Logistics Market Updates | April 2023

April 15, 2023

Download the latest on Operations and Carrier updates.

We are equipped to navigate the changes at Crane Worldwide Logistics to support our clients best. We monitor developments globally to keep you informed.

All our facilities and warehouses are operational. We have space and ground transportation options globally, book air charters, and fill space on ocean carriers.

Air Freight News - April 2023

Current State

The global oil price decline has led to a decrease in year-on-year inflation rates for the G7 countries, as evidenced by the headline Consumer Price Index (CPI), which fell to 6.4% in February from its peak of 7.8% in June 2022. Producer prices, measured by the Producer Price Index (PPI), have also followed suit, retreating by 8.6 percentage points (ppts) from their June 2022 peak to 9.6% in December.

Market Forecast

The latest statistics from the Baltic Exchange Airfreight Index (BAI) show that prices from Hong Kong to North America in March increased by 9% compared with February to $5.38 per kg. Prices from China to the U.S. increased by 7.8% in March compared with February. The BAI Index for Hong Kong to Europe showed a decline of 5.7% in March compared with February to $4.15 per kg.

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Commercial Air Operations Update

IATA released an information page listing airlines' status globally, accessible to all. Visit the IATA page here.

Charter Operations and Aircraft Availability

What charters do Crane Worldwide Logistics have available?

Capacity is available for charters globally. Contact us for current rates and availability.
If you have an opportunity, send us the details, and we can work on the current part charter capacity and pricing. Charter prices are based on current availability, and that could change rapidly. So, the size and rates have fluctuated over the past few days.
Crane Worldwide Logistics must have a signed charter authorization from our client before signing the charter contract with the provider. Ensure you have someone standing by to sign agreements; capacity and rates change quickly.
On all charters, funds must be received before they wheel up.

Ocean Freight News - April 2023

Current State

Global schedule reliability recorded a relatively sharp increase of 7.7% M/M in February 2023 and reached 60.2%, bringing it very close to the 2020 figure for the same month. On a Y/Y level, schedule reliability was a staggering 26.0% higher in February 2022. Moreover, the average delay for LATE vessel arrivals decreased, dropping by -0.07 days M/M in February 2023 to 5.29 days. In fact, it is now only marginally higher than at the same point in 2020 and a significant -2.30 days lower Y/Y. Ultimately, the average delay for LATE vessel arrivals is now closer to the 2019 level than to the highs of 2021-2022.

Market Forecast

Several major container lines have made commitments to no longer assess container storage fees in the United States when terminals are not accessible to shippers or their drayage representatives. Carries have communicated that they are committed to changing their billing processes regarding demurrage and detention charges. Other carriers will begin invoicing detention fees to consignees on merchant haulage shipments, in which the consignee arranges drayage to and from the port. The FMC has a mid-June deadline to issue rulemaking around detention and demurrage billing, a requirement of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 (OSRA-22) signed into law last June by President Joe Biden. The agency began querying carriers and terminals on their free-time billing practices on March 23rd.

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Road Freight News - April 2023

Current State

Contract rates continue to follow spot TL rates lower into mid-April, given weaker organic demand trends, more available capacity, and lower fuel prices. Analysts believe brokers are lowering contract rates faster than asset-based carriers (down 20- 30% vs. assets down 5-10%). They also believe overall TL pricing will likely decline 10-15% in 2023.

Market Forecast

America is back in the factory business. Production at U.S. factories rose last year, but few things were produced at a more furious pace than factories themselves. Construction spending related to manufacturing reached $108 billion in 2022, Census Bureau data show, the highest annual total on record, more than was spent to build schools, healthcare centers, or office buildings. New factories are rising in urban cores and rural fields, desert flats, and surf towns. Much of the growth is coming in the high-tech fields of electric-vehicle batteries and semiconductors, national priorities backed by billions of dollars in government incentives. Other companies that once relied exclusively on lower-cost countries to manufacture eyeglasses and bicycles, and bodybuilding supplements have come home.

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