<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The world fleet of freighters will double from 1,760 to 3,500 aircraft in the next 20 years, Boeing says in an upbeat forecast that raises estimates from a year ago on faster growth in the global econ</div>

The world fleet of freighters will double from 1,760 to 3,500 aircraft in the next 20 years, Boeing says in an upbeat forecast that raises estimates from a year ago on faster growth in the global econ

<div>The world fleet of freighters will double from 1,760 to 3,500 aircraft in the next 20 years, Boeing says in an upbeat forecast that raises estimates from a year ago on faster growth in the global economy and world trade.The <a>air cargo</a> market will grow by 5.6 percent annually through 2030, outpacing passenger growth of 5.1 percent, the aircraft manufacturer said in its 2011 Current Market Outlook published in Paris today.The addition to the freighter fleet will include 970 new planes with a market value of $250 billion and 1,990 conversions of passenger jets, Boeing said ahead of next week&amp;rsquo;s...

The world fleet of freighters will double from 1,760 to 3,500 aircraft in the next 20 years, Boeing says in an upbeat forecast that raises estimates from a year ago on faster growth in the global economy and world trade. The air cargo market will grow by 5.6 percent annually through 2030, outpacing passenger growth of 5.1 percent, the aircraft manufacturer said in its 2011 Current Market Outlook published in Paris today. The addition to the freighter fleet will include 970 new planes with a market value of $250 billion and 1,990 conversions of passenger jets, Boeing said ahead of next week&rsquo;s Paris Air Show. Large freighters, with capacity over 88 tons, will account for 690 new planes and medium-freighters with 44 to 88 tons capacity will total 280 airplanes. No new standard-body freighters of 49.6 tons capacity will be built but there will be 1,240 standard-body conversions, according to Boeing. Boeing forecast a total market for 33,500 new passenger jets and freighters worth $4 trillion between 2011 and 2030. &ldquo;The world market has recovered and is now expanding at a significant rate,&rdquo; Randy Tinseth, vice president of Marketing, Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said in Paris. &ldquo;Not only is there strong demand for air travel and new airplanes today, but the fundamental drivers of air travel &mdash; including economic growth, world trade and liberalization &mdash; all point to healthy long-term demand.&rdquo; Boeing is flying its new 747-8 freighter to the Paris Air Show using a blend of 15 percent camelina-based biofuel mixed with 85 percent traditional kerosene fuel &ndash; the world&rsquo;s first trans-Atlantic crossing of a commercial jet using biologically derived fuel. The plane will be on display in Paris June 21-22 and will then fly to the Luxembourg headquarters of launch customer Cargolux which will take delivery of the first of 13 planes in the summer.

Air Cargo Carriers News

Freighter Fleet to Double in 20 Years, Boeing Says

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Slow vehicle sales, easing charter rates and surplus fleet growth are set to ease the intensity of the ro/ro sector. </div>

Slow vehicle sales, easing charter rates and surplus fleet growth are set to ease the intensity of the ro/ro sector.

