OceanX Reads / Industry Insights 09-05-2021

Our weekly to twice weekly reads, are a collection of commented links to interesting industry news and market developments, around oceanfreight and technology. Some of our comments are slightly sarcastic but always honest. Besides informing our members about what is going on and providing some industry insights, they are also always an invitation to start a dialogue on any of the subjects.

May 9th 2021

Good afternoon,

finally a spring weekend here, while our industry keeps rocking.

Ever Given still stock but seemingly with a reduced offer on the table now, that’s likely still too high anyway.

Enjoy the rest of your sunday,

Cheers Ruben

I will be contributing a few thoughts on current trends and the change of the forwarders role in perishable logistics to „The World of Fresh Ideas“, end of the month: https://www.worldoffreshideas.com

Evergreen back in the black: https://container-news.com/evergreen-back-in-the-black-in-q1/

At least 2 more years with high rates? https://theloadstar.com/at-least-two-more-years-of-freight-rate-pain-for-shippers-as-carriers-cash-in/

Smart carriers focus on long-term contracts at premium over short term spot opportunities: https://www.supplychaindive.com/news/maersk-ocean-contracts-capacity-rates-spot-earnings/599676/?:%202021-05-06%20Supply%20Chain%20Dive%20%5Bissue:34088%5D

Interesting European Road Rate Benchmark for Q1: https://www.ti-insight.com/briefs/european-road-freight-rate-benchmark-q1-2021-average-rates-increase-0-5-q-on-q-in-spite-of-3rd-covid-wave/

US Trade deficit keeps climbing: https://www-marketwatch-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.marketwatch.com/amp/story/u-s-trade-deficit-climbs-5-6-to-record-74-4-billion-amid-american-craving-for-imported-goods-11620132839

Dry winning over reefer these days, thus perishable shippers not only competing for the few reefer boxes, but for space versus dry: https://www.drewry.co.uk/news/reefer-container-freight-rates-soar-but-remain-outgunned-by-dry-box-rates

DP World really sees itself at the crossroads of trade and wants to play in every category, from assets to SaaS and now as eCommerce platform (starting in Rwanda). Experimentation or sound strategy? time will tell… https://www.dubuy.com

Yokohama takes the crown in port efficiency: https://splash247.com/yokohama-crowned-worlds-most-efficient-container-port/

Interesting McKinsey piece on opportunities is contract logistics & eCommerce: https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/travel-logistics-and-infrastructure/our-insights/unlocking-the-omnichannel-opportunity-in-contract-logistics

Scale IA gets new money and partners with flexport: https://www.freightwaves.com/news/scale-ai-raises-325m-valued-at-73b

An interesting panel discussion on digital freight at the transport logistics digital event: https://loginfo24.com/die-traditionellen-speditionen-bleiben-am-markt-erfolgreich/?lang=en

K&N Land transport head, joins Sennder: https://www.dvz.de/rubriken/detail/news/nicholas-minde-wechselt-zu-sennder.html

Interview with Mike de Angelis of Cargowise, if you ignore the advertisement, a few interesting thoughts in there: https://www.cargowise.com/lp/ocean-freight-outlook/

Interesting view on G7 and that it should not be about containing China but about competing and providing a better offer to the world: „Today’s contest is between these two systems. It is a fight the west can win by persuading the world’s non-aligned nations that it has a better offer. It is quite simple, really. Instead of complaining about the economic coercion inherent in, say, Beijing’s Belt and Road plan, the G7 should present its own development projects. A timetable to vaccinate the world against Covid-19 would be a good start.“ https://www.ft.com/content/bd980c0f-68cf-4781-9fc7-69f22c13c435