News & Insights

Our alerts, news and guides embrace all transport modes and explore global developments across all aspects of the supply chain, to keep you informed and guide decision making.

EU remove ‘preighter’ air capacity

Airlines across the European Union are no longer allowed to pack empty passenger planes with cargo as the aviation sector starts recovering from the pandemic. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is putting a stop to converted ‘preighter’ flights after the 31st of July 2022. ... Read more

HMRC’s new declaration system: What you need to do

The Customs Declaration Service (CDS) will become the only UK customs platform when HMRC starts to phase out its legacy CHIEF system later this year and businesses importing goods into the UK need to take action on the government gateway. Launched over 30 years ago the customs handling of impo... Read more

Blanked Shanghai sailings slow to materialise

As Shanghai enters the fourth week of an indefinite lockdown, container shipping lines are skipping calls at main Shanghai terminals, with more blank sailings anticipated as vessels waiting at Chinese ports double. Until the lockdown situation is resolved, which appears challenging when puttin... Read more

US east coast port congestion continues to build

Reacting to fears of labour disputes and disruption at west coast ports, many US importers diverted cargo from Asia to the east coast – only to find that Atlantic congestion may be worse than on the Pacific. Importers on the west coast are getting their cargo quicker than their peers on the ... Read more

COVID update: Shanghai lockdown impact

China’s economy grew faster than expected in the first quarter, expanding 4.8%, but the risk of a sharp slowdown over coming months has risen as Shanghai’s lockdown is extended indefinitely and further COVID-19 curbs may follow.  Nearly all of Shanghai is now under lockdown, with most res... Read more

The air cargo industry’s response to Ukraine war

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has added another obstacle for air cargo-reliant supply chains, already pressured by climbing rates and limited capacity. Trade news portal, Supply Chain Dive, has been following the adjustments air cargo carriers have made to sustain operations as the invasion unfold... Read more

April global logistics update; Five key supply chain disruptors

Since the early days of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted global supply chains, creating shortages of goods, even though ships, trains, trucks and planes continued to run, to the best of their ability. The infrastructure that supports global supply chain operations has struggled to abs... Read more

Sea freight challenges in India and Sri Lanka

Leading container shipping line MSC is reducing Indian ports of call, in order to sustain a weekly sailing frequency on major commercial routes. As the shipping line struggles to sustain a weekly sailing frequency on major commercial routes, Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) is reducing Indian p... Read more

USA west coast ports fear chaos as labour negotiations loom

Negotiations for a new labour contract with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), are due to start on the 12th of May and shippers are already sourcing products from Asia earlier than normal and directing more cargo to US East Coast and Gulf terminals, to avoid potential port ch... Read more

Shanghai supply chain update– Lockdown extended indefinitely

The lifting of COVID restrictions in parts of Shanghai this week has been postponed after nearly 20,000 new cases were reported on Monday. While the primary port terminals and airport remain open, most workers are in locked-down neighbourhoods and the impact on production and inland logis... Read more

July UK border changes from the EU

On the 1st July 2022, previously deferred UK border controls on the importing of animal health products and Safety and Security declarations, will come into force. From 1st July 2022, you will need to provide safety and security information about goods you are bringing into Great Britain from ... Read more

28th March: Shanghai lockdown in two waves

After recording its highest daily number of cases on Saturday, with Omicron leading a spike, Shanghai, China’s most populous city and a global financial hub, will be locked down in two stages over nine days while authorities carry out infection testing. Authorities had so far resisted lockin... Read more