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<div class="phx-topic">After record volumes in 2024 , car carrier operators face a slacker year in 2025 amid sluggish vehicle sales, falling vessel charter rates and fleet growth outpacing cargo demand.Wallenius Wilhelmsen, the world’s largest roll-on/roll-off (ro/ro) operator, said in a Dec. 16 outlook statement that several automobile and high-and-heavy equipment manufacturers were struggling with sales.Global light vehicle sales growth is expected to be a sluggish 1.8% this year, rising to 91.4 million units from 89.8 million vehicles last year, consultant Kroll said in a November commentary. “Sales have slowed globally due to weaker customer demand, mixed economic conditions and higher interest rates,” the firm said.British shipbroking house Clarksons said global seaborne automobile shipments had cooled this year, climbing by 3% between January and October compared with an 18% increase for the whole of last year.“This reflects a number of factors: pent-up demand post-Covid has mostly been worked through in key markets; car sales in Europe are facing headwinds from high prices, elevated finance costs and uncertainty around the pace of the EV transition; while exports from Japan and Korea have been curbed by competition from Chinese brands in key markets and some logistical challenges,” the broker said in a car carrier commentary on Dec. 6.<h3>Lowering expectations</h3>During its third quarter results briefings in October, Oslo, Norway-listed Wilhelmsen and its Oslo-listed rival Höegh Autoliners had forecast a recovery in high-and-heavy volumes next year.But Wilhelmsen’s optimism about the high-and-heavy sector, which includes construction, mining and agricultural equipment, has largely evaporated. It said volumes “are assumed to remain muted for much of 2025, with a possible uptick towards the end of the year,” in its Dec. 16 outlook statement. Höegh Autoliners also saw its prorated share of high-and-heavy and breakbulk volumes slip to 23% of total cargo volumes in November, compared with 24% for the September-November period, the carrier said in a Dec. 6 trading statement.Wilhelmsen highlighted growing global vessel supply as an issue next year, “which may push utilization down if cargo volumes do not grow.”“Other risk factors include supply chain challenges, labor conflicts, and cost escalation,” the carrier added. “Overall, we see growing uncertainties for 2025, but we expect our solid contract base, including 2024 renewals, to support our business and counterbalance possible market softening,” it’s update added.Wallenius said it also saw the potential for vehicle volumes to recover next year after car manufacturers cut production over the past few months to balance inventories. “The introduction of new models in 2025 may contribute positively to volumes,” it said.<h3>Freight fixed at record rates</h3>Ro/ro operators, including Wilhelmsen and Höegh Autoliners, have fixed freight contracts, including multi-year deals, at record highs this year on the back of strong demand and tight capacity. Wilhelmsen said its net freight rate in the third quarter was a record $61 per cubic meter (cbm). As a result, its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) is expected to be 4% to 6% higher at around $1.9 billion compared with last year.Höegh Autoliners has also reported higher freight rates after signing further long-term and spot transportation contracts in the last few months.These included its most significant deal this year in terms of value and volumes, a five-year contract starting from Jan. 1, 2025, to transport vehicles from Asia and the Atlantic basin for an existing international car maker customer, the carrier said.Ro/ro operators are currently in a buoyant position with healthy earnings, strong balance sheets after renewing freight contracts at firm levels and exceptional freight rates despite the recent declined, Clarksons said. “Additionally, significant car trade volumes are still being moved in containers or on other vessels, providing a buffer of unmet demand that the car carrier fleet can look to ‘win back’ as capacity grows,” the broker said on its commentary.But it warned of a further easing in fundamentals, with 12% fleet growth in 2025 and a further 8% increase in 2026 set to outpace cargo demand of between 1% and 2% in both years.There are 211 car carriers on order totaling 4.6 million deadweight metric tons, equivalent to 35% of the existing fleet in tonnage terms, according to Clarksons data.These include deals last month from Wallenius and Sallaum Lines with Wallenius ordering an additional two 11,700 car equivalent unit (CEU) Shaper-class vessels at China Merchants Jingling Shipyard Company and Sallaum Lines ordering six 7,400 CEU to 7,500 CEU car carriers from two shipyards in China in November.Contact Keith Wallis at <a href="mailto:keithwallis@hotmail.com">keithwallis@hotmail.com</a>.</div>

