuth detailed the company’s volumes lane by lane, taking care to delete any errant keystrokes or misleading data. He would then email out the information to each carrier, taking time to respond to detailed technical questions about the spreadsheet data. Finally, he had to compile all the results, create an algorithm that would compare the carriers on each lane, and award the business.“It was a huge undertaking. It took about four months to do,” Knuth said of the old process. “It was almost a full-time job for that part of the year, every year.”In his new job at IEWC, he sat down with Bid$ense on day one and was amazed at the capabilities. Knuth had never before used a bid tool. SMC³’s latest versions of Bid$ense automate the process even further, taking truckload and LTL RFPs entirely online. The tool draws on RFP best-practices protocols to streamline the bidding communication process, enabling bidding carriers to respond accurately and promptly to shipper requests. The solution also does all the distribution work automatically, electronically submitting shipper bid data to carriers based on their actual service capabilities and performance records. Carriers are alerted with timely prompts for RFP deliverables, so shippers aren’t waiting by the phone for responses.Another benefit of automating the process is the data-cleansing assistance. When Knuth sent spreadsheets to carriers, data errors might cloud the bidding process; he might have to resend data or simply accept a price that did not truly reflect the costs of doing business. Data cleansing is incredibly beneficial, he said.The spreadsheet technique also made bidding analysis an onerous task. Since Bid$ense automates and streamlines the entire RFP process, intensive examination is now simple. SMC³ knows that each bid has more than one best outcome. With uniform responses from each carrier, shippers can quickly rank results and create an unlimited quantity of what-if scenarios to make the optimal procurement decision.Jesse Burnett of Central Garden &amp; Pet experiences many of the same benefits. Founded in 1980, Central Garden &amp; Pet has spent the last three decades growing from a small garden supply company to a provider of a range of products from dog chews and bird seed to soil supplements and natural insecticides. For much of its life, the company shipped these disparate goods via LTL and truckload carriers to retailers throughout the country, relying on each business unit to negotiate directly with their freight transportation providers. This arrangement worked fairly well for a small company, but as Central Garden &amp; Pet expanded, leadership decided to consolidate decision making.Burnett helped centralize the transportation decision making in 2015 with SMC³’s Bid$ense. Before Bid$ense, every business unit operated independently as far as negotiating with carriers.“There were a lot of different things just floating around,” he said. “We didn’t have master agreements in place; no national pricing at all. The pricing from carriers was just all over the place, depending on where you were.”The transformations he saw with Bid$ense were immediate. Burnett has been using the tool about every other year since its implementation at the company. Central Garden and Pet’s $19.6 million 2019 LTL bid saved the company just more than 9 percent when compared to its historical average. For Burnett, though, bid automation extends far beyond savings.“We knew that we weren’t getting the best pricing offer from our carriers just because nothing was centralized,” he continued. “We knew that if we combined everything from all these business units and paired it with one corporate offering, then it would drive some cost benefit with it.”When the company initially decided to centralize bid procurement, executives researched a number of different methodologies and technologies. In the end, though, Burnett found that Bid$ense was both widespread and well known, and that his carrier partners already knew how to use the application. Burnett also highlighted the data-cleansing process as a major benefit, saying the rigorous process ensures that carriers always return the best price.“It definitely has helped drive savings,” he said. “Any time you go out there and you drive that competitiveness with the carriers and they know they’re in a bid environment, it seems to sharpen their pencils.”Transportation procurement is an integral part of the modern supply chain. With Bid$ense, shippers can develop a strategic implementation plan that saves them time and money, but also helps them create strong relationships with their carrier partners. These carriers appreciate the solution’s data-cleansing process; when carriers receive a complete shipment history and future volume forecast, they don’t have to guess on pricing. Carriers that receive more data from shippers get a complete picture of that shipper’s freight, allowing them to accurately plan instead of simply preparing for the worst-case scenario. Clean data presented through an automated system can lead to both bigger shipment savings and a lasting partnership between carrier and customer.Whether customers are looking to streamline over-the-road transportation bidding by automating the RFP process or create an entirely new, centralized sourcing process, Bid$ense has the analytical horsepower to get the job done.SMC³ 2020 Customer Case Study

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Shippers save money, time with automated transportation bidding tools

