Category: Uncategorized

On 5th June 2017 UAE, Saudia Arabia, Egypt and Bahrain announced that they were restraining diplomatic ties with Qatar over allegations that it is sponsoring terrorism. In addition to that, various bans have been imposed on land, sea and air travel as well as movement of goods into and out of Qatar. Immediate bans were…

Chinese ports are currently experiencing a serious congestion brought on by a number of factors. Bad weather such as fog and problems related to the establishment of new shipping alliances will soon pass. However in order to overcome other issues, implementation of some strategic planning will be required. On the surface it looks like Chinese…

Post-Brexit challenges awaiting logistics and freight companies were discussed in much detail during an annual “Keep Britain Trading” conference organised by FTA this month. The participants of the conference raised many concerns regarding the way that shipping industry will work post Brexit. British Port Asscosiation (BPA) chief executive Richard Ballantyne said the number one concern…

In the summer of 2016 Unipac Shipping UK took on a project of transporting a life size sculpture of Capability Brown from China to France.   Laury Dizengremel, the highly-regarded international sculptor, was commissioned to carry out the work, based on the portrait by Richard Cosway. The statue was made in Laury’s studio in China…

China’s largest semi-submersible ship “Xinguanghua” carrying a floating platform for oil production, storage and unloading, set sail from Shengsi County in east China’s Zhejiang Province on Saturday, 25th February towards North Sea Oil Field in the UK. The platform, also known as “Hope No.6” is the first of its kind built by China. It’s cylindrical…

European textiles buyers are increasingly switching their sourcing and supply chains back to Europe because of China’s rising labour, raw material, and energy costs. Although China remains a world leader in textiles and apparel with exports of $284 billion in 2015, wages there have been rising at an annual compound growth rate of more than…

The result of the EU referendum on June 23rd has brought many questions as to how the country and economy will be affected. One of them is what Brexit holds for the shipping industry and companies trading internationally. The truth is that at this stage it is impossible to predict the implications of the Leave…

In the third quarter of 2016 British food and drink companies recorded their best ever overseas sales as they cashed in on the falling Pound. Data published by Food and Drink Federation revealed that export of food and non-alcoholic drink totalled a record £3.4 billion between July and September – up 12.1 percent on a…

The first freight train service from China arrived in London on Wednesday, January 18th completing its 18-day trip. The train originated in Yiwu City, Zhejiang Province, East China and terminated in London at Barking’s Eurohub freight terminal. The 7,400-mile journey passed through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Belgium and France before entering the UK via…

The expansion of a port is a step closer after a consortium of British and European lenders agreed a £200m package of loans.  The investors – including Allianz, RBS, Lloyds Bank and the European Investment Bank – have backed redevelopment of Dover’s Western Docks.   Allianz Global Investors has agreed to provide a £55m private…