After record volumes in 2024 , car carrier operators face a slacker year in 2025 amid sluggish vehicle sales, falling vessel charter rates and fleet growth outpacing cargo demand. Wallenius Wilhelmsen, the world’s largest roll-on/roll-off (ro/ro) operator, said in a Dec. 16 outlook statement that several automobile and high-and-heavy equipment manufacturers were struggling with sales. Global light vehicle sales growth is expected to be a sluggish 1.8% this year, rising to 91.4 million units from 89.8 million vehicles last year, consultant Kroll said in a November commentary. “Sales have slowed globally due to weaker customer demand, mixed economic conditions and higher interest rates,” the firm said. British shipbroking house Clarksons said global seaborne automobile shipments had cooled this year, climbing by 3% between January and October compared with an 18% increase for the whole of last year. “This reflects a number of factors: pent-up demand post-Covid has mostly been worked through in key markets; car sales in Europe are facing headwinds from high prices, elevated finance costs and uncertainty around the pace of the EV transition; while exports from Japan and Korea have been curbed by competition from Chinese brands in key markets and some logistical challenges,” the broker said in a car carrier commentary on Dec. 6. Lowering expectations During its third quarter results briefings in October, Oslo, Norway-listed Wilhelmsen and its Oslo-listed rival Höegh Autoliners had forecast a recovery in high-and-heavy volumes next year. But Wilhelmsen’s optimism about the high-and-heavy sector, which includes construction, mining and agricultural equipment, has largely evaporated. It said volumes “are assumed to remain muted for much of 2025, with a possible uptick towards the end of the year,” in its Dec. 16 outlook statement. Höegh Autoliners also saw its prorated share of high-and-heavy and breakbulk volumes slip to 23% of total cargo volumes in November, compared with 24% for the September-November period, the carrier said in a Dec. 6 trading statement. Wilhelmsen highlighted growing global vessel supply as an issue next year, “which may push utilization down if cargo volumes do not grow.” “Other risk factors include supply chain challenges, labor conflicts, and cost escalation,” the carrier added. “Overall, we see growing uncertainties for 2025, but we expect our solid contract base, including 2024 renewals, to support our business and counterbalance possible market softening,” it’s update added. Wallenius said it also saw the potential for vehicle volumes to recover next year after car manufacturers cut production over the past few months to balance inventories. “The introduction of new models in 2025 may contribute positively to volumes,” it said. Freight fixed at record rates Ro/ro operators, including Wilhelmsen and Höegh Autoliners, have fixed freight contracts, including multi-year deals, at record highs this year on the back of strong demand and tight capacity. Wilhelmsen said its net freight rate in the third quarter was a record $61 per cubic meter (cbm). As a result, its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) is expected to be 4% to 6% higher at around $1.9 billion compared with last year. Höegh Autoliners has also reported higher freight rates after signing further long-term and spot transportation contracts in the last few months. These included its most significant deal this year in terms of value and volumes, a five-year contract starting from Jan. 1, 2025, to transport vehicles from Asia and the Atlantic basin for an existing international car maker customer, the carrier said. Ro/ro operators are currently in a buoyant position with healthy earnings, strong balance sheets after renewing freight contracts at firm levels and exceptional freight rates despite the recent declined, Clarksons said. “Additionally, significant car trade volumes are still being moved in containers or on other vessels, providing a buffer of unmet demand that the car carrier fleet can look to ‘win back’ as capacity grows,” the broker said on its commentary. But it warned of a further easing in fundamentals, with 12% fleet growth in 2025 and a further 8% increase in 2026 set to outpace cargo demand of between 1% and 2% in both years. There are 211 car carriers on order totaling 4.6 million deadweight metric tons, equivalent to 35% of the existing fleet in tonnage terms, according to Clarksons data. These include deals last month from Wallenius and Sallaum Lines with Wallenius ordering an additional two 11,700 car equivalent unit (CEU) Shaper-class vessels at China Merchants Jingling Shipyard Company and Sallaum Lines ordering six 7,400 CEU to 7,500 CEU car carriers from two shipyards in China in November. Contact Keith Wallis at keithwallis@hotmail.com .

Ro/ro cargo

Breakbulk News

Car carriers set for 2025 comedown from record year

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Severe weather and a rush of cargo before Lunar New Year celebrations slow Asian factory production are clogging major ports from Toyko to Shanghai. </div>

Severe weather and a rush of cargo before Lunar New Year celebrations slow Asian factory production are clogging major ports from Toyko to Shanghai.