SSA Marine Mexico has made significant strides in modernizing its infrastructure at the Port of Manzanillo, investing $15 million to enhance operational efficiency and sustainability at its facilities. This move is part of the company's broader strategy to remain at the forefront of the shipping and logistics industry. •	Strengthening Sustainability with Advanced Technology <figure class="joc_admin__inline-image-position-left joc_admin__inline-image-size-medium" data-figure-size="medium" data-figure-position="left"><img src="/content-assets/1730488295264_Cranes%20arrival%20to%20TEC%20I.png" alt="Cranes arrival to TEC I" class="joc_admin__inline-image-inherit"></figure> In July, SSA Marine Mexico added seven state-of-the-art E-RTG (Electric Rubber-Tired Gantry) cranes to its fleet, valued at $14 million. These advanced cranes were distributed across its two terminals: four cranes were assigned to the Multipurpose Terminal, and three to the Specialized Container Terminal I. What sets these cranes apart is their dual-operation capability, allowing them to function either on electric power or diesel fuel. This innovation plays a critical role in reducing the environmental impact of operations, contributing to a 7% increase in energy efficiency. This efficiency improvement is equivalent to eliminating nearly 4,000 tons of CO2 emissions annually, underscoring SSA Marine Mexico's commitment to sustainability. Through this acquisition, SSA Marine Mexico not only enhances its cargo-handling capabilities but also reinforces its leadership in integrating cutting-edge, eco-friendly technology in the maritime industry. The company continues to push the boundaries of efficiency and sustainability, ensuring long-term value for both its customers and the environment. •	Upgraded Facilities to Meet Growing Demand <figure class="joc_admin__inline-image-position-left joc_admin__inline-image-size-medium" data-figure-size="medium" data-figure-position="left"><img src="/content-assets/1730488350634_Multipurpose%20terminal.png" alt="Multipurpose Terminal" class="joc_admin__inline-image-inherit"></figure> In addition to the new cranes, SSA Marine Mexico has completed crucial modernization and repair work across its Multipurpose Terminal and Specialized Facility at the Port of Manzanillo. This $1 million investment targeted critical infrastructure enhancements, focusing on both structural integrity and operational functionality. Key improvements included leveling approximately 12,000 square meters in the dock area, along with the removal of outdated concrete curbs and asphalt layers. The upgraded space now features high-resistance pavers designed to optimize water drainage and prevent pooling, ensuring safer and more efficient operations. Moreover, the Specialized Facility saw significant upgrades, including the leveling of key warehouse areas to facilitate smoother cargo handling processes. These infrastructure improvements directly enhance the handling of TEUS (Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit containers), further demonstrating SSA Marine Mexico's unwavering commitment to continuous modernization, operational safety, and efficiency. With these initiatives, SSA Marine Mexico is well-positioned to meet the growing demands of the global shipping industry while setting new standards in sustainable port operations. LINK:<a href="https://www.ssamarine.mx/ssa-ing/index" rel="noreferrer" class="joc_admin__link"> https://www.ssamarine.mx/ssa-ing/index</a>

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SSA Marine Mexico Modernizes Facilities with $15 Million Investment 

If there’s one immutable truth in the world of logistics, it’s this: LTL is an inherently complex form of transportation. Tariffs, rates, DIM weights, transit times — it’s enough to confuse even seasoned logistics professionals. The solution to this knowledge gap has historically been on-the-job training or university supply chain education, but for a variety of reasons there is now a pressing need for third-party, remote LTL training that prepares logistics workers for transportation success. Global Scope Can Overlook Local Intricacies In the past, professionals looking to move into a supply chain career learned about the basics of supply chain from universities. However, many of these college supply chain programs are now global in scope, focusing on worldwide supply chain management instead of the intricacies of specialized domestic transportation. And even these programs, which used to be widespread, are becoming less common. LTL is not an industry of broad-brush strokes; supply chain professionals really need a pointillistic understanding of the logistics of LTL in order to excel in the industry. Accelerating Need for Dedicated LTL Education This lack of specified training put the onus on employers to prepare new hires with the LTL knowledge needed to do their jobs. Dedicated LTL study is a necessity, not a luxury. At the same time, changes in LTL and the broader supply chain world are accelerating. The reliance on e-commerce has ballooned since the start of the pandemic, and last-mile LTL shipments and related e-commerce strains on the supply chain won’t diminish once social distancing abates. That genie isn’t going back into the bottle. So supply chain employers need logistics workers that are fully versed in all aspects of the industry, ready to solve unique shipping and delivery problems based on their extensive supply chain knowledge But why care about LTL? It’s been reported that some shippers in today’s world are no longer concerned with what mode is used to ship their goods. A Multimodal Approach Ensures On-Time Delivery This mode agnosticism means supply chain stakeholders have to be well versed in all modes of transportation. As unforeseen weather events and other disruptions, such as protests, become more common, savvy logistics employees will need to be armed with familiarity of all modes, not just the most popular, to ensure that freight is delivered on time, without damage, and in the most financially expedient way possible. Offerings like SMC³’s LTL online education courses cover a wide range of topics from LTL basics and operations to more advanced concepts like pricing analytics and transportation law. The company also has plans to continually refresh content, adding new expert presenters and taking the feedback of students to make the courses even better as time goes on. Learn more about&nbsp;<a href="https://logisticstrainingcenter.com/smc3-courses/" rel="noreferrer" class="joc_admin__link">SMC³’s LTL Online Education program</a>&nbsp;and view the 2021 hybrid schedule, featuring live industry experts,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.smc3.com/onlinelearning2021/" rel="noreferrer" class="joc_admin__link">here.</a>

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