Ocean
As U.S. stores begin to reopen, Trans-Pacific spot rates are skyrocketing. Last week, spot pricing from Shanghai to the U.S. West Coast jumped 29.2 percent from the previous week.
The FMC has ruled to give contract filing relief to carriers. Container lines will no longer be required to file ‘essential terms’ of contracts with cargo owners. The change comes after determinations that few rely on essential terms publications and that such a change won’t impact market competition. Removing the requirement is estimated to save 41,048 man hours to process the data, generating nearly $2 million in savings per year.
Air
New data from The International Air Transport Association shows a 50% decrease in airline revenue for 2020. “Financially, 2020 will go down as the worst year in the history of aviation,” said their CEO, but they acknowledged that freight rates and increased airfreight traffic have kept the industry afloat.
The U.S. Department of Transportation has further loosened restrictions on Chinese airline flights. They will now allow four round-trip flights per week from Chinese airlines, doubling the previous allowance.
Ports
As India sees a new surge in Covid-19 cases, several districts have been placed under complete lockdown—in most places restricting commercial activity to essential goods only.
Ports are feeling the pressure as vessel and call sizes increase. Huge growth in call sizes strain port capacity and prolong stay times.
Maersk has added four international ports to its program that allows cargo owners to expedite or slow down cargo shipments. The Maersk Accelerate product has been extended to the ports of Durban, South Africa; Barcelona, Spain; Felixstowe, England; and Lázaro Cárdenas in Mexico.
Trucking
As businesses across the U.S. begin to reopen, domestic truck spot rates are expected to level out, slowly moving towards normal. Predictions show spot rates flattening in early July.
Truck traffic continues to increase across the country, and prices are going up with it. The West Coast in particular faces extremely tight capacity, as personal protective equipment continues to flood in, along with an increase in typical consumer goods.
Other News
The USMCA goes into effect on July 1st. Make sure your business is prepared by reading up on the agreement and its protocols.