<div class="phx-topic">A pre-Lunar New Year cargo rush and bad weather causing vessel bunching are congesting major Asian ports, leading to berthing delays of up to five days, carriers and forwarders said. The worst affected ports include Shanghai, Tokyo, Ningbo, Busan and Manila although the length of the delays varies by container line, shipping executives told the Journal of Commerce. The congestion comes as <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/high-demand-leads-to-end-of-year-surge-in-asia-europe-ocean-rates-5877093">European</a> and <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/us-import-surge-to-persist-into-spring-amid-continued-frontloading-retailers-5878711">North American shippers rush imports</a> ahead of factory activity slowing down for 15-days of Lunar New Year celebrations starting Jan. 29. Ocean Network Express said it is facing operational constraints in Tokyo because the port is “at full capacity” and congested berths at its capital port and others in Japan, impacting intra-Asia services along with those operating the major east-west trades. Congestion is also affecting other ports in Japan which is affecting intra-Asia and east-west services, the carrier’s sailing schedules showed last week. The carrier has been forced to skip calls at Keelung and Kaohsiung by the 1,708-TEU Swan River Bridge operating on its Japan-Vietnam-Haiphong service to help restore schedule reliability after the ship was five days late berthing at Tokyo last week. Forwarders said the delays in Tokyo and other ports in Japan have been largely caused by a pre-holiday cargo rush before ports and shipping company offices close from Dec. 27 for the New Year festive break. They are not scheduled to re-open until Jan. 6, carriers said. “In Tokyo, we are closely monitoring terminal operations as year-end closures approach. ONE has plans in place to minimize potential impacts on our services,” a spokesperson for the carrier told the Journal of Commerce. <h3>Congestion extends to northern China</h3>Shanghai and Ningbo are affected by weather related delays including strong winds and fog. The current delays have been compounded in Shanghai after its Yangshan deep-water port, about 20 miles offshore from Pudong, had to close due to typhoon Kong-rey in early November. Kuehne + Nagel said there was heavy berth congestion in Yangshan with ships either delayed or having to wait up to five days last week due to the earlier typhoon-related closure. ONE said the delays at Yangshan were also caused by high yard density.   At Shanghai’s Waigaoqiao container terminals in Pudong about 20 miles from downtown Shanghai, the average seven-day vessel waiting time is nearly three days due to heavy berth congestion at all terminals, according to K + N’s visibility platform SeaExplorer.     “Ningbo is facing approximately 1.5 days of waiting time, mainly caused by peak season congestion and weather factors,” the ONE spokesperson told the Journal of Commerce. “The situation is improving at Shanghai and Ningbo after the typhoon, but the seasonal weather is causing delays, which is typical for this time of year,” the spokesperson added. ONE also highlighted port congestion related delays at Busan, Manila and Cat Lai port in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, for service disruption and delayed sailings.  FIBS Logistics said Busan is experiencing berthing waits of around two days due to vessel bunching and ships arriving late from previous ports. OOCL said Busan has had “winter challenges”. <h3>Whiplash warning </h3>K + N agreed and predicted congestion would worsen this week as delayed mainline vessels arrived back in Asia from Europe and North America. “For Manila, there is heavy berth congestion for around three days waiting time,” a FIBS Logistics spokesperson told the Journal of Commerce.K + N’s SeaExplorer platform said the seven-day average vessel waiting time at Manila was around five days due to berth congestion. Maritime analyst Linerlytica said congestion had also worsened at North European and Mediterranean ports over the past week with “very high yard occupancy reported in Rotterdam, Antwerp, Hamburg and Southampton”. This has “resulted in increased berthing delays with some ships arriving at Rotterdam facing delays of up to four days”. Valencia, Barcelona, Algeciras and Piraeus have also reported increased waiting times with high yard occupancy,” Linerlytica said in a commentary Thursday. Contact Keith Wallis at <a href="keith.wallis@hotmail.com">keith.wallis@hotmail.com</a>. </div>

A pre-Lunar New Year cargo rush and bad weather causing vessel bunching are congesting major Asian ports, leading to berthing delays of up to five days, carriers and forwarders said. The worst affected ports include Shanghai, Tokyo, Ningbo, Busan and Manila although the length of the delays varies by container line, shipping executives told the Journal of Commerce. The congestion comes as European and North American shippers rush imports ahead of factory activity slowing down for 15-days of Lunar New Year celebrations starting Jan. 29. Ocean Network Express said it is facing operational constraints in Tokyo because the port is “at full capacity” and congested berths at its capital port and others in Japan, impacting intra-Asia services along with those operating the major east-west trades. Congestion is also affecting other ports in Japan which is affecting intra-Asia and east-west services, the carrier’s sailing schedules showed last week. The carrier has been forced to skip calls at Keelung and Kaohsiung by the 1,708-TEU Swan River Bridge operating on its Japan-Vietnam-Haiphong service to help restore schedule reliability after the ship was five days late berthing at Tokyo last week. Forwarders said the delays in Tokyo and other ports in Japan have been largely caused by a pre-holiday cargo rush before ports and shipping company offices close from Dec. 27 for the New Year festive break. They are not scheduled to re-open until Jan. 6, carriers said. “In Tokyo, we are closely monitoring terminal operations as year-end closures approach. ONE has plans in place to minimize potential impacts on our services,” a spokesperson for the carrier told the Journal of Commerce. Congestion extends to northern China Shanghai and Ningbo are affected by weather related delays including strong winds and fog. The current delays have been compounded in Shanghai after its Yangshan deep-water port, about 20 miles offshore from Pudong, had to close due to typhoon Kong-rey in early November. Kuehne + Nagel said there was heavy berth congestion in Yangshan with ships either delayed or having to wait up to five days last week due to the earlier typhoon-related closure. ONE said the delays at Yangshan were also caused by high yard density.   At Shanghai’s Waigaoqiao container terminals in Pudong about 20 miles from downtown Shanghai, the average seven-day vessel waiting time is nearly three days due to heavy berth congestion at all terminals, according to K + N’s visibility platform SeaExplorer.     “Ningbo is facing approximately 1.5 days of waiting time, mainly caused by peak season congestion and weather factors,” the ONE spokesperson told the Journal of Commerce. “The situation is improving at Shanghai and Ningbo after the typhoon, but the seasonal weather is causing delays, which is typical for this time of year,” the spokesperson added. ONE also highlighted port congestion related delays at Busan, Manila and Cat Lai port in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, for service disruption and delayed sailings.  FIBS Logistics said Busan is experiencing berthing waits of around two days due to vessel bunching and ships arriving late from previous ports. OOCL said Busan has had “winter challenges”. Whiplash warning K + N agreed and predicted congestion would worsen this week as delayed mainline vessels arrived back in Asia from Europe and North America. “For Manila, there is heavy berth congestion for around three days waiting time,” a FIBS Logistics spokesperson told the Journal of Commerce. K + N’s SeaExplorer platform said the seven-day average vessel waiting time at Manila was around five days due to berth congestion. Maritime analyst Linerlytica said congestion had also worsened at North European and Mediterranean ports over the past week with “very high yard occupancy reported in Rotterdam, Antwerp, Hamburg and Southampton”. This has “resulted in increased berthing delays with some ships arriving at Rotterdam facing delays of up to four days”. Valencia, Barcelona, Algeciras and Piraeus have also reported increased waiting times with high yard occupancy,” Linerlytica said in a commentary Thursday. Contact Keith Wallis at keith.wallis@hotmail.com .

