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Customs is the bottleneck in global trade — Metro is removing it

Feb 18, 2026 | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Global Trade Observatory Outlook 2026, based on insights from more than 3,500 senior supply chain executives globally, delivers a clear message: customs is now the single biggest operational constraint in global trade. 

According to the report:

  • 60% of executives cite customs clearance as the leading cause of disruption.
  • 36% rank trade facilitation among the top policy priorities for enabling growth.

At a time when 94% still expect trade growth, the implication is clear: growth is possible, but only if border friction is controlled.

For importers and exporters, speed through borders is now as important as speed of transit.

Border Friction Is No Longer a Back-Office Issue

Customs delays today are not just administrative inconveniences. They create:

  • Demurrage and storage costs
  • Production stoppages
  • Missed retail windows
  • Inventory distortion
  • Reputational risk

As supply chains diversify and multi-origin sourcing becomes more diverse, compliance complexity increases. Different rules of origin, changing tariff regimes, sanctions screening, high-risk product categories and new digital reporting requirements all increase exposure.

The Global Trade Observatory findings confirm what many businesses already feel: border friction is now the pressure point in supply chain resilience and execution at customs is no longer a milestone, it is a strategic necessity.

Metro’s Customs Brokerage: Built for Complexity

Metro’s Customs Compliance Services are designed specifically for this environment of volatility and regulatory intensity. 

Our AEO-accredited team manage the full spectrum of customs requirements, including:

  • Permanent and temporary imports
  • Transit (T1) procedures
  • Specialised food and high-risk product declarations
  • UK, EU and USA clearance at all ports
  • Sanctions-origin advisory and exemption cases

This is not simply about filing entries, it is about total compliance and controlling risk before it materialises.

For example:

  • 99.8% of food shipments clear without delay, with IPAFFS paperwork typically submitted within one hour of receiving slaughterhouse documentation.
  • Export declarations are routinely processed within 30–120 minutes.
  • Secureduty refunds through proactive review and HMRC engagement.

CuDoS: AI-Driven Customs Intelligence

Metro’s AI-driven CuDoS platform automates compliance for complex, multi-line entries. 

  • Aggregates multi-line invoices (300+ lines)
  • Reduces manual processing by 70%
  • Achieves 99.3% first-time declaration accuracy
  • Completes complex entries in under two hours

In a market where manual processes can take 6–24 hours and error rates remain high, automation and AI-driven validation are competitive advantage.

From Compliance to Competitive Advantage

The Global Trade Observatory Outlook highlights how trade growth will continue despite uncertainty, but only for those who can navigate friction effectively, and customs sits at the centre of that challenge.

As supplier diversification increases and new trade corridors open, customs complexity rises. Multi-origin supply chains multiply declaration volumes and compliance touch-points.

Without disciplined brokerage and intelligent automation, delays compound quickly.

The Global Trade Observatory data confirms that customs is now the primary bottleneck in global trade. 

Metro’s mission is simple: remove that bottleneck.

If your business is experiencing clearance delays, compliance pressure, or escalating duty exposure, Metro’s Customs Compliance team and CuDoS platform deliver measurable performance improvements in speed, accuracy and cost control. EMAIL managing director, Andrew Smith, to learn more.

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Pre-CNY sea freight reliability is breaking down at origin

Feb 5, 2026 | , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Chinese New Year 2026 falls on Tuesday, 17 February, marking the start of the Year of the Fire Horse. While the official public holiday in China runs from 17–23 February, the operational impact on global supply chains is far longer.

In practice, factories, trucking networks and export operations begin winding down weeks before the holiday. Full production and logistics capacity typically does not return until early March, meaning the effective disruption window stretches across six to eight weeks.

In the run-up to Chinese New Year, ocean carriers are releasing significantly more bookings than they can physically load. This reflects the need to honour minimum quantity commitments (MQCs) while simultaneously building vessel pools ahead of the holiday shutdown.

The consequence is a sharp rise in rolled cargo at ports of loading and transhipment hubs. Confirmed bookings are increasingly failing to convert into loaded containers, particularly where space has been secured on standard spot terms. Even services that previously offered a degree of loading assurance are now seeing rollovers as pressure builds.

