Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Second half of 2023 holds challenges for freight forwarding industry

Container xChange lists top three worries as U.S. recession, geopolitical tensions, rising operating costs.

container xchg pexels-chanaka-906494.jpeg

As they approach the second half of 2023, supply chain professionals are wary of three main business challenges, including the possibility of a U.S. recession, geopolitical risks, and rising operating costs, according to a survey from German online container logistics platform Container xChange.

The results showed that 49% of those surveyed fear a recession in the U.S. as a key concern for the freight forwarding industry, followed by geopolitical tensions (32%) and rising operating costs (22%).


Other options that generated less concern included: labor strikes (12%), declining freight rates (12%), contract negotiations (8%), port operation disruptions (3%), and pandemic (1%).

The survey was conducted by Container xChange in the month of April, spanning replies from 1,200 supply chain professionals employed at freight forwarding companies, container leasing companies, container traders, NVOCCs, leasing companies, and shipping lines. 

“Interest hikes by central banks due to sticky inflation has put the balance sheets of many lenders under pressure, essentially forcing them to mark down assets or sell them off at a loss to cover short-term liquidity needs,” Christian Roeloffs, cofounder and CEO of Container xChange, said in a release. “This vicious circle of increasing interest rates, rising instability in the banking sector, tightened access to credit, falling commercial real estate values and eventual recession is underestimated by the overall market, and has significant implications for supply chains.”

On the subject of geopolitical tensions, hot-points are both the ramifications of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and rising tensions between China and Taiwan. Global trade could be impacted because of many countries’ dependency on investments made over recent decades by China—into infrastructure projects, bridges, roads, terminals, and ports in South America and Africa—and by Taiwan as the biggest manufacturer of semiconductors.

“These high-risk geopolitical tensions could potentially lead to the fractionalization of trade blocks and potentially a world where trade becomes less efficient because you cannot trade with everybody anymore. Trade becomes restricted to blocks. Currently, it looks like there might be two major blocks but in future, there might be more. This will then limit trade and make it less efficient,” Roeloffs said. 

And regardless of that potential, many companies face rising operating costs due to a significant decline in the demand for freight after it reached its peak in September 2021, coming on top of increased energy prices and labor costs, and a shortage of depot space for goods, the Container xChange report said.

 

 

Recent

More Stories

warehouse worker pulling cart

Cleo acquires DataTrans to speed procurement automation

Business software vendor Cleo has acquired DataTrans Solutions, a cloud-based procurement automation and EDI solutions provider, saying the move enhances Cleo’s supply chain orchestration with new procurement automation capabilities.

According to Chicago-based Cleo, the acquisition comes as companies increasingly look to digitalize their procurement processes, instead of relying on inefficient and expensive manual approaches.

Keep ReadingShow less

Featured

photo collage of warehouse tech

Supply chain pros are wary of inflation and labor woes

The top worries that supply chain leaders hope to address with new innovations this year include inflationary concerns (68%) and labor shortages (50%), according to a survey on innovation from the third-party logistics provider (3PL) Kenco.

And many of them will have a budget to do it, since 51% of supply chain professionals with existing innovation budgets saw an increase earmarked for 2025, suggesting an even greater emphasis on investing in new technologies to meet rising demand, Kenco said in its “2025 Supply Chain Innovation” survey.

Keep ReadingShow less
photos of white house and a loaded containership

Supply chain groups push back on Trump tariff plan

Industry groups across the spectrum of supply chain operations today are pushing back against the Trump Administration plan to apply steep tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico, and China, saying the additional fees are taxes that will undermine their profit margins, slow their economic investments, and raise prices for consumers.

Even as a last-minute deal today appeared to delay the tariff on Mexico, that deal is set to last only one month, and tariffs on the other two countries are still set to go into effect at midnight tonight.

Keep ReadingShow less
reagan national DCA airport photo

Reagan National airport plans to reopen today after deadly crash

All flights remained grounded this morning at Washington, D.C.’s Reagan National Airport (DCA) following the deadly mid-air crash last night between a passenger jet and an Army helicopter.

In a statement, DCA airport officials said they would open the facility again today for flights after planes were grounded for more than 12 hours. “Reagan National airport will resume flight operations at 11:00am. All airport roads and terminals are open. Some flights have been delayed or cancelled, so passengers are encouraged to check with their airline for specific flight information,” the facility said in a social media post.

Keep ReadingShow less
wind turbine making electricity

GE Vernova to invest $600 million in U.S. manufacturing sites

GE Vernova today said it plans to invest nearly $600 million in its U.S. factories and facilities over the next two years to support its energy businesses, which make equipment for generating electricity through gas power, grid, nuclear, and onshore wind.

The company was created just nine months ago as a spin-off from its parent corporation, General Electric, with a mission to meet surging global electricity demands. That move created a company with some 18,000 workers across 50 states in the U.S., with 18 U.S. manufacturing facilities and its global headquarters located in Massachusetts. GE Vernova’s technology helps produce approximately 25% of the world’s energy and is currently deployed in more than 140 countries.

Keep ReadingShow less