Container Shipping News

Port News

Container lines

Asia-Europe

Trans-Pacific

International ports

Lunar cargo rush, poor weather clog major Asia ports

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Customer advisories from Maersk, CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd show the carriers plan to “simplify the process” by merging compliance with the EU ETS and FuelEU regulations into one fuel surcharge. </div>

Customer advisories from Maersk, CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd show the carriers plan to “simplify the process” by merging compliance with the EU ETS and FuelEU regulations into one fuel surcharge.

<div class="phx-topic">Ocean carriers are factoring the evolving European Union fuel regulations into their surcharges for next year as carbon tax on emissions and compliance with fuel intensity levels begin to escalate. From Jan. 1, <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/european-parliament-approves-shipping-ets-but-stakeholders-wary-5202492">the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS)</a> will impose a tax on 70% of carrier emissions — up from 40% this year — on voyages beginning or ending in the EU. Also from Jan. 1, <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/container-carriers-to-shoulder-bulk-of-europe-fuel-intensity-rule-5192246">the new FuelEU Maritime regulation</a> will set limits on the yearly average greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity of the energy used by ships that call at European ports. These limits will gradually decrease over time, starting with a 2% reduction by 2025 and reaching an 80% reduction by 2050. Customer advisories from CMA CGM, Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd show the carriers plan to “simplify the process” by merging compliance with the EU ETS and FuelEU regulations into one fuel surcharge. ”A new Energy Transition Surcharge will be implemented from Jan. 1, 2025. This surcharge will replace the current EU ETS surcharge,” CMA CGM noted in an advisory Monday. Maersk in early December announced its new Emissions Surcharge that will be applied to containers for the first quarter. “We have decided to simplify the process for our customers by recovering the additional cost to comply with FuelEU through assessment of the emission surcharge (EMS/ESS) which also includes the EU ETS cost of compliance,” the Maersk advisory stated. Hapag-Lloyd told customers in a recent update the existing EU ETS surcharge will be expanded to cover both the increase in carbon tax on emissions and the rising bunkering costs of compliance with FuelEU Maritime “in one transparent surcharge.” <h3>Cost of compliance </h3>Maersk will be charging Asia to North Europe shippers $99 per FEU and Asia-Mediterranean shippers $69/FEU from Jan. 1 to March 31. While Hapag-Lloyd never provided a price, the carrier said it expected the EU ETS surcharge “to roughly double” due to regulatory updates. CMA CGM did not provide a list of surcharge levels per container, but the carrier pointed out that the growing cost of compliance with the EU ETS and the new FuelEU rules would need to be recovered. The FuelEU regulation requires maritime companies to gradually increase their use of renewable and low-carbon fuels to lower their environmental impact, CMA CGM noted, adding that the costs associated with complying with the legislation would be included in the Energy Transition Surcharge. For cargo bookings from China, local regulations <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/carriers-adjust-to-rules-requiring-ets-surcharge-to-be-included-in-china-exports-base-rate-5225899">require the emissions surcharges to be included in the base rate</a> rather than applying the carbon tax as an additional surcharge. Contact Greg Knowler at <a href="mailto:greg.knowler@spglobal.com">greg.knowler@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

