Category: Sea/Air

The tightening capacity situation could continue for several years, with constrained availability of freighter aircraft and high demand driving up rates across key routes. While air cargo demand has not yet surged during this year’s peak season, rates remain elevated due to the limited capac... Read more

The air cargo market is seeing a significant surge in rates, driven by strong demand and tight capacity, especially on routes from Asia to North America and Europe. In October, spot rates reached their highest point this year, with rates from Vietnam to the US increasing by 65% and to Europe b... Read more

As Bangladesh’s apparel sector ramps up production following months of disruption, exporters are benefiting from creative logistics solutions to overcome rising freight rates and capacity shortages.  Metro shipments from Bangladesh have been utilising an innovative mix of air freight, sea/a... Read more

Global demand for ocean freight container shipping has surged to unprecedented levels, surpassing even the peak during the Covid pandemic and comes when available capacity is already strained due to diversions around Africa, leading to concerns that any peak season demand could be calamitous. ... Read more

Robust growth in global air cargo markets for April 2024 marks a strong start to the second quarter, with airfreight rates on key trades out of Asia remaining “firm” in June, despite the market entering the traditional quieter summer period or ‘slack season’. Quite simply there isn’t on... Read more

Between the start of April and last week, average spot rates from the Far East into North Europe increased by 31%, the US West Coast 30%, Mediterranean 25% and US East Coast 22%, with spot rates to Europe currently $6,000-$7,500 and analysts suggesting they may hit $10,000. Market demand reach... Read more

The Red Sea crisis and the much longer sailing distances triggered by the diversion around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope (COGH) soaked up existing market overcapacity, which was just enough to cope with the extended COGH transit times, provided there were no additional disruptions to maritime supp... Read more

The surge in Asia to Europe ocean freight (see ‘Ex-Asia spot rate spiral turned into shooting star’) is also boosting demand for airfreight to Europe and even to North and South America. Uncertainty and delays with ocean shipments have been encouraging more shippers to transfer to airfreig... Read more

The effective closure of the Red Sea and the Suez Canal to container ships is adding around two weeks to supply chain transit times and creating a backlog of manufacturing components, late shipments and inventory replenishment, with critical consignments reliant on air solutions. While Iran's att... Read more

Metro’s main board recently completed a multi-city tour across India, as part of a strategy to fortify existing partnerships with key suppliers and to carve out new avenues for growth, by direct engagement with prospective customers. The visit spanned several major cities including Mumbai an... Read more

The global air freight market’s positive start continued last month with significant growth in demand and a corresponding rise in global spot rates, especially from the Indian Subcontinent, which is out of step with traditional market trends. Traditionally, air cargo demand and spot rates te... Read more

The latest air cargo data is showing a clear upswing in volumes at key sea/air hubs, as shippers from Asia seek to avoid the extended ocean freight transit that has resulted from the Red Sea shipping crisis. Over the first two months of the year, volumes to Europe from Dubai, Colombo and Bangk... Read more