IAG Cargo has introduced a new customer service team dedicated to the cargo operator’s highest priority Critical product. Critical is designed for the emergency solutions industry and will now benefit from its own Critical Service Centre that will be manned by dedicated emergency solution experts who monitor, advise and action the entire shipment journey.
The new team has a broad base of expertise spanning operational, reservations and sales.   The experts will ...

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With expectations of booming e-commerce volumes from China coupled with strong demand for northbound cargo capacity, Virgin Atlantic Cargo anticipates the new Virgin Australia daily Sydney-Hong Kong services to get off to a flying start when they commence on 2 July. Virgin Atlantic Cargo will be marketing the cargo space on Virgin Australia’s new Airbus A330 flights under the international long-haul sales and management agreement between the two airlines. Following ...

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CMA CGM has decided to extend its controversial emergency bunker surcharge (EBS) to include cargo loaded on or after 1 July, despite the average price of fuel coming off its peak.
A statement from the French carrier maintained that since the announcement of the EBS on 25 May, “prices have continued to rise more sharply”.
As a consequence the $55 per teu charge would continue to apply through July and be “re-evaluated on a monthly basis”.
Since ...

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UK forwarders hit by delays in receiving containers though the port of Felixstowe have been warned that they cannot expect any compensation.
Forwarder body the British International Freight Association (BIFA) said it had held a meeting with Felixstowe owner Hutchison with the aim of recouping some of the extra costs that the congestion,  following the troubled terminal operating system switch, had brought upon its members.
But Robert Keen, BIFA director general, said: “Having had ...

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WorldACD has published another set of data, asking whether the pessimism over the air cargo market, which has seen growth slow, is realistic.
Year-on-year, it notes, volume growth of air cargo in May was 2.6%, while yield measured in euros was 7.1% and in US dollars, 14.4%.
The strongest-growing markets were origin Chile (up 58%), Japan (+18%), Canada (+17%) and the US (+5.8%) – but WorldACD warned that the growth in the Americas ...

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The company that developed the ship.maerskline.com platform for the world’s largest shipping line is to introduce a service product for small and medium-sized freight forwarders.
In September, UK-headquartered Kontainers will release Kontainers Edge for freight forwarders – and smaller, niche container carriers – which will allow them to scale-up their digital offering and present customers with freight rates, shipping schedules and shipment booking facilities, as well as web-based dashboards and business analytics.
For the ...

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The project sector has faced a harsh environment in the past few years. Low oil prices have made it uneconomic to launch new energy projects, resulting in a thinning out of the project cargo industry.
But recent oil price rises have put more projects back on the map, and the industry is gearing up again. Some new projects are giant – the offshore Libra field in Brazil is expected to cost ...

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More tit-for-tat tariff news. As Canada starts its impose its retaliatory charges, now the EU has warned that it will consider up to $294bn-worth of tariffs on US exports if Trump imposes an import tariff on cars, as he is threatening. The commission added: “Economic analysis confirms that an increased tariff on these products (cars and car parts) will be harmful first and foremost for the US economy.”
That, however, has not ...

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This has all the makings of a genuine saga: a former chief executive, trying to win back control of a company that is a household name in the UK, has received the support of one of Stobart’s scions when it was still a family-owned concern. Logistics Manager reports that William Stobart has come out strongly in favour of former chief executive Andrew Tinkler’s plan to reunite Stobart Group with Eddie Stobart ...

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Hapag-Lloyd spooked investors this morning, issuing a profit warning based on its accounts for the first five months of trading, causing its shares at one stage to drop 21%.
The German carrier has downgraded its ebit guidance from “clearly increasing” the €410m recorded in 2017, to “between €200m and €450m”.
Given that Hapag-Lloyd only managed a net profit of €32m last year, it appears likely the board are now resigned to the carrier posting ...

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