Ocean carriers are factoring the evolving European Union fuel regulations into their surcharges for next year as carbon tax on emissions and compliance with fuel intensity levels begin to escalate. From Jan. 1, the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) will impose a tax on 70% of carrier emissions — up from 40% this year — on voyages beginning or ending in the EU. Also from Jan. 1, the new FuelEU Maritime regulation will set limits on the yearly average greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity of the energy used by ships that call at European ports. These limits will gradually decrease over time, starting with a 2% reduction by 2025 and reaching an 80% reduction by 2050. Customer advisories from CMA CGM, Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd show the carriers plan to “simplify the process” by merging compliance with the EU ETS and FuelEU regulations into one fuel surcharge. ”A new Energy Transition Surcharge will be implemented from Jan. 1, 2025. This surcharge will replace the current EU ETS surcharge,” CMA CGM noted in an advisory Monday. Maersk in early December announced its new Emissions Surcharge that will be applied to containers for the first quarter. “We have decided to simplify the process for our customers by recovering the additional cost to comply with FuelEU through assessment of the emission surcharge (EMS/ESS) which also includes the EU ETS cost of compliance,” the Maersk advisory stated. Hapag-Lloyd told customers in a recent update the existing EU ETS surcharge will be expanded to cover both the increase in carbon tax on emissions and the rising bunkering costs of compliance with FuelEU Maritime “in one transparent surcharge.” Cost of compliance Maersk will be charging Asia to North Europe shippers $99 per FEU and Asia-Mediterranean shippers $69/FEU from Jan. 1 to March 31. While Hapag-Lloyd never provided a price, the carrier said it expected the EU ETS surcharge “to roughly double” due to regulatory updates. CMA CGM did not provide a list of surcharge levels per container, but the carrier pointed out that the growing cost of compliance with the EU ETS and the new FuelEU rules would need to be recovered. The FuelEU regulation requires maritime companies to gradually increase their use of renewable and low-carbon fuels to lower their environmental impact, CMA CGM noted, adding that the costs associated with complying with the legislation would be included in the Energy Transition Surcharge. For cargo bookings from China, local regulations require the emissions surcharges to be included in the base rate rather than applying the carbon tax as an additional surcharge. Contact Greg Knowler at greg.knowler@spglobal.com .

Trans-Atlantic

Maritime

Carriers roll out new fuel surcharges as EU emissions rules tighten

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Forwarders and shippers expect a pending trade agreement with the European Union to boost South American imports from the continent as soon as late 2025. </div>

Forwarders and shippers expect a pending trade agreement with the European Union to boost South American imports from the continent as soon as late 2025.

<div class="phx-topic">South American forwarders and shippers expect a boost in the backhauls of the slow-growing Europe-to-Latin America trade lanes, pending the finalization of a trade agreement that would begin slashing tariffs on EU imports by more than 90% as early as late 2025. The EU-Mercosur agreement, signed Dec. 6, would reduce the cost of importing wine, spirits, cars, machinery, communications equipment, textiles, and chocolate from EU countries to Mercosur countries, which include Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. The trade’s backhaul has expanded just 1.4% to 1.57 million TEUs in the past five years ending in 2024, according to data from GTAS, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&amp;P Global. Latin American sources said any increase in volumes would be impactful where there’s one import on the inbound for every four heading to Europe. As the high costs of European goods currently drive shippers to import from other countries, sources said meaningful tariff reductions would bring a significant shift to the traditionally low-volume lane.“The European market right now is on a low trend,” said a forwarding source in Brazil. “Europe, overall, is quite hurt economically. [The] origin costs are very high. Agents are trying to recover lost business by adding [to] origin charges. Ocean rates are low, but origin costs are high.”While the terms have been settled to create “the world’s biggest free trade zone,” according to European Commission Vice President Kaja Kallas, the pact still needs approval from European Parliament and the European Council. If ratified, it would effectively position EU exports to Mercosur to be received more favorably than US products as early as 2026. <h3>Tapping a ‘protected’ market</h3>Historically, the “the Mercosur market is large, but highly protected,” said the European Commission, which serves as the EU’s executive branch. ”It’s expected that the trade will increase a lot,” said Marcelo Machado, sales consultant at CSS Logistics in Brazil. “They’re saying it will be a billion-dollar business between both continents.”Sources in South America agreed that European exports to Latin America have been soft, with very limited excess capacity on the lane. Overall, vessel utilization on the lane is adjusted to the current volumes and any volume influx could drive a capacity imbalance. Some temperature-sensitive EU food exports require specialty refrigerated (reefer) container equipment. Increased demand for EU perishables on the lane, especially in the wine, spirits and dairy industries, could drive more reefer equipment to be repositioned in Latin America — which is often scarce on connecting trades lanes.EU members Poland, France and Austria have publicly opposed the pact, delaying the European Parliament from voting to ratify and possibly derailing a long-simmering deal with talks stretching back to 1999.Contact Laura Robb at <a href="mailto:laura.robb@spglobal.com">laura.robb@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

