Category: Exports

In addition to fast-rising ocean freight rates and extended transit times, as the container shipping lines divert around Africa, shippers have been struggling to understand what (if any) insurance is in place, with insurance companies massively increasing war risk premiums and no longer willing t... Read more

On the 17th January 2024, the 33rd day of the Red Sea crisis, Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd announced that they were forming a new shipping alliance - The Gemini Cooperation - in a major shake-up to the container shipping market on the East-West trade lanes. Industry analysts have been predicting tha... Read more

The large scale shift of finished cars to container shipping, due to roll-on/roll-off (Ro/Ro) capacity restraints may be faltering as the Red Sea diversions have sent Asia-Europe spot rates surging and increased transit times by 10-14 days.   The disruption of the container shipping option th... Read more

The British International Freight Association (BIFA) is the trade association for the freight, logistics and supply chain management sector. Their annual Freight Service Awards are the industry’s most contested and highly sought trade awards, because peer recognition is the ultimate accolade. ... Read more

The US and UK carried out eight strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen on Monday, as the Iran-aligned armed group continues to target commercial shipping in the Red Sea, with no sign that the conflict will de-escalate anytime soon. While many hoped that the situation in the Red Sea might be a shor... Read more

For the UK and Europe fears are growing that any prolonged denial of access to the Suez Canal could impact faltering economies and derail plans to start cutting interest rates later this year. Despite the confidence of European and UK central banks, uncertainties about the Red Sea crisis' impa... Read more

Despite coalition military action, Houthi rebels continue to attack commercial shipping and with container shipping line’ schedules showing Cape of Good Hope routing for vessels into early February and beyond, it is clear that they do not expect short-term access through the Suez Canal and Red ... Read more

2023 was supposed to be the year that global supply chains bounced back from pandemic lockdowns and factory shutdowns, trade wars, tariffs and war in Europe, but now container shipping is disrupted by attacks in the Red Sea and restrictions on the Panama Canal. The COVID pandemic and its after... Read more

The United States of America is the UK's largest single trading partner, with the value of goods and services nearly five times the value of trade with Germany, the UK's second largest export market and hopes are growing of a breakthrough in US/UK trade negotiations. Total US goods imported to... Read more

With the deadline fast approaching for export declarations moving to the Customs Declaration Service HMRC are highlighting a worrying trend at the border, with misuse of valid documents leaving innocent exporters potentially non-compliant and exposed to penalties.  In their latest Customs... Read more

The UK’s food and drink exports in the first half of 2023 increased by £0.5bn from the same period in 2022 and while that should be good news, inflation has pushed up values, while volumes in almost all our top 10 products fell, with whiskey, beef and pork slipping 20%. With high inflation ... Read more

The UK has overtaken France as the world’s eighth largest manufacturer, while government backing has persuaded a major automotive manufacturer to invest £600 million in the production of a popular model, with the government setting aside a further £1 billion to spur investment in battery tech... Read more