Recent News, by topic
Aperture & Focus Jan 26 2023
Global Aperture As the economic outlook leading up to the holiday had suggested, Lunar New Year did not bring with it enough consumer spending to prevent the announcement of more blank sailings. China’s rising Covid cases, a major factor in these…
Aperture & Focus: January 19, 2022
Global Aperture Where last year, sailings were blanked due to capacity constraints, this year carriers are seeing the same outcome from a different source: lack of demand. Factory orders from China are down by more than 40% and ocean bookings continue to…
Aperture & Focus-Jan 5th, 2023
Global Aperture New carbon reduction guidelines from the International Maritime Organization that went into effect January 1 will force aging reefer vessels, many that played an important role over the pandemic as capacity became strained, into retirement as regulations become increasingly rigorous over the coming years. Continued decline in demand…
Aperture & Focus 2022-Dec 29, 2022
Global Aperture After a price cap on Russian oil was introduced by G7 Nations, the EU, and Australia in response to Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, Russia delivered a response on December 27 in the form of a decree banning…
Aperture & Focus – December 21, 2022
Global Aperture In two weeks, a set of new measures will be enforced by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), requiring all ships to calculate their Energy Efficiency Existing Ship Index (EEXI) and Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII) rating. Maritime carrier alliances THE and OCEAN…
Aperture and Focus: Dec 14, 2022
Global Aperture It’s time to move on from the farce of a “market collapse” toward a new horizon, and that usually comes with a comprehensive year-end review. After nearly three years of disruptions, industry leaders are moving on a new…
Aperture & Focus: December 7, 2022
Global Aperture It’s apparently a sign of the times when the world’s largest, newest containership fails to maximize cargo load on its maiden voyage. Manufacturing demand ex-China is falling—trade analysts worry that a sustained drop may provoke factories to shutter two…
Aperture and Focus – November 30, 2022
Global Aperture IATA’s data recap of October air cargo performance is attributed to euphemistic “headwinds affecting air cargo demand.” “Headaches” seems more appropriate. Trade experts allege that US consumers will “largely determine the success of the airfreight industry,” an outlook extrapolated from holiday shopping…
Aperture and Focus: November 23, 2022
Global Aperture Winter holidays lift spirits, not cargo performance. Outbound air cargo performance flies lower across all regions a slight uplift of capacity. Sea freight capacity submerges deeper still as major ocean carriers plan for lower demand and announce measures to pass-through costs associated…
Aperture and Focus- Nov 16
Global Aperture Container depots are full… of empties. 50+ blanked sailings in the final weeks of 2022 won’t make their returns any easier, and an impending G7-enforced price cap on Russian crude exports won’t help vessels move further—some may even become stranded at sea.…
Aperture & Focus November 4, 2022
Global Aperture Delegates of the G7 nations met this week to discuss pressing regional issues from the Russia-Ukraine War to reshoring cooperation with China. The upcoming ASEAN and East Asia Summits will likely shed more light on inter-bloc trade and economic policy as…
Aperture & Focus November 9, 2022
Global Aperture Some analysts project the air cargo market will see a demand spurt over the next 20 years, aligned with Boeing’s prediction that the global fleet size will grow by 80% in that same timespan—about 20% of new planes will likely be…
Aperture & Focus: October 27, 2022
Global Aperture The enforcement of new environmental regulations arrives in 2023: Annual vessel data collected for the IMO’s Fuel Oil Consumption reports will be benchmarked for a 2% improvement between 2023-2030, and EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme will extend to shipping lines next year, requiring…
Aperture & Focus: October 19, 2022
Global Aperture More economic foghorns sound as global cargo volumes and manufacturing output shrinks, leading to a growing number of idled cargo vessels and the proverbial benching of over 300,000 TEUs of capacity. Air market leaders contend that the e-commerce segment—making up approximately…
Global Aperture & Regional Focus: October 14, 2022
Global Aperture “When it rains, it pours.” The International Monetary Fund (IMF) lowered its global economic outlook amid high inflation and downside risks on multiple fronts, including reshoring efforts that risk “undermining efficiency”—a sentiment echoed by trade analysts who have observed the supply chain landscapes…
Aperture & Focus: October 7, 2022
Global Aperture This year’s Golden Week brings a downturn to international shipping as more than 40 scheduled Asia-U.S. sailings have been canceled. Analysts now attribute supply chain disruptions to a combination of overstocking and labor actions. But other factors have also warped trade…
Aperture & Focus: September 29, 2022
Global Aperture The US Federal Reserve announced a 0.75% key interest rate hike on September 21 to offset economic inflation—its fifth increase in 2022. Following the announcement, banks associated with the Gulf Cooperation Council (central banks of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates,…
Aperture & Focus September 23, 2022
Global Aperture Cargo airlines and trade analysts drop hints that fall-winter air demand may drop, attributed to recent earning reports from major transport operators and the oft-reported cargo disruptions and volatile fuel markets. But some global airlines remain optimistic, citing year-over-year recovering…
Aperture and Focus – September 16, 2022
Global Aperture Labor action across the globe moves supply chains to high alert with rail disputes in the US, work stoppages in UK ports, and air traffic control strikes in France. While some carriers are optimistic that intra-Asia trade will avoid slumping in…
Aperture and Focus -September 9, 2022
Global Aperture New shipping data dismays industry analysts around the world in time for the convergence of peak seasons: hurricanes, crop harvests, monsoons, wildfires, and of course—consumer spending. Global air volume data provided by CLIVE show a slowed decline in year-over-year cargo handled through August along…