South American forwarders and shippers expect a boost in the backhauls of the slow-growing Europe-to-Latin America trade lanes, pending the finalization of a trade agreement that would begin slashing tariffs on EU imports by more than 90% as early as late 2025. The EU-Mercosur agreement, signed Dec. 6, would reduce the cost of importing wine, spirits, cars, machinery, communications equipment, textiles, and chocolate from EU countries to Mercosur countries, which include Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. The trade’s backhaul has expanded just 1.4% to 1.57 million TEUs in the past five years ending in 2024, according to data from GTAS, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global. Latin American sources said any increase in volumes would be impactful where there’s one import on the inbound for every four heading to Europe. As the high costs of European goods currently drive shippers to import from other countries, sources said meaningful tariff reductions would bring a significant shift to the traditionally low-volume lane. “The European market right now is on a low trend,” said a forwarding source in Brazil. “Europe, overall, is quite hurt economically. [The] origin costs are very high. Agents are trying to recover lost business by adding [to] origin charges. Ocean rates are low, but origin costs are high.” While the terms have been settled to create “the world’s biggest free trade zone,” according to European Commission Vice President Kaja Kallas, the pact still needs approval from European Parliament and the European Council. If ratified, it would effectively position EU exports to Mercosur to be received more favorably than US products as early as 2026. Tapping a ‘protected’ market Historically, the “the Mercosur market is large, but highly protected,” said the European Commission, which serves as the EU’s executive branch. ”It’s expected that the trade will increase a lot,” said Marcelo Machado, sales consultant at CSS Logistics in Brazil. “They’re saying it will be a billion-dollar business between both continents.” Sources in South America agreed that European exports to Latin America have been soft, with very limited excess capacity on the lane. Overall, vessel utilization on the lane is adjusted to the current volumes and any volume influx could drive a capacity imbalance. Some temperature-sensitive EU food exports require specialty refrigerated (reefer) container equipment. Increased demand for EU perishables on the lane, especially in the wine, spirits and dairy industries, could drive more reefer equipment to be repositioned in Latin America — which is often scarce on connecting trades lanes. EU members Poland, France and Austria have publicly opposed the pact, delaying the European Parliament from voting to ratify and possibly derailing a long-simmering deal with talks stretching back to 1999. Contact Laura Robb at laura.robb@spglobal.com .

Transport, Trade and Regulation News

Supply chain

Mercosur trade deal offers Europe-Latin America backhaul boost

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Advent eModal, a three-decade landmark provider of fee collection and appointment scheduling at container terminals, has been sold by private equity group Blackstone to air cargo software specialist CargoSprint. </div>

Advent eModal, a three-decade landmark provider of fee collection and appointment scheduling at container terminals, has been sold by private equity group Blackstone to air cargo software specialist CargoSprint.

