TPM and US review
Organised by the Journal of Commerce, TPM (Transpacific Maritime Conference) is the premier global shipping and supply chain conference, attracting senior executives from all areas of the industry.
Held annually in the port city of Long Beach, California, TPM brings together shippers, carriers...
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Air freight’s promising 2024 start continues
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...
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2024 tech road-map
Metro has been innovating leading-edge supply chain management, tracking and business-process technology for 20 years and in 2024 we will continue to increase our ability to integrate with stakeholders, share real-time data, accelerate workflows, automate processes and optimise our customers’ s...
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Sustainability key to long-term Panama Canal
With 5% of global maritime trade and 40% of US container traffic using the Atlantic-Pacific shortcut, the Panama Canal is a critical link in global supply chains and the drought-driven disruption which started last year is finally relenting, with the key waterway expected to be operating at full ...
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Near-shoring boosted by supply chain disruption
The post-COVID environment, geopolitical uncertainty, protectionism, climate-change events and now the Red Sea crisis have all put pressure on global supply chains and as we discovered at TPM, companies are increasingly considering the evolution of their global supply chains to minimise risk and ...
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Sustainable business growth
Differentiation, innovation, technology, profitability, customer focus and partnership building are all key components in business growth and are all inherently linked to sustainable businesses, which underlines the value that environmental strategies can add to your business.
Sustainability i...
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Research uncovers scale of Red Sea disruption
New research by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has found that over half of importing manufacturers and retailers (53%) have been impacted by the disruption to shipping caused by the Red Sea crisis, with over half of exporters (55%) also experiencing increased costs and delays.
The issu...
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Driving road freight excellence
Into his second year Metro’s European Director, Richard Gibbs, updates us on his mission to develop the infrastructure, systems and services that will provide the best European transport solutions, for effectiveness and cost efficiency.
“Metro has expanded its European road freight platfor...
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US importers face inventory replenishment quandary
Many US companies, including big retailers, were successful over the course of 2023 in clearing out the stockpiles of inventory, that they built up during the pandemic to cope with shipping disruptions and changing buying patterns.
During the pandemic many retailers and manufacturers flipped f...
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Sea/Air growth undiminished
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...
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OCEAN Alliance seek stability
Although there was market speculation that a member of the OCEAN Alliance might be tempted to leave and join THE Alliance in 2027, a new agreement by the remaining members makes it very unlikely this decade.
Seeking to send a clear message of stability, after Hapag Lloyd’s defection to the G...
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Red Sea crisis; situation report
The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) is already reporting multiple new Houthi attacks on vessels, following two missile strikes on the British registered general cargo vessel “Rubymar” on Sunday, which the crew had to abandon on Monday.
The Rubymar attack was followed by a merchant ves...
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