International trade practices “archaic”, says Freightos survey

International trade practices by US importers and exporters are “laughably archaic” say respondents to logistics technology provider Freightos’ latest industry survey. With small businesses accounting for a third of total US imports, “a whopping 50% still rely on spreadsheets to manage shipments”, Freightos said after its survey of more than 500 companies.

Boeing: Air cargo to expand in mid-single digits through 2020

After a steep plunge into negative growth in mid-2016, world air cargo traffic rebounded sharply last year and is on course for 4.2 percent average annual tonnage gains through 2020. The pace is currently outracing cargo belly and freighter capacity, improving yields for carriers, and creating space shortages for shippers. That is essentially the snapshot […]

Port Tracker report expects decent gain in imports for first half of 2018

A strong wind is expected to continue blowing on the economic seas in the first half of 2018 but could recede for the full year, based on the most recent edition of the Port Tracker report, which was released late last week by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and maritime consultancy Hackett Associates.

In Depth: Complete Transformation of How Ports Operate Imminent

A complete transformation of how ports operate is on the horizon, according to Bret Greenstein, Vice President of Watson Internet of Things (IoT), Consumer Offerings, IBM. Over the past few years, IBM has partnered up with industry majors such as Maersk Group and CMA CGM in order to digitize their ways of doing business.

SeaIntel: Global Schedule Reliability Drops in 2017

Global schedule reliability deteriorated to 74.5% in 2017, dropping by 8.4 points from 82.9% in 2016. SeaIntel Maritime Analysis said. Taiwanese container carrier Wan Hai was the most reliable carrier in 2017, with schedule reliability of 81.0%. Hamburg Süd and Evergreen followed close behind with on-time performance of 79.7% and 79.1%, respectively.

Air cargo crunch easing possible ahead of Lunar New Year

The late Lunar New Year holidays this year may ease the pressure on an air cargo industry that saw severe space constraints on key east-west routes during the end-of-year peak season, frustrating shippers and causing freight rates to hit record highs. At the end of January there are still almost three weeks to go before […]

Cargo chiefs optimistic on 2018 profitability

The majority (56%) of airline chief financial officers and heads of cargo expect their profitability levels to improve further over the coming 12 months. An early January 2018 survey for the IATA Airline Business Confidence Index saw the passenger and cargo executives indicate an improvement in year-on-year profitability in the final quarter of 2017 compared […]