<div class="phx-topic">CargoSprint, a software company specializing in payments and workflow for the air cargo industry, on Monday announced it has acquired a majority stake in Advent eModal. The stake in the 30-year-old provider of widely used port appointment scheduling and fee collection tools marries a payment and collection software vendor and expands its portfolio to ocean shipping. The acquisition, terms of which were not disclosed, marries adjacent aspects of the two businesses, CargoSprint CEO Caro Krissman told the Journal of Commerce. “The heart of this is it’s a complementary business that’s similar in size,” he said. “Advent eModal has strong areas that we don’t. We’re a core [accounts payable] platform and they’re a core [accounts receivable] platform. They’re core in ocean and we’re core in air.” Advent eModal is predominantly known in the ocean freight space as a technology provider to container terminals, from appointment scheduling to fee collection to shipment lifecycle management tools. The company facilitates collections of fees for the PierPass program in Southern California as well as demurrage collection for a number of terminals. It also operates the equipment management platform chassis.com, among a host of other producers, some of which are customized to specific terminals or shipping lines. <h3>Bridging the services, modes </h3>Advent eModal, the result of a merger in 2012 between two competing platforms, is used by more than 85 ports, terminals and liner carriers, as well as 200 container depots globally. The company supports more than 90% of booked container terminal appointments in North America, according to its website. CargoSprint, meanwhile, was founded in 2012 by former CEO Josh Wolf as a digital payment platform to enable the release of air cargo shipments, which had previously been managed through the issuance of paper checks. It is connected to more than 5,000 cargo facilities and several thousand freight forwarders, the company said in a statement. It has since developed a secondary product, called SprintPass, that digitizes the air freight document management process. CargoSprint’s customers are predominantly ground handlers, while it is used by a growing number of cargo airlines, Krissman said. Krissman was named CEO of CargoSprint in fall as part of a strategic investment from private equity group Lone View Capital. Krissman previously sold his company, INLT, a digital customs broker, to Amazon in 2019. Prior to its acquisition this week, Advent eModal was owned by a combination of the private equity firm Blackstone, through its ownership of the SSA Marine terminal operating unit, and former CEO Parvez Mansuri, who will stay on as chief strategic officer and a board member. Krissman said detaching Advent eModal from the terminal operator under which it sat will help the company grow. “SSA will remain an important relationship,” he said. “They’ll remain a customer. But it’s important for the rest of the market that they are no longer the sole owner. It created a perception in the market they were catering to one operator. And even if that wasn’t true at all, perception can be reality.” As part of both the Advent eModal transaction and the Lone View investment, Krissman has lured a number of industry veterans from Amazon and third-party logistics providers. Dave Casey, senior vice president (SVP) of commercial strategy, and Bill Corcoran, SVP of customer success and product management, will both move from Advent eModal to CargoSprint as well. Contact Eric Johnson at <a href="mailto:eric.johnson@spglobal.com">eric.johnson@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

CargoSprint, a software company specializing in payments and workflow for the air cargo industry, on Monday announced it has acquired a majority stake in Advent eModal. The stake in the 30-year-old provider of widely used port appointment scheduling and fee collection tools marries a payment and collection software vendor and expands its portfolio to ocean shipping. The acquisition, terms of which were not disclosed, marries adjacent aspects of the two businesses, CargoSprint CEO Caro Krissman told the Journal of Commerce. “The heart of this is it’s a complementary business that’s similar in size,” he said. “Advent eModal has strong areas that we don’t. We’re a core [accounts payable] platform and they’re a core [accounts receivable] platform. They’re core in ocean and we’re core in air.” Advent eModal is predominantly known in the ocean freight space as a technology provider to container terminals, from appointment scheduling to fee collection to shipment lifecycle management tools. The company facilitates collections of fees for the PierPass program in Southern California as well as demurrage collection for a number of terminals. It also operates the equipment management platform chassis.com, among a host of other producers, some of which are customized to specific terminals or shipping lines. Bridging the services, modes Advent eModal, the result of a merger in 2012 between two competing platforms, is used by more than 85 ports, terminals and liner carriers, as well as 200 container depots globally. The company supports more than 90% of booked container terminal appointments in North America, according to its website. CargoSprint, meanwhile, was founded in 2012 by former CEO Josh Wolf as a digital payment platform to enable the release of air cargo shipments, which had previously been managed through the issuance of paper checks. It is connected to more than 5,000 cargo facilities and several thousand freight forwarders, the company said in a statement. It has since developed a secondary product, called SprintPass, that digitizes the air freight document management process. CargoSprint’s customers are predominantly ground handlers, while it is used by a growing number of cargo airlines, Krissman said. Krissman was named CEO of CargoSprint in fall as part of a strategic investment from private equity group Lone View Capital. Krissman previously sold his company, INLT, a digital customs broker, to Amazon in 2019. Prior to its acquisition this week, Advent eModal was owned by a combination of the private equity firm Blackstone, through its ownership of the SSA Marine terminal operating unit, and former CEO Parvez Mansuri, who will stay on as chief strategic officer and a board member. Krissman said detaching Advent eModal from the terminal operator under which it sat will help the company grow. “SSA will remain an important relationship,” he said. “They’ll remain a customer. But it’s important for the rest of the market that they are no longer the sole owner. It created a perception in the market they were catering to one operator. And even if that wasn’t true at all, perception can be reality.” As part of both the Advent eModal transaction and the Lone View investment, Krissman has lured a number of industry veterans from Amazon and third-party logistics providers. Dave Casey, senior vice president (SVP) of commercial strategy, and Bill Corcoran, SVP of customer success and product management, will both move from Advent eModal to CargoSprint as well. Contact Eric Johnson at eric.johnson@spglobal.com .

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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

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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