Newsweek #45: Shippers in sheep's clothing

FMC has had a lot on its plate lately – apart from trying to hold back the growing influence of the big companies, it is now attempting to battle shippers that are being very peaky with the terminals. Instead of choosing a more or less relived port, they are aiming for big ones and it only creates more blockages. With the US consumption demand showing a 25% increase, shippers will have to push away their aspirations and face the reality – even the decreasing rates will not make their lives easier. Although the American government is going in favor of its biggest infrastructure programme, the changes will take a long time to come into effect. Meanwhile, the snowball of incontrollable congestion is about to start sliding back onto intra-Asia routes. The alternatives by rail and air remain in a complicated state as the development of the former requires improvement of intermodal service and the latter is going through a new stage of rate increases. We are in for another “heat waves” of perplexities for 2022, so it is definitely high time to buckle up. 

The need for fundamental changes is obvious but it does not happen overnight and requires a much more comprehensive approach, thus big players team up with research institutions following the famous “knowledge is power” motto. The mutual commitments aim to bring the long-awaited tech boost and enhance the already existing capabilities. The industry has already seen successful advances, the sustainable initiatives – a new roadmap to decarbonizationhas seen the light this week. MAXMODAL is on the lookout for emerging trends to provide you with a quality overview. Join us now!