Shipment volumes for March dropped 9.2% year over year (YoY), according to the Cass Freight Index, but improved for the second straight month, the company said in a report Monday. "April will undoubtedly be worse and likely the worst month in a long time," wrote the report's author, David Ross, managing director of global transportation and logistics at Stifel. He said April volumes should rival those of early 2009.
Source: Supply Chain Dive
The global airline industry will generate $314 billion less revenue this year than in 2019 because the coronavirus pandemic has decimated air travel, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The figure represents a 55% drop in business that is putting airlines at risk of going under and will take years to recover from for those that survive, analysts say.
Just three weeks ago, the trade group estimated airline revenues would fall $252 billion short of last year’s total in a worst-case scenario that assumed travel restrictions would remain in place through June. That scenario is now reality – and could even get worse.
Source: Freight Waves
The port backups that have paralyzed food shipments around the world for weeks aren’t getting much better. In fact, in some places, they’re getting worse.
In the Philippines, officials at a port that’s a key entry point for rice said last week the terminal was at risk of shutting as thousands of shipping containers pile up because lockdown measures are making them harder to clear. Meanwhile, curfews in Guatemala and Honduras, known for their specialty coffees, are limiting operating hours at ports and slowing shipments. And in parts of Africa, which is heavily dependent on food imports, there aren’t enough workers showing up to help unload cargoes.
Source: Supply Chain Brain
MSC’s e-commerce capabilities continue to be hampered by what appeared to be a cyber attack last week.
Yesterday, the world’s second largest carrier said the “network outage” that began on Thursday evening was limited to its headquarters in Geneva and its online operations, while its global office network was unaffected.
“MSC operates different IT systems to separate headquarters from the agencies network to ensure that in case of an issue they cannot affect each other. In this case, the issue is limited to one of our data centres in Geneva, effecting solely some internal data processes, MSC.com, MyMSC and direct EDI, for a few customers.
Source: The Loadstar
The Trump administration eased a ban on exports of personal protective equipment, with the list of exemptions growing after lawyers laid out the shortcomings of the rules, people familiar with the situation said.
Exports to Canada, Mexico and U.S. entities such as military bases abroad are among the exemptions, according to an internal Customs and Border Protection memo obtained by Bloomberg News. It also singles out shipments by 3M Co., which President Donald Trump had originally blocked from sending N95 masks to Canada and Latin America. He reversed course last week after reaching a production agreement with the company.
Source: American Journal of Transportation
China’s eight major ports’ container volume declined last week, while the major ports along Yangtze river saw cargo volumes continue to grow.
During the past week cargo throughput of major Chinese coastal hub ports declined 6.6%, and the container volume of eight major ports declined 5%, with a particular drop at ports handling more international cargoes.
Source: Seatrade Maritime
