EU | UK news digest. 30 June
Challenging times bring some down but lift others. Who is aiming to replace the glory of the Suez?
In the light of the Suez incident, Turkey is taking active steps aiming to become a global logistics power thanks to the launch of a new $15 billion project “Kanal Istanbul” that will relieve shipping pressure on the Bosphorus Strait. It is a needed development especially since the traffic is expected to increase to 78,000 vessels from the current 43,000 ones passing through the Bosphorus every year. India follows the example — its participation in advances of the International North-South Transport Corridor connecting it with Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia allows it to skip the Suez Canal on the way to Europe. Overall, the country is eager to explore and develop the region of Central Asia.
The madness with India’s ocean freight rates spurs on the waiting period to secure bookings that has again increased drastically. All majors liners have limited space, so whatever space is left they are trying to sell for premium. Many lines have intentionally kept higher rates on various routes to avoid new bookings. However, the problems are not solely about India. CMA CGM plans to stop calling at the French port of Le Havre for three months, citing congestion due to the lack of productivity. It is not expected to improve during summer.
The current context may be challenging for some, while for others it is an opportunity for another breakthrough. MSC, chasing its asset expansion, is acquiring additional five boxships following the recently purchased 60 vessels. In turn, Hapag-Lloyd is not planning to give up its positions either. It has ordered six ultra-large container vessels of 23,500 TEU capacity each, building on a previous order it made at the end of 2020.
However, the key possibilities for building momentum are for rail freight. Hupac is setting up a new cross-border liquid cargo service between Europe and China for the chemical industry in Europe. The aim is to make it a regular service with attractive transit times because the main route on the New Silk Road currently takes too long.
Green is the trend color of this summer. It has been decided that airlines must start measuring and informing customers of emissions for each aircraft on each tradelane. Transparency is one of the main pillars of a sustainable future, and it has to be addressed in all sectors. IKEA and Maersk seem to be sharing this idea by announcing that they will cut greenhouse gas emissions from the long-haul transport operations by shifting hinterland traffic at the Port of Barcelona from truck to rail using Maersk's solutions. In general, Maersk turns out to be everyone's go-to-choice and takes the lead even in the green development. It is signing a fully carbon-neutral transport agreement on ocean services with fashion company Bestseller.
To boost the activity of the port, the Port Authority of Valencia with Spain’s Ministry of Transport has formalised contracts for a $3.93 million of work to begin on the Logistics Activities Zone to improve the flow of trade. The UK is moving forward as well. The iPort Rail terminal in the South Yorkshire town of Doncaster has been granted Authorised Economic Operator status. It can now support goods moving in both directions through the Channel Tunnel. It is the first Strategic Rail Freight Interchange in the UK to achieve the designation. The positive improvement also concerns freight traffic through the Channel Tunnel between the UK and France. It is now recovering and reporting a 25% increase in operations. Moreover, the UK‘s Maritime Transport has announced a new rail freight service, which connects DP World London Gateway to Maritime’s intermodal freight terminal in Tamworth aimid to deliver a direct link to consumer and manufacturing regions in the West Midlands and south of England.
