Newsletter – May 14, 2018

AIR FREIGHT

Latin recovery fails to save Viracopos airport as operator files for bankruptcy
source: theloadstar.co.uk
Air cargo in Latin America has been on the rebound, but the renewed momentum has not lifted the fortunes of Brazil’s second-largest gateway enough to avert a crisis. Read more here.

Hong Kong cargo recovers strongly in April
source: aircargonews.net
Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) handled 426,000 tonnes of cargo and air mail in April, up by 4.8% year-on-year.
A 17% growth in transhipment cargo contributed heavily to the growth in throughput. Among HKIA’s key trading regions, cargo traffic with North America increased most significantly in the month. Read more here.

OCEAN FREIGHT UPDATES

Yang Ming suffers after ‘slack’ first quarter
source: lloydloadinglist.com
Yang Ming Marine Transport reported a near $T2bn ($67m) net loss in the first quarter, having just returned to profitability for the whole of 2017.  Read more here.

Hapag-Lloyd stays bullish despite loss-making first quarter
source: theloadstar.co.uk
After sliding back into the red in the first three months of the year, and predicting a “tough” second quarter, Hapag-Lloyd is bullish about the prospects of a recovery in the second half. Read more here (login required).

GROUND AND RAIL FREIGHT UPDATES

Tussle Reaches Flashpoint, JNPT Truckers go on Strike
source:mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com
Protest over appointment of just 4 transporters for all cargo operations.
Truckers at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust have gone on an indefinite strike to protest a faster and cost-effective cargo transportation system, which was rolled out on May 1. Read more here.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS – GOVERNMENT UPDATES

Digital disruptors risk ‘de-skilling’ the logistics market
source: theloadstar.co.uk
Digital disruptors are whittling away at the skills base of traditional forwarders, without providing a suitable alternative.
This is the view of Tuscor Lloyd’s general manager Neel Ratti, who was speaking on a panel at Multimodal 2018 last week. Read more here (login required).

Container volume on Asia-US east coast trade surges 16pc
source: shippingazette.com
TRANSPACIFIC headhaul volumes so far this year are proving robust – especially for US east coast ports despite the uncertain long-term outlook for demand following the outbreak of trade war skirmishes between the US and China. Read more here.