“Guaranteed” loading is increasingly limited to premium, prepaid options, while some previously protected spot services are now also experiencing rollovers. For shippers, this means booking confirmation alone no longer equates to reliability during the pre-CNY window.

Congestion is building at key Chinese ports

The impact of overbooking is being felt most acutely at Chinese ports of loading, where inbound container volumes are exceeding what terminals can process or load onto vessels.

Ports such as Ningbo and Nansha are already experiencing severe congestion, with vessel delays compounding the problem. In some locations, terminals are restricting gate-in to containers with pre-booked slots only. Once a vessel’s allocation is reached, additional containers are rejected, forcing cargo to wait for later sailings and triggering extra storage, trucking and handling costs.

Even where shippers deliver cargo early, there is no guarantee it will be accepted or loaded as planned.

Alongside port congestion, a series of inland constraints are converging. Equipment shortages, delayed EIR release, limited truck availability and labour shortages are all becoming more pronounced as workers begin leaving ahead of the holiday.

Access to gate-in slots is tightening, CY cut-offs are less flexible, and minor delays can quickly cascade into missed sailings. These constraints mean that execution risk is now driven as much by inland logistics as by vessel capacity itself.

What this means for shippers

The key challenge for 2026 is that Chinese New Year disruption is not a single event, but a prolonged period of reduced reliability. In the Year of the Fire Horse — traditionally associated with speed, intensity and unpredictability — supply chains are feeling the effects in real time.

Some shipments will be rolled repeatedly. Others will ultimately miss the pre-holiday window altogether. As the holiday itself approaches, the focus shifts from optimisation to prioritisation: deciding which cargo must move and which can wait.

Planning beyond the holiday

Risk does not end on 23 February. Cargo that fails to ship before the holiday is likely to face a post-CNY gap of two to three weeks, as factories, terminals and trucking networks restart gradually. Many operations do not return to full capacity until early March, creating a temporary vacuum and renewed pressure on early post-holiday sailings.

If you are shipping from Asia ahead of Chinese New Year — or planning post-holiday restart volumes — now is the time to review priorities and timelines. EMAIL our Managing Director, Andrew Smith, to assess options and manage risk across your supply chain.

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Global trade powers towards a record 2025 with 2026 looking stronger

Feb 4, 2026 | , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

With the flow of goods providing the real momentum, global trade closed 2025 at record levels, with the outlook for an even more robust 2026. 

Despite geopolitical tension, shifting trade policy and lingering supply-chain risk, the movement of physical goods continues to expand, reinforcing the central role of logistics, freight forwarding and international distribution in the global economy.

Latest analysis from UNCTAD shows that global trade values reached unprecedented highs in 2025, driven primarily by growth in merchandise trade rather than services. Manufacturing output, consumer goods and industrial products have all contributed to the uplift, underlining how resilient goods-led supply chains have become after years of disruption.

Strong demand for manufactured products and critical raw materials has supported higher trade volumes across Asia, Europe and North America. Supply chains have adapted to volatility, with shippers diversifying sourcing, rebalancing inventories and building more flexible transport strategies.

A more constructive outlook for 2026

Forecasts point to continued expansion in global goods trade, supported by easing inflationary pressure, stabilising interest rates and renewed confidence among manufacturers and retailers.

For shippers, this means planning for growth rather than contraction. For logistics providers, it reinforces the need to invest ahead of demand: in people, systems, networks and international coverage.

As trade volumes rise, so does the need for globally connected logistics partners. End-to-end visibility, local market expertise and seamless coordination across borders are becoming prerequisites rather than differentiators. Businesses need partners that can support expansion into new markets without adding complexity or risk.

This is where international network strength becomes critical. Not just in headline trade lanes, but across secondary markets and emerging corridors where growth is accelerating fastest.

Supporting growth through global expansion

Metro’s own international expansion reflects these structural shifts in global trade. As goods flows increase and supply chains become more geographically diverse, Metro continues to invest in new offices both nationally and internationally, strengthening its ability to support customers wherever their trade takes them.

By expanding its global footprint, Metro is aligning its services with the realities of modern goods trade: faster decision-making, stronger local execution and closer proximity to customers and suppliers.

Whether you are entering new markets, reshaping sourcing strategies or scaling established flows, our teams combine local expertise with global reach to keep your goods moving reliably and competitively.

EMAIL Andrew Smith our Managing Director today to see how our expanding international footprint can support your global trade ambitions.

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UK supply chain policy is reshaping shipper risk and resilience

Jan 7, 2026 | , , , , , , , , , ,

Government support for supply chains is increasingly being framed as a matter of national capability rather than short-term intervention. That shift was made explicit in June 2025, when the government’s Modern Industrial Strategy earmarked £600m for logistics sites, signalling that logistics, freight and supply chains are now viewed as strategic economic infrastructure.

Against that backdrop, current support for shippers and manufacturers is delivered through a mix of strategy, guidance and targeted funding, with a clear emphasis on resilience, economic security, clean energy and zero-emission freight rather than generic subsidies.

Strategic focus: critical imports and resilience

The UK Critical Imports and Supply Chains Strategy sets out how government will work with business and international partners across five priorities:

  • Improving supply chain analysis and risk visibility
  • Removing barriers affecting critical imports
  • Strengthening shock-response capability
  • Adapting supply chains to long-term global trends
  • Expanding collaboration with business and academia

The aim is not to control supply chains, but to ensure the UK can anticipate risk, respond faster to disruption and secure access to essential goods.

Practical resilience tools for business

To support this, the Department for Business and Trade has published a Supply Chain Resilience Framework, supported by practical guidance for organisations in both the public and private sectors. The framework focuses on five core areas:

  • Supplier diversification
  • Stock and inventory management
  • On-shoring and near-shoring options
  • Demand management
  • Data quality and supply-chain visibility

As part of the Critical Imports Strategy, government also plans to introduce an online reporting portal for businesses to flag red tape or disruption affecting critical imports, with a commitment to work with industry to remove barriers “wherever possible”.

Supply chains and economic security

The new Supply Chains Centre, based within the Department for Business and Trade, is being established to take a more assertive, strategic and data-led approach to supply-chain security. Its remit includes enhanced analysis, early warning of risks and targeted interventions to ensure continued access to essential goods.

This sits alongside published “Secure your supply chains” guidance, including resilience checklists and links to wider “Safeguarding Supply” resources. Together, these initiatives reflect a broader economic security agenda, where supply chains are treated as critical to both national prosperity and national security.

Innovation funding for resilient supply chains

Public funding is also being directed toward innovation and future-proofing initiatives, including:

  • ReImagining Supply Chains Network Plus (RiSC+), backed by UK Research and Innovation, supporting modelling tools and digital-twin approaches to anticipate disruption across sectors such as food and critical minerals
  • The Circular Critical Materials Supply Chains (CLIMATES) initiative, supporting UK-based supply chains for rare earths and other critical materials through project and partnership funding
  • Regional and sector-specific programmes, often co-funded via the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, offering R&D grants, training and specialist support for SMEs navigating international supply chains

Sector-specific programmes and logistics decarbonisation

Targeted funding is also being directed at strategic sectors. Great British Energy’s “Energy Engineered in the UK” programme includes £1bn of investment into clean-energy supply chains, with a £300m Supply Chain Fund focused on offshore wind and network infrastructure.

In logistics, government support for zero-emission HGVs has expanded, with grants now reducing the upfront cost of electric lorries by up to £120,000. This is designed to accelerate fleet transition, stimulate innovation in green logistics and strengthen the resilience and sustainability of freight supply chains.

What this means for shippers

The policy direction is clear: government expects importers and exporters to map critical dependencies, diversify sourcing and build more robust contingency plans. Resilience, transparency and data quality are no longer optional.

Shippers that can demonstrate strong risk management, clear visibility and close collaboration with carriers and logistics partners will be better positioned to benefit from government-backed initiatives — and to reassure customers operating in increasingly volatile markets.

How Metro can help

Metro works with shippers to translate policy intent into practical supply-chain execution — strengthening routing flexibility, inventory strategy, carrier engagement and contingency planning across ocean, air, road and logistics.

If you’d like support assessing supply-chain resilience, managing disruption risk or aligning your logistics strategy with evolving UK policy priorities EMAIL Managing Director, Andy Smith.

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