Author: Unipac Shipping UK
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Summer shut-downs of Shanghai factories
According to unofficial forwarding sources, exporters and importers from China’s Pearl River Delta could face supply-chain disruptions as factories prepare for partial and complete closures in advance of September’s G20 summit in Hanghzou. Apparently related to a clean-air campaign, factories could be forced to reduce or cease production starting as early as June. With the…
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VIIA Britanica
A new “rail motorway” service for unaccompanied road trailers between le Boulou in the French Pyrenees and Calais was launched end of March 2016. The new “VIIA Britanica” intermodal service aims to provide a direct link to the UK for exporters in the Mediterranean. It will initially run one round-trip six days per week, increasing…
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Robot Air Cargo Handling
One of the world’s biggest air cargo handlers PACTL in Shanghai will be trying the first use of robots to build general cargo pallets this summer. This experiment could transform the air freight sector and bring significant improvements in productivity, quality and security. Airis, logistics facilities developer, has concluded that 85-90% of general air cargo…
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SOLAS
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has amended the SOLAS (the Safety of Life at Sea) regulations to require that container weights must be verified prior to loading. The regulation will go into effect on July 1, 2016 when it will be a violation to load a packed container on to a vessel if the operator…
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A wake up call from Amazon
Amazon has recently announced that it has signed a five to seven year lease for 20 cargo planes. As Amazon has grown, and especially it has built out its lucrative Prime business, taking control of its logistics chain has been seen as key to cost cutting and on-time delivery. Amazon’s growth has been about 30%…
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Rotterdam – the port of the future
The port of Rotterdam is Europe’s largest seaport. Last year it handled 466m tonnes of cargo, more than double the amount of Europe’s second port, Antwerp. The endless shifts in the size and composition of these flows provide an instant indicator of the state of the world economy. And the trends that are transforming the…
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Australia Trending Export Market For UK’s SMEs
Research by the Royal Mail has uncovered where the UK’s small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are looking to most in the world to expand exports and overseas shipping, and Australia has come out on top. According to the study of 300 small export businesses, UK companies left rattled by the prospect of the exit of Britain…
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UK Food & Soft Drink Exports Up By 0.9%
Last year saw exports of branded soft drinks and food rise by 0.9 per cent to reach £4.63 billion, although overall exports saw a drop of £0.6 billion to settle at £12.3 billion for the year off the back of oil price drops and the strength of the pound against the Euro, resulting in less…
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Ireland’s Export Industry Grows By 20% Year-on-Year
There has been an increase in the value of goods exported from Ireland using freight services, with exports totalling €111,038 million (£86,320.76) in the year leading to December 2015. According to the Central Statistics Office, this is 19.9 per cent higher than the value of goods exported in 2014, at an increase of €18,422 million.…
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FTA: Mayoral Transport Plan Should Include Freight
The Freight Transport Association (FTA) has said the next mayoral candidate for London should include plans for improved freight services in their transport manifesto. Speaking positively about Sadiq Khan’s hopes for an affordable London transport system, the FTA stated that better freight logistics would also be in the interest of